testing my first review. crits welcome
pics are missing (server issues)
the board
here's our first full review of a desktop motherboard. the subject of our tests today is the micro atx 8RGMI. we were very interested when we heard about this board because it the first micro atx with overclocking features. dual channel memory is standard in very many current systems and nowhere is it more important than here. the most important features of this mainboard include its integrated nvidia geforce440-mx gpu, 333fsb support, nvidia mcp 5.1 audio and 10/100 lan. EPoX chose to integrate not one but two monitor ports on the board. getting two monitor ports without even buying a graphics card is a real pleasure. unfortunately for serious gamers as soon as a graphics card is inserted the two onboard ones are disabled. combined with good memory and a decent cpu the onboard graphics can perform pretty well. this is particularly true after some 'tweaking'. some important features I neglected earlier are the use of the extra 4pin power connector and a passive heatsink on the southbridge. the extra power connector means that one need not break the bank on a monster power supply. the heatsink keeps the audio and network hub cool even when stressed to the maximum. as usual EPoX has included a superior overclockers bios that not only manipulates the speed of core components but also allows increasing voltage to these components and the nforce2 chipset too. there are a few things that are conspicuous by their absence. the missing items are the mounting holes around the cpu socket and southbridge heatsink. being a micro atx it is unlikely that watercooling will be needed so the missing holes are not too serious. the diagnostic led is also missing so trouble shooting is not quite as easy as on the full sized, top of the range, EPoX boards.
the setup
for this test we have an athlon xp1800+ DLT3C and two sticks of ddr400 kingston valueram rated cas2.5. we will start at default settings and work our way to some fairly extreme overclocking, stopping to take a 3dmark2001 score at every point. this will show us the performance output of the onboard graphics and be a guide to others attempting to overclock their systems. a basic configuration to start with will be the cpu at default 133fsbx11.5multiplier=1533megahertz and 1 stick of memory. we used premium quality amd recommended thermal paste under a solid copper heatsink. we even reduced the efficiency of the cooling combination by swapping the noisy fan with a quite one that spins at only 2700rpm. while this move is counterproductive for good cpu cooling, it does make it bareable to be in the same room as the computer. seeing as the memory and board easily run faster than the 266fsb cpu, we first test to see if running the memory with tighter timings will benefit the score. overclocking should be considered an art and should not be undertaken lightly or without knowing what to expect at each turn.
the tests
at 133x11.5 with ddr266 the 3dmark score is 2366. memory is at 8-3-3-2.0. next we try 6-2-2-2.0. at 133x11.5 with ddr266 the 3dmark score is 2477. so faster memory does help at this fsb setting. now we turn up the cpu multiplier to 12.5 which is the highest a cpu will go if its default is 12.5 or below. at 133x12.5 with ddr266 the 3dmark score is 2359. this shows that a faster overall megahertz cpu has no effect. at this point we chucked in the second stick of memory in dual channel and left the memory timings at 8-3-3-2.0. at 133x12.5 with ddr266 in dual channel the 3dmark score is 3814. comparison reveals that dual channel has given a massive boost from 2366 to 3814. this is a 61% increase. next we raise the fsb to 2x166 or 333mhz. at 166x10 with ddr333 in dual channel the score is 4658. the leap from synchronised 266fsb to sync 333fsb has again provided a substantial increase of 22%. this is without increasing the cpu speed at all. next we pushed the cpu to 2083mhz by changing the multiplier to 12.5x166fsb. crashing at this speed leads us to raise the vcore to 1.65volts from its default of 1.5. this supplies extra juice to the cpu which stopped it crashing at this speed. the increase in score was negligable, proving once again that a faster cpu has little 3dmark effect, on this board. now the cpu is overclocked to the speed of a 2600+ athlon and the board is at 333fsb, its maximum rated speed.
going for broke
a few quick adjustments in the bios has us booting into windows at 200x10 ready to run 3dmark again. crash. 3dmark fails leaving us with a rather interesting looking desktop. it's posted below for your amusement. but we know the cpu is capable of 2000mhz because we tested it at 166x12.5. the memory too must be capable for it is rated for ddr400 operation. therefore the board must be letting us down. no problem. back into the bios' power feature we bump the voltage to the nforce2 chipset from 1.6Vdd to 1.8. reboot and we're at it again. bang. the system locks up totally forcing us to reset and enter the bios again. we try Vdd at 2.0volts but not without placing a super powerful fan on the graphics heatsink. success. we scored 5283 at 400fsb. this jump to 400fsb has netted us another 14% increase in graphics performance. we drop Vdd back to 1.8 so that we don?t fry the gpu. 2.0 vdd is meant for people with watercooling on their board anyway. the board does 195fsb with 1.8vdd and I'm much happier at the lower voltage. wait. I'm sure I remember tweaking software built into nvidia's drivers. a quick search on the net and we're into the registry hacking away at the nvidia drivers. the CoolBits registry hack is well known amoung owners of nvidia cards and worked great for us too. the default gpu core speed is 200mhz. increadibly we were able to tweak it all the way to 350mhz. in our lab we have some kingson hyperx 3500 memory which is some of the fastest stuff available in the country. with it we managed to tighten the memory timings down to 6-2-2 cas2. at this speed, with the board at 195fsb and the gpu core at 350mhz, we achieved an unbelievable 6123 3dmarks.
conlusion
as we suspected this mainboard is simply amazing. it has most features present on some of the worlds best overclocking boards. in its micro atx package it is truly unique. many of the shiny new computers that leave the average store are fitted with a micro atx board. with a modern amd cpu this ultra value board can pack a punch to shame most value systems on the market. and for the brave tweakers the best value components can safely be run at far greater than normal speeds. but best of all is the fact the the onboard graphics can actually hold their own in some pretty serious gaming situations. the 6000+ 3dmarks that we achieved will wipe the floor with a old 1ghz system paired with an expensive geforceti4200 graphics card. an active fan on the northbridge would have made us more comfortable. especially in our quest for 200fsb. i'm pretty sure that EPoX will provide active coolers on their integrated boards soon.
pics are missing (server issues)
the board
here's our first full review of a desktop motherboard. the subject of our tests today is the micro atx 8RGMI. we were very interested when we heard about this board because it the first micro atx with overclocking features. dual channel memory is standard in very many current systems and nowhere is it more important than here. the most important features of this mainboard include its integrated nvidia geforce440-mx gpu, 333fsb support, nvidia mcp 5.1 audio and 10/100 lan. EPoX chose to integrate not one but two monitor ports on the board. getting two monitor ports without even buying a graphics card is a real pleasure. unfortunately for serious gamers as soon as a graphics card is inserted the two onboard ones are disabled. combined with good memory and a decent cpu the onboard graphics can perform pretty well. this is particularly true after some 'tweaking'. some important features I neglected earlier are the use of the extra 4pin power connector and a passive heatsink on the southbridge. the extra power connector means that one need not break the bank on a monster power supply. the heatsink keeps the audio and network hub cool even when stressed to the maximum. as usual EPoX has included a superior overclockers bios that not only manipulates the speed of core components but also allows increasing voltage to these components and the nforce2 chipset too. there are a few things that are conspicuous by their absence. the missing items are the mounting holes around the cpu socket and southbridge heatsink. being a micro atx it is unlikely that watercooling will be needed so the missing holes are not too serious. the diagnostic led is also missing so trouble shooting is not quite as easy as on the full sized, top of the range, EPoX boards.
the setup
for this test we have an athlon xp1800+ DLT3C and two sticks of ddr400 kingston valueram rated cas2.5. we will start at default settings and work our way to some fairly extreme overclocking, stopping to take a 3dmark2001 score at every point. this will show us the performance output of the onboard graphics and be a guide to others attempting to overclock their systems. a basic configuration to start with will be the cpu at default 133fsbx11.5multiplier=1533megahertz and 1 stick of memory. we used premium quality amd recommended thermal paste under a solid copper heatsink. we even reduced the efficiency of the cooling combination by swapping the noisy fan with a quite one that spins at only 2700rpm. while this move is counterproductive for good cpu cooling, it does make it bareable to be in the same room as the computer. seeing as the memory and board easily run faster than the 266fsb cpu, we first test to see if running the memory with tighter timings will benefit the score. overclocking should be considered an art and should not be undertaken lightly or without knowing what to expect at each turn.
the tests
at 133x11.5 with ddr266 the 3dmark score is 2366. memory is at 8-3-3-2.0. next we try 6-2-2-2.0. at 133x11.5 with ddr266 the 3dmark score is 2477. so faster memory does help at this fsb setting. now we turn up the cpu multiplier to 12.5 which is the highest a cpu will go if its default is 12.5 or below. at 133x12.5 with ddr266 the 3dmark score is 2359. this shows that a faster overall megahertz cpu has no effect. at this point we chucked in the second stick of memory in dual channel and left the memory timings at 8-3-3-2.0. at 133x12.5 with ddr266 in dual channel the 3dmark score is 3814. comparison reveals that dual channel has given a massive boost from 2366 to 3814. this is a 61% increase. next we raise the fsb to 2x166 or 333mhz. at 166x10 with ddr333 in dual channel the score is 4658. the leap from synchronised 266fsb to sync 333fsb has again provided a substantial increase of 22%. this is without increasing the cpu speed at all. next we pushed the cpu to 2083mhz by changing the multiplier to 12.5x166fsb. crashing at this speed leads us to raise the vcore to 1.65volts from its default of 1.5. this supplies extra juice to the cpu which stopped it crashing at this speed. the increase in score was negligable, proving once again that a faster cpu has little 3dmark effect, on this board. now the cpu is overclocked to the speed of a 2600+ athlon and the board is at 333fsb, its maximum rated speed.
going for broke
a few quick adjustments in the bios has us booting into windows at 200x10 ready to run 3dmark again. crash. 3dmark fails leaving us with a rather interesting looking desktop. it's posted below for your amusement. but we know the cpu is capable of 2000mhz because we tested it at 166x12.5. the memory too must be capable for it is rated for ddr400 operation. therefore the board must be letting us down. no problem. back into the bios' power feature we bump the voltage to the nforce2 chipset from 1.6Vdd to 1.8. reboot and we're at it again. bang. the system locks up totally forcing us to reset and enter the bios again. we try Vdd at 2.0volts but not without placing a super powerful fan on the graphics heatsink. success. we scored 5283 at 400fsb. this jump to 400fsb has netted us another 14% increase in graphics performance. we drop Vdd back to 1.8 so that we don?t fry the gpu. 2.0 vdd is meant for people with watercooling on their board anyway. the board does 195fsb with 1.8vdd and I'm much happier at the lower voltage. wait. I'm sure I remember tweaking software built into nvidia's drivers. a quick search on the net and we're into the registry hacking away at the nvidia drivers. the CoolBits registry hack is well known amoung owners of nvidia cards and worked great for us too. the default gpu core speed is 200mhz. increadibly we were able to tweak it all the way to 350mhz. in our lab we have some kingson hyperx 3500 memory which is some of the fastest stuff available in the country. with it we managed to tighten the memory timings down to 6-2-2 cas2. at this speed, with the board at 195fsb and the gpu core at 350mhz, we achieved an unbelievable 6123 3dmarks.
conlusion
as we suspected this mainboard is simply amazing. it has most features present on some of the worlds best overclocking boards. in its micro atx package it is truly unique. many of the shiny new computers that leave the average store are fitted with a micro atx board. with a modern amd cpu this ultra value board can pack a punch to shame most value systems on the market. and for the brave tweakers the best value components can safely be run at far greater than normal speeds. but best of all is the fact the the onboard graphics can actually hold their own in some pretty serious gaming situations. the 6000+ 3dmarks that we achieved will wipe the floor with a old 1ghz system paired with an expensive geforceti4200 graphics card. an active fan on the northbridge would have made us more comfortable. especially in our quest for 200fsb. i'm pretty sure that EPoX will provide active coolers on their integrated boards soon.
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