Thoughts
As the basis for any retail endeavour, Sturgeon performs well and offers good features, although we urge the vendor doing the implementation to consider a different and more appealing expansion slot layout.RD580 proves it has legs, the BIOS is as tweakable as ever with DDR2 memory parameters adjustable as any we've seen on DDR-based S939, and the board and its core logic was a willing host for the Socket AM2 processor we've tested it with.
We have too many reservations to initially recommend it based on the reference showing, should it make it to market via a partner unchanged, but we definitely look forward to other in-depth RD580 + SB600 + AM2 board analysis based on the Sturgeon sample.
SB600 finally arrives, works, and works well in all our test scenarios, so look for it to supplant the (NVIDIA-owned) ULi M1575 southbridge IC in high-end RD580 designs as they transition to Socket AM2.
A significantly flawed board, but not in terms of performance, main features or adjustability.
