Epox nForce2 8RDA/8RDA+ - from low $100's on up, still kickin'

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: AtifofVNRoundup

I'm not privy to the inner dealings of business, and as such, I'm a bit confused by that. Why would one company design/build a board with another? Not that I'm questioning what you're saying, Atif, I know of the little "partnership" FIC and EPoX have had on this (though I'm not aware, at all, of who actually did what) - I'm just saying that it'd seem odd for EPoX to have put out a board so similar when one is going to be priced a few $$ less than the other. You've got inherent competition right there when you don't even have to compare the two because you know that they *should* be identical, in all aspects but the price.

No offense taken sir. I see where you're coming from, and I agree for the most part. I don't work for either company, therefore I can only hypothesize that the cost savings in R&D on these boards do much good for both companies. Also, the BIOSes for the boards are tweaked slightly differently between the two. Perhaps with the time saved in co-designing the boards allows them to leapfrog the competition in getting these boards to retail shelves. As such, they are left only competing with one another.

Related to the BIOSes being different, the intended market is also different. EPoX tends to cater to the hardcore enthusiast, where FIC picks up most of the mainstream sales.

I can't tell you much more, however, I will be speaking with EPoX tomorrow, so I'll be sure to find out more.

Peace

Such a thing is hardly unique to motherboard design, a lot of companies in the real world share to cut down on both design and manufacturing costs. If it would take Company A ten million dollars to design a product and Company B ten million to design a competing product with the same feature set, they each save five million by sharing the R&D costs and making only minor tweaks to distinquish the products from each other. The auto industry is probably the biggest player in doing business that way, a huge number of cars share platforms and have interchangable parts.

 

[zodder]

Excellent experience with mwave... my board was shipped the SAME day I ordered it, should be here tomorrow. I give them two thumbs up for great communication, they told me when they were processing my order and also emailed me once it was shipped. Highly recommend mwave.

Ditto here, too.

 

[SpideyCU]

Related to the BIOSes being different, the intended market is also different. EPoX tends to cater to the hardcore enthusiast, where FIC picks up most of the mainstream sales.

I've read on other forums of people applying the EPoX BIOS to the AU11 without issue. So, it seems even that difference can be worked around. They essentially renamed the *.bin file and let 'er go. Kinky.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Every good boy deserves fudge.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Oh hey........ I just grabbed one of those 8RDA+ boards with the sticker on it and decided to peel the sticker off of the board (what the hey... it wasn't my board. ). You know what it says underneath? "8RDA" (no "+").

DOH!

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt

Originally posted by: AthlonMafia
Excellent experience with mwave... my board was shipped the SAME day I ordered it, should be here tomorrow. I give them two thumbs up for great communication, they told me when they were processing my order and also emailed me once it was shipped. Highly recommend mwave.

Ditto, high marks to Mwave, much better communication than TCWO.

Back to TCWO who so neatly sidestepped the question since the answer would no doubt be embarrassing to them. I'll ask it again, just so we all understand.

TCWO, you claim that there is no benefit to you by your current shady and underhanded billing practices when anyone who understands simple enconomics knows otherwise. Do you deny that it is financially better for you to lead customers to place an order for an item that you know is out of stock rather than purchasing elsewhere? Do you deny that you do get free use of the money for however many days it takes you to notify the customer and for them to cancel? Isn't it true that a customer whose billing cycle splits between the billing and the subsequent credit does wind up either eating the financing charges or giving out an interest free loan?

Since we all already know the answers to those questions, let me ask again why you prebill for items you know are out of stock? C'mon, no ducking the question, just answer honestly. If such prebilling is potentially damaging to the customer and of no benefit to you, why do you do it and why do you intend to keep doing it? Let's get away from finance, cash flow and business theory and get right down to integrity. Do you in fact have enough integrity to end this blatantly dishonest practice or is the money you make by perpetuating it more important to you than your customers are?

Dude, it seems like you've got issues with more then just TCWO. If you haven't noticed, it is a common practice for online retailers to bill your credit card with an authorization charge to make sure you have enough room on the card to place the order. The charge usually disappears within 3 days. This is not shady business, its just how things are done.

As for their real time inventory, costs money man, plain and simple. If you're that peeved about it, would you be willing to pay an extra dollar or two per item to cover all the costs? That dollar may not seem like a lot to you, but for small business that order from TCWO.com and whatnot, that could equate to an extra 100$, 500$, even 1000$. That's why they have the call line, which may not seem perfect, but I'm sure it could get better if they just hired a 2-3 more people for the lines, which wouldnt cost THAT much. Setting up a real-time inventory would though. Also, see jonnyGURUs post for another possibility.

There are plenty of other places to shop at besides TCWO.com you know.

 

[zodder]

Your post makes sense to me, jonnyGURU.

I assume people bought this at MWave after I posted?

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: zodder
Your post makes sense to me, jonnyGURU.

I assume people bought this at MWave after I posted?

I bought it at MWave before you posted

 

[HoMeZ]

Did you all order overnight shipping to get it shipped out that fast?

 

[zodder]

I ordered mine 3 day shipping. The shipped it on Monday, the same day I ordered it.

 

[chrisfrog]

anyone know if fry's has the 8rda+?

 

[Atif]

I don't think that Fry's is carrying the 8RDA+ or has any intention of doing so (for that matter). However, they may carry the AU11 Chameleon, and they DO carry the A7N8X Deluxe and Leadtek nForce2 boards

PEace

 

[Cybordolphin]

Gagawhatever....

It is called a "Pending transaction". Just get the FAX number for your credit card company. Call TCWO, and ask for their bookeeping department.... then tell whoever is in charge of the bookeeping that you need a "Release Of Pending Transaction" faxed over to your credit card company (give them the fax number to your credit card company). This will release the "Pending transaction" and free up the funds that are being held in limbo (usually the funds on a pending transaction fall off in 10-30 business days by themselves). The bookeeper will know exactly what you are talking about as they do this MANY, MANY, MANY times each day.

"Pending transactions" do tie up your funds until they are released. The above is the only way to release those funds early (faster).

Do the above if you have cancelled your order, and do not intend on proceeding with the transaction with TCWO.

 

[HoMeZ]

PC stats just did a review on the EPoX 8RDA+. They compare the AU-11 board and the 8RDA+. The 8RDA+ did a bit better on some benchmarks.

 

[chrisfrog]

just odered another one from mwave....

waiting to RMA my other one to cnetpc

 

[corinthos]

The Sis746fx benchmarks very close to nforce but i think will cost significantly less (at least some of the boards ECS will make) compared to nforce2... and you won't need two mem sticks to get that performance. something to consider. i think it's coming within the next couple of weeks.

 

[dirtrat]

Newegg is in stock again

 

[zodder]

bump for people who still need one

 

[shortnugly]

Just got my 8RDA+ from Mwave. Nice company BTW.

Noticed the board is marked REV1.1

Anyone know if this is the second revision of the board?
Epox website didn't have any info on the revisions.

Also looking for decent price on a PC3200 512 stick.

Hasta

 

[clarkmo]

Rev1.1 exists because they changed the type face or something on the board.Link. About halfway down the page

 

[RONType1]

eh.. just ordered an 8rda from newegg for 88+5shipping (+stupid cali tax). i think i killed my kt3 ultra2 overclocking my 1700tbred 'b' to 2600+. (I swapped out cpu's, yadda-yadda-yadda, etc to no avail). It only turns on and can't load winxp or boot off xp cd or even a floppy even @ default settings now.

 

[SpideyCU]

NewEgg dropped their price on the 8RDA+ to $127, if that means anything to anyone. Other places are still cheaper (and have it in stock)...

 

[Parja]

*bump*

AIC Micro seems to have the best price right now at $110 shipped.

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

prices are finally dropping for the 8rda+, newegg has it for $104 with $5 shipping
and mwave is $99.64 with $7-9 shipping

 

[Elizabeth]

I'm in the market for a new board. can someone give a answere why all the excitement over the 8RDA+. I was considering the Gigabyte GA-7VAXP Motherboard.
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Thanks