VTrider -
First, their are a couple of differences to consider between the Epox and the Gigabyte. The specs are close between them, but their are some important differences you should know about. First, the Epox uses the newest Southbridge from Via, the 8235, while the Gigabyte uses the older 8233A. The main differences between the two are the 8235 has native USB 2.0 support, and it also has a upgraded V-Link connection between the Northbridge and Southbridge. The 8233A has a 266mb/s V-Link connection while the 8235 has a upgraded 533mb/s V-Link connection.
Both boards have USB 2.0, but how you get USB 2.0 is a little different on both boards. The Gigabyte uses a separate integrated Via controller that is essentially a PCI card on the motherboard. like the RAID controllers. Even though there is a separate chip on the motherboard, it still uses the PCI bus for communication. The newer 8235 Southbridge supports USB 2.0 natively, so there is no need for a separate controller chip. I'm also not positive on this, but I think the USB 2.0 of the 8235 is taken off the PCI bus and uses the V-Link connection. This is really not a huge deal, and I doubt you would notice too much "real world" performance difference between the two..but I think it's a important point.
Another important difference is the RAID controller. The Gigabyte uses the Promise "Lite" RAID controller chip, essentially a crippled Fasttrack TX2000 RAID controller. The Epox on the other hand, uses the Highpoint HP372 chip. The Highpoint, unlike the Promise, allows for fully configurable RAID setups...either 0, 1, or 0 + 1, and you can define your block sizes. The Promise chip only allows RAID 0 and 1, and does not allow you to specify the block size of the array.
Now, on to the onboard sound. The Gigabyte still uses the very dated Creative chip, essentially a PC128 card. It is only a 2 channel solution, but it can be made four channel I believe. The Epox on the other hand has the latest Realtek codec?s and is a full 6 channel solution. Neither sound options will replace a nice PCI soundcard, but if you need to use them, the Epox has nicer sound.
The last important difference between the two has to do with overclocking. The Gigabyte, like most other KT333 boards, only allows up to a 1.85v setting for the Vcore...and it's done in percentages..ie +7%, +10%. The Epox on the other hand lets you choose specific voltages, and has a large range from as low as 1.4V to as high as 2.2V! Many people do Vcore mods to their boards just to get around 2.0v...the Epox will go as high as 2.2v without any modding. While it really isn't a good idea to go above 1.9v, you have the option with the Epox if you need that last little bit of juice to stabilize your CPU.
Now, don?t misunderstand me, the Gigabyte and Epox are both great boards. I actually am running a o/ced GA-7VRXP (1.1) with no issues downstairs in one of my other systems. It's a great board, but if I was buying now, the Epox would be my choice hands down.
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