AM2 excellent overclocking mainboard- EPoX MF570 SLI performance analysis

[windwithme]

EPoX has been performing outstandingly in AMD platform field in recent years.
My personal experience started with K7, and had been testing its 8RDA+ together with XP1700+ since then.
Its advanced generation, K8 754/939, has also shown excellent overclocking performance.





As the latest generation of AMD platform is going to be launched in not long future, I will use this EPoX AM2 mainboard to do a test review.



Designs of the EPoX’s product packages and their start up screens have always been remarkable.
The box is colored with a base mainly in white. Furthermore,
every product of the Epox’s comes with a special logo that represents its uniqueness.













Mainboard’s full-view observations














On the lower part of the left side of the mainboard:
2 full sizes PCI-Express slots have been widely spaced out,
3 PCI slots are included














On the lower part of the right side of the mainboard
There is a built-in debug LED
With a power on/off and reset button right on the mainboard,
the design is excellent for those enthusiasts who don’t wish to install their systems inside a case.
NForce 570 has a built-in IDE and six of SATA II installed.
EPoX has also added an addition chip of JMB363, which handles another set of IDE connectors and 2 eSATA II connectors.
























The only flaw is that the DRAM and CPU socket are a bit too close to each other.
















The power modulation uses 4 –phase power and Japanese aluminum shell capacitors,
other major capacitors are also made in Japan.
As the company’s preference by using reputed Japanese-made materials,
it provides the CPU and other components on the board with an incredible stability.



















I/O settings
















Beautiful start-up screen

















Testing Configuration
CPU:AMD AM2 Althon64 X2 4800+
MB: EPoX MF570 SLI
DRAM: WIND series DDRII 1000 512MBX2
VGA:ELSA 6600GT
HD:Seagate 7200.7 80GB
POWER:AcBel 550W


Even though the FSB had gone to 312MHz, the system was still able to work steadily.

[suisuicide]

very good review.... AM2 looks to be more promising than I ever thought

[AruisDante]

very nice, thourough review. That box and loading screen really are quite beautiful... reminds me of something from Square Enix. But man, those DIMM's being so close to the CPU is really, really going to rain on the parade of anyone using aftermarket cooling that isn't water, and even some water blocks are gonig to have a tight fit there. That part of the design seems really, really bad.

one other thing... there's no heatsinks on the MOSFETS.... that's no good... they should really have put some on.

[IOCedMyself]

Most of the Epox boards i've seen have the Dimm slots that close together. I can't tell if the cpu socket is closer to the dimms or if the HS mount is just that much bigger, that has been one of the main criticisims about the new boards. while i am an avid believer in AMD all the way, i think at this point it really isn't worth going out and upgrading from the 939 setups quite yet. From what i've seen the limit of the 800mhz DDR2 is a big limiting factor that i'm sure will be addressed with the release of the 65nm AM2 chips coming out at the end of the year.
Fact is that DDR2 really isn't that much of an increase over DDR....yet. While 10000mb/s mem bandwith is impressive, that isn't a constant due to the on chip memory controller, which also has an interesting way around the 800mhz DDR2 speed cap using the Nvidia dubbed SLI memory (which is really EEP DDR2) allowing you to achieve something like 1020mhz ram speed. But considering im getting 330mhz fsb ( effectively 660mhz with a memory bandwith of something just over 10,000mb/s) at 2-3-2-6 memory timings i'm not ready to go spend another $1500 or so to get the newest thing that will be improved drastically with the next release in another 6 months.
I actually just upgraded to a 165 dual core a few weeks ago, and it's running 3ghz on air with some **** satisfying memory performance. By all means though if you're looking for an upgrade and still using Socket A/754 go grab one of these quick as you can. The lower end mondels still seem to be highly overclockable and dirt cheap, and you'll have a compatible board when the 65nm chips come out in a few months.
I would be more enthusiastic if there were some better boards available. I had frustrating results with my 8rda3+ Epox board, gigabyte has some impressive overclockability but i didn't care for the dip-switch multi settings on the socket a, and they still have a serious lack of bios options that keeps me away. Asus is a strong board for anything and everyone except overclockers in my experiance. I haven't had any hands on experiance with MSI, some people say good things, some say bad. Overall i just don't think they are really there for the overclocking minded user. Abit, and DFI are what stand out the most when i go looking for boards, and with my satisfaction with the Nf 2 LP rev b, and the NF4 SLI Dr expert i think i'd have to wait until they had some time to fine tune a board.
I am slightly jealous of anyone that has managed to snag one of these however, and AMD has done an impressive job once again, but this is new terrioty for them and i don't think they have everything perfected yet. But these are just opinions based on others reports so i could very well be way off target. At anyrate good review on the latest and greatest from AMD mate, keep us updated

[SaFrOuT]

nice results and O/Cing but the mobo's layout is the worst ever

very bad choice to place the 24[in power cable + 2 wierd palces for IDE cable + ram dims are very close + 2 SATA port will be hard to reach with a sound card and a pci card installed + very cheap looking chipset cooler

/me will pass this mobo waiting for the DFI

[windwithme]

Let’s compare the differences by using 1T/2T under the same condition





DDRII 800 3 3-3-8 2T





DDRII 800 3 3-3-8 1T


















BIOS and functions of other major components will be introduced in more detail over next page
BIOS overview

The main overclocking screen
















The HTT (FSB) is ranging from 200 to 450MHz.
The lowest multiplier is x4; the highest one will depend on the type of the CPU used.




















The range of DDR2 Memory voltage control is around 1.8~1.5v,
which increases at 0.1v per step. However, if it can be run at 0.05v per step the outcome will be more satisfactory.

















Officially, AM2 is able to support the speed running up to DDR2 800.











Read through the “Advanced Chipset Features” menu and you will be able to find detailed
controls over the HT settings and Memory timings effortlessly.



















DRAM configuration also allows for very detailed controls of the memory timings.


DRAM configuration: Part 1








DRAM configuration: Part 2


Additional Comment:
Health Status Page allows you to enable the Smart Fan control for silent computing, and you can monitor both temperatures and voltages.
It is interesting to note that the “Thermo Stick Temperature” value can correspond to an external temperature probe













THUNDER PROBE
EPoX is developing their own monitoring software that works under the Windows OS,
called Thunder Probe. The software can monitor voltages, temperatures and memory frequencies.







High power of screen pixels and resolutions are well illuminated,
providing the user to manipulate the machine while enjoying the advantages this modern high technology has brought to him/her.

















CPU FSB, current speed, voltage and temperature

















Detailed voltage monitoring

















System temperature and DRAM present speed
























Testing Configuration
CPU:AMD AM2 Althon64 X2 4800+
MB: EPoX MF570 SLI
DRAM: WIND series DDRII 1000 512MBX2
VGA:ELSA 6600GT
HD:Seagate 7200.7 80GB
POWER:AcBel 550W





DDRII 800 3 3-3-6 1T is stable





























Nonetheless, it is exciting to know that:
CPU OC 3G DDRII 1000 2T 4 4-4-8
in SiSoftware 2007, AM2 plus DDR2 the bandwidth have shown to be able to transfer data at a speed up to 10000 MB/S








EPoX MF570 SLI analysis

Advantages:

1.Materials used for capacitors and components are exquisite.

2.Wide ranges of frequencies and voltage setting, plenty of
other selections in BIOS.

3.8 SATA II connectors and 2 IDE connectors

4.Beautiful product package and the start-up screen.

5.Useful software installed: Ghost BIOS/Thunder Flash/Thunder Probe.

6.Excellent overclocking ability


Disadvantages:

1.CPU and DRAM are too close to each other.

2.24-pin power connector is located in an area inside the mainboard that might obstruct the airflow.
If the connector can be designed outside the MB it will be easier to handle by users.










Although the product has shown stunning performances regarding to user’s expectations,
I still suggest that the AMD should develop and produce better capabilities and functions of 65nm device
and its relevant equipments as soon as possible in future.
In which way, the new generation of AM2 mainboard will be able to
compete against other similar products from other computing companies,
and be more compatible and welcoming by the consumer market.

[Brandon_34]

AM2 looks great.I hope AMD continues to put out excellant overclocking AM2S.

[Phosphate bo]

Looks good. Pretty soon all my AM2 parts will be here but I still have no AM2 mobo. When will this be available to buy? All I can find is the Epox Nforce 4 ultra AM2 version.

I'll admit I'm looking forward to DFI but I think that one will be at least 1-2 months away.

P.S. This board will work with 2.1 voltage memory sticks?

[mnap86]

Nice work.

MB itself is much like previous 9NPA. Dont know y ppl say its layout is crap, i personally like it, recently i was changing my stuff, hesitated DFI-Epox but picked epox cause of its layout.

Good to see they changed the chipset hs/f. On mine 9NDA it was awful, supose it was broken or so cause it was **** loud. On 9NPA its the same hs/f but its much more quiet. Hope it is actually even better than on previous boards.


Ahh and the box I think i know it..... check out 9NDA.

[AMD64_Sharingan]

Nice review.

[Escac]

Wow the detail. Couldn't ask for more. Very nice work.

[everec]

I picked up the 9npa myself for my new build. if this board is anything like that all the features here even that bootscreen is similar, (well you get default epox screens or you can put in your own). the mosfet heat sinks will be included in the power pack, where all the literature is kept. the dram slots look a lot closer on this board to the cpu slot than on mine. . It is indeed a flaw. Maybe they will fix it on their next model.