Mrburns2007
Platinum Member
Hypertransport will be part of the Hammer line and has nothing to do with current socket A CPU. You won't see it for another year til the hammers start showing up.
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Epox nForce2 8RDA/8RDA+ - from low $100's on up, still kickin'
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Hypertransport will be part of the Hammer line and has nothing to do with current socket A CPU. You won't see it for another year til the hammers start showing up.
c627627
Golden Member
Don't know about Enermax, but this just in:
🙂 Nforce 2 to run AMD 400 MHz Athlon Bartons 🙂
Yes.
Not that I'd spend a bundle on Bartons now but it's good thinking longterm to be able to upgrade one day.
🙂 Nforce 2 to run AMD 400 MHz Athlon Bartons 🙂
Yes.
Not that I'd spend a bundle on Bartons now but it's good thinking longterm to be able to upgrade one day.
justshawnf
Member
Hmmmm.... I'm confused. I thought HyperTransport would only be for Athlon64 and Opteron too, but according to the manual for the 8rda+ on the Epox site, this board has it. Look at page 1-3, third paragraph.
Paragraph in question
While I'm gonna wait for the 5-way nforce2 roundup promised in a week or 2, I'm kinda leaning toward this one. Hopefully they'll be in stock soon. 🙂
randomlinh
Lifer
you haven't been keeping up w/ the various forums have ya 😉 The asus board seems to have a bit of a buggy bios. Not a major problem, unless asus doesn't release new bioses in a timely manner. ah well, at least other than OC'ing, it's been great (until i can get my hands an some seagate SATA drives... grr.. why won't staples carry em...).
c627627
Golden Member
Yes but only EPOX will initially have a $99 board, and if this is an upgrade, and you have your a sound card and a lan card, why go with the more expensive plus version if $ is an issue.
EDIT: Price difference between + and non+ is now too small to even consider the non+ version IMHO.
lazarus000
Senior member
both prices of the Asus brand boards have raid (0/1)
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=68
$127.00 and $140.00
seems to me the differences between the two are better sound (soundstorm), better lan (integrated 3Com®) and probably most important for some, serial ata AND firewire.
if your upgrading, you probably don't need the sound or the lan... but the serial ata and firewire are some pretty good extras.
ninethirty
Member
To clear up what I've gathered from other threads (and nforcershq forum), the RealTek chip and Soundstorm are not mutually exclusive. Soundstorm (which Epox may or may not have, I haven't seen the specs) is a certification to see if the manufacturer implemented the digital audio properly. But the nVidia Soundstorm-certified chip only pipes out digital audio. That means in order to send the sound out the normal line out / headphones jacks, you need a Digital / Analog codec, which is where the Realtek chip comes in. Some codecs are better than others; Realtek is decent but about as good as you find on your average motherboard (there are some pretty technical comparisons on the nforcershq forum). If you use the SPDIF to go straight to a Dolby decoder, the Dolby decoder (part of your Logitech z640s or whatever) is doing the D/A work and you're bypassing the Realtek chip altogether, so you don't need to worry about it.
That said, whether EpoX went through the SoundStorm certification does say whether they'll be offering good digital sound. If they are, I wouldn't let the Realtek D/A chip throw you off.
Just my two cents there.
That said, whether EpoX went through the SoundStorm certification does say whether they'll be offering good digital sound. If they are, I wouldn't let the Realtek D/A chip throw you off.
Just my two cents there.
Lazarus, that's ignoring the fact that the RAID on those boards is on the serial ATA ports *only*, which means purchasing parallel-to-serial adapters to use with existing drives. Since the Asus boards are already more expensive than the Epox ones to begin with, I'll have ordered the 8RDA+ by the end of the day.
lazarus000
Senior member
Valid point ... i think i'm gonna wait a few weeks and see if i can get a xmas special on the asus.
the firewire and serial stuff are the forward technologies and i wanna try the serial ata...
good luck with your Epox
LostHiWay
Golden Member
Since EPoX marketing seems to suck, here is some info to clear up some confusion on this board.
The 8RDA+ that is coming has LAN and better sound, firewire (NO RAID onboard) . It has average overclocking features (cpu up to 2.0v, mem up to 2.9v and MAX FSB is 200mhz)
There will be no 8RDA!!
The 8RDAN has no LAN and basic sound (NO FIREWIRE or RAID). It has NO OVERCLOCKING FEATURES!!
The 8RDA2 and 8RDA2+ will be coming out at the end of December. Both have dual LAN, firewire onboard and premium sound. The 8RDA2+ will have onboard serial ATA RAID. Plus the very good overclocking features (cpu up to 2.2v, mem up to 3.2, max FSB is ??)
I'll be waiting for the 8RDA2+
...edit.. Also none of these boards will have onboard video
The 8RDA+ that is coming has LAN and better sound, firewire (NO RAID onboard) . It has average overclocking features (cpu up to 2.0v, mem up to 2.9v and MAX FSB is 200mhz)
There will be no 8RDA!!
The 8RDAN has no LAN and basic sound (NO FIREWIRE or RAID). It has NO OVERCLOCKING FEATURES!!
The 8RDA2 and 8RDA2+ will be coming out at the end of December. Both have dual LAN, firewire onboard and premium sound. The 8RDA2+ will have onboard serial ATA RAID. Plus the very good overclocking features (cpu up to 2.2v, mem up to 3.2, max FSB is ??)
I'll be waiting for the 8RDA2+
...edit.. Also none of these boards will have onboard video
lazarus000
Senior member
kinda part of my point... the Asus version of 8RDA+ has lan,firewire,better sound and raid serial ata
IMO it's worth the extra 10 bucks IF you wanna buy now.
Of course none of these boards have on-board video - that's what the 8RGA+ series is for. The 8RDA+ is supposed to come with Firewire - the manual has it listed, and IMO, that's the most reliable source right now. However, I'll let you know when I get my board in case someone here else hasn't had it in their hands first. Wouldn't be the first time a manual was wrong.
c627627, the non-plus version at Lynn Computers can be found here. As for whether or not they'll ship, who knows? They have the plus version for $115, but it's also got a flat $15 shipping fee, so it comes out to $130, same as GameVE.
Edit: whatisnew.com seems to confirm that the 8RDA isn't supposed to be manufactured: "The Epox EP-8RDA motherboard will not be produced. EP-8RDA+ will be the released product model number." This was a news update on the 20th of this month - I don't think the non-plus versions will actually ship.
Edit again: I'm 99% sure the 8RDA+ DOES have on-board Firewire. Why? Take a look at this screenshot posted by an Epox staff member on the AOA forums I linked above. And, no, he didn't add in a firewire card. Factor in that all pictures I've seen of the 8RDA+ have the IEEE-1394 connectors located at the spot they're shown to be in the manual, and I'd bet on the ponies that this board has Firewire.
c627627, the non-plus version at Lynn Computers can be found here. As for whether or not they'll ship, who knows? They have the plus version for $115, but it's also got a flat $15 shipping fee, so it comes out to $130, same as GameVE.
Edit: whatisnew.com seems to confirm that the 8RDA isn't supposed to be manufactured: "The Epox EP-8RDA motherboard will not be produced. EP-8RDA+ will be the released product model number." This was a news update on the 20th of this month - I don't think the non-plus versions will actually ship.
Edit again: I'm 99% sure the 8RDA+ DOES have on-board Firewire. Why? Take a look at this screenshot posted by an Epox staff member on the AOA forums I linked above. And, no, he didn't add in a firewire card. Factor in that all pictures I've seen of the 8RDA+ have the IEEE-1394 connectors located at the spot they're shown to be in the manual, and I'd bet on the ponies that this board has Firewire.
Cashmoney995
Senior member
In my opinion the mobo isnt the best. I bought the Leadtek Nforce 2 mobo, LEADTEK K7NCR18D-PRO And Its great. It has USB 2.0, Firewire, onboard LAN, 6ch sound and SPDIF. I know it doesnt overclock as well as the other boards, but performance bench's show that stock this baby is faster. At 120 at Newegg and free shipping I picked it up for my system.
c627627, there shouldn't be any difference, AFAIK, between the sound setups in the 8RDA+ and 8RDA2+. I, too, want to toss my SB Live! by the wayside. Too bad my FPS2000 speakers' only digital connection is a proprietary SPDIF DIN connector that's only available on SB Live cards - I'll likely revert to using the analog lines unless I can get a good deal on a new set of speakers.
Cashmoney995, where do you get that the Leadtek is faster? A reference or anything would be, y'know, good. And if it performs "better", as you claim, but doesn't overclock as well, that means the Epox will still come out on top in the hands of a competent user.
Honestly, this thread isn't about which board someone thinks is better - leave that for the Motherboard or Hardware forums. This thread is for people who want this particular motherboard and want to know who's got it, and for what price.
Cashmoney995, where do you get that the Leadtek is faster? A reference or anything would be, y'know, good. And if it performs "better", as you claim, but doesn't overclock as well, that means the Epox will still come out on top in the hands of a competent user.
Honestly, this thread isn't about which board someone thinks is better - leave that for the Motherboard or Hardware forums. This thread is for people who want this particular motherboard and want to know who's got it, and for what price.
jamautosound
Diamond Member
...and I, for one, appreciate all your investigative work!
Thanks Spidey!
Hmmm. . . I think I can wait for that. . .
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