Bad Call : Anandtech's Socket 754 Roundup: Comparing Generation 2

[SBGTF]

I disagree with Anandtech's conclusion and awards for their article of 28 May "Socket 754 Roundup: Comparing Generation 2"

They give their top award, Gold Editor's choice to the Epox 8KDA3+. They leave out on issue that I think eliminates this board for consideration of their top award. With this board the power cable must go over cpu cooler, restricting your airflow. This to me is a serious design flaw and should have knocked the Epox board out of consideration.

You would them be left with a high end recommendation of the MSI board and a low end recommendation of the Chaintech board.

I think Anandtech's editors made a bad call on the Epox board.

 

[imported_powdahound]

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=2063&p=6
Doesn't look like your cable has to go over it to me...

This is very similar to my Epox 8k3a and I have no problems.

 

[SgtZulu]

I think you're a n00b that doesn't know what you're spewing

 

[coolred]

Kinda depends, I mean with the connection being on the left side of the board, the cabel will run near the CPU socket, i don't really think it would have to go over it or restrict airflow in any way though

 

[SBGTF]

Here are the articles that informed me of the design flaw. This is where I got my information, I have not seen the board firsthand.

Legion Hardware Review "One component that is often misplaced is the ATX power connector. EPoX have surprisingly made the simple mistake of placing the 20-pin ATX connector on the left hand side of the processor socket. This means the thick power cable is required to travel over critical components, such as the CPU cooler."

TBreak Review "Epox places the main and the 12V power connector exactly to the left of the CPU socket which is definitely not an ideal place as it makes the power cables run over the CPU and possibly cause blockage in air-flow"


Hexus Review "The snake-line power cables can cause unwanted mess and block scarce airflow. "

Each of these articles mentions the airflow issue. That's three professional review sites making mention of the issue. Its something that I took notice of as I did my research on the computer I am putting together. Its the reason I removed the Epox board from my consideration and I feel others who read the Anandtech article should be aware of the design flaw perceived by these other publications.

The only article I've read on the board that did not mention the issue was over at OC Workbench.

Finally, I'd like to say that I really enjoy the Anandtech site and the work they do is invalable to people like me who are looking to build a new system.

 

[allanon1965]

it really depends on how long your power cable is(no pun intended) but seriously, most power cables will easily go around the rear of the heatsink and not cause an issue with airflow, how much airflow do you really expect to get between the heatsink and keyboard/mouse/usb connectors...there are no slots or ventilation areas there anyway.

 

[Ionizer86]

Yea, just loop it around the HSF. Both my current Allied 400W and an older Enhance 300W (which had a shorter cable) were able to reach around the HSF, and I have a relatively big AX-7

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

You tuck it down between the HSF and the PSU. The above two posters hit the nail on the head.

Not a flaw.

 

[l3ored]

looking at my power cable, i can see that it would bend towards the heat sink if the connector were on the left. however, i would find a way of keeping it away with zip ties or something. those sites probably only mentioned it because there are better places for the connector. in my opinion, i doubt the temp will be affected at all

 

[SocrPlyr]

Originally posted by: SBGTF
Here are the articles that informed me of the design flaw. This is where I got my information, I have not seen the board firsthand.

Legion Hardware Review "One component that is often misplaced is the ATX power connector. EPoX have surprisingly made the simple mistake of placing the 20-pin ATX connector on the left hand side of the processor socket. This means the thick power cable is required to travel over critical components, such as the CPU cooler."

TBreak Review "Epox places the main and the 12V power connector exactly to the left of the CPU socket which is definitely not an ideal place as it makes the power cables run over the CPU and possibly cause blockage in air-flow"


Hexus Review "The snake-line power cables can cause unwanted mess and block scarce airflow. "

Each of these articles mentions the airflow issue. That's three professional review sites making mention of the issue. Its something that I took notice of as I did my research on the computer I am putting together. Its the reason I removed the Epox board from my consideration and I feel others who read the Anandtech article should be aware of the design flaw perceived by these other publications.

The only article I've read on the board that did not mention the issue was over at OC Workbench.

Finally, I'd like to say that I really enjoy the Anandtech site and the work they do is invalable to people like me who are looking to build a new system.

No motherboard is perfect and as mentioned by many other members it isn't that big of a deal...
I have never come accross a motherboard that i could not come up w/ a complaint about
basically you put a lot of stock in somthing t hat a cable tie can easily fix, but that is your opinion...

Josh