System setup and notes
Here's a quick rundown of the test system should you wish to compare benchmark results with your own.- EPoX 8KDA3+ NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb chipset-based motherboard (07/04/2004 BIOS)
- EPoX 8HDA3+ VIAK8T800 chipset-based motherboard (24/03/2004 BIOS)
Other components
Software
- Windows XP Professional
No installation or operational problems to report. EPoX's latest Socket-754 board will be compared to the company's other S754 board, the K8T800-powered 8HDA3+. We ran the latest BIOSes for both boards and set memory latencies to 2-2-2-6. Whist our 8KDA3+ sample would work effortlessly at stock speeds, changing the multiplier caused consistent failed POSTs. Indeed, selection of any multiplier forced a no-boot scenario. EPoX is aware of this issue and reckons it will be corrected as soon as the first boards hit the market. It's a shame, then, that we can't explore the validity of EPoX's locked bus claims. What we need is a comprehensive OS-based adjustment tool.
Clock speeds were as follows:
2210.9MHz - AMD Athlon 64 Model 3400+ / EPoX 8KDA3+ (nForce3 250Gb - 2-2-2-6)
2210.9MHz - AMD Athlon 64 Model 3400+ / EPoX 8HDA3+ (K8T800 - 2-2-2-6)
Overclocking
Given the lack of multiplier adjustment of offer, we reached a maximum driven clock of 224MHz before probable CPU failure. We'll report back when armed with a revised, multiplier-changing BIOS is released.