BIOS
EPoX's BIOSes are much like its boards. They're stable, fast and offer a decent array of options.
EPoX use a regular Phoenix AwardBIOS setup. It's always easy to navigate and offers decent flexibility. Heading on over to the POWER BIOS section first. This is where EPoX regulates speed and voltages.
Using a 200MHz FSB Pentium 4 processor, FSB speeds can be set to between 200-350MHz, chipset and CPU permitting. The 5LWA+ is already rated at 266MHz, so 300MHz+ isn't out of the question. What aids overclocking efforts is the ability to lock the PCI/PCI-Express buses to their default levels. You can, of course, select a higher PCIe frequency, but there's little to be gained from pushing it upwards. The Real Time Turbo Mode function dynamically overclocks the FSB when the system is placed under load. The increased frequencies are dependent upon system FSB speeds. For example, at 200MHz FSB, one can set the Turbo function to either 202, 206, 210, or 214MHz, 220MHz and 226MHz, respectively. At 266MHz FSB, the options change to 269, 274, 279, 285, 293 and 301MHz. System memory, assuming a 200MHz FSB CPU is used, can be set to either a synchronous 1:1 (DDR2-400) or 3:4 (DDR2-533). It's a shame that this BIOS doesn't support DDR2-667 at 200MHz. The bandwidth will most likely be wasted as the processor simply can't use it, but it's a nice option to have.
CPU voltage range depends upon CPU installed. You can get up to 0.0875v below the default level (not much, is it?) or 0.2375v above. Our sample tended to undervolt, under load, by up to 0.1v, so the range isn't as impressive as it should be. Chipset voltage tops out at 1.8v and DDR2's at 2.15v. A little more punch would have been nice.
RAM timings are just what you'd expect. Set lower timings for increased performance, assuming your DDR2 can handle it. The 5LWA+ was run with conservative SPD timings at DDR2-533 speeds.
Dual PCI-Express Gigabit Ethernet!. Networking has never been so impressive or easier.
Decent reporting in the health section. Note that, if installed, you can view the Thermo Stick's temperature here. A decent enough BIOS in most respects, but I do wish that EPoX would implement some form of on-the-fly overclocking and config-saving functions found on competitors' boards.
