BIOS
The sample was flashed to a BIOS revision dated 7th April 2005 before testing.
EPoX continues using its slightly modified AwardBIOS setup utility. Let's head over to where the action is at.
It's a shame that you cannot input your desired driven clock frequency. You have to cycle through each incremental frequency until you hit your desired speed. Frequencies range from the default 200MHz through to 400MHz. The PCI-Express clock speed can also be adjusted in a similar fashion, from the default and recommended 100MHz up to 145MHz. Interestingly and erroneously, the manual still refers to AGP bus speeds.
'Real Time Turbo Mode' is EPoX's take on dynamic overclocking. You can pre-configure the board to run at up to 31MHz above the set CPU frequency when under OS load. DDR frequencies vary between 100MHz, 133MHz, 166MHz, and 200MHz, with 200MHz delivering a potential 6.4GB/s in dual-channel mode. Both CPU and DIMM voltage lines are strong; up to 0.1v above what's set in BIOS. For example, setting 1.5v and using an Athlon 64 FX-53 CPU, XP load voltage is reported as hovering between 1.593-1.603v. Similarly, inputting a DDR voltage of 2.7v led to 2.74v in Windows, and DDR voltage tops out at 3.1v (3.12v in Windows). However, you cannot input a lower-than-default voltage for the CPU, so you're limited to a warm-ish CPU. CPU voltage tops out at 0.25v above whatever the board considers default for the CPU, and the updated BIOS supports Rev. E CPUs (dual-cores currently use a beta BIOS). Unlike other board manufacturers, EPoX still doesn't include a feature to restore and load a particular BIOS config. at the touch of a few buttons.
There's a whole slew of RAM timings. Running with a 1GB (2x512MB) pack of Corsair's Xpert 3200XL memory in dual-channel mode, the board correctly identified the SPD timings. You can tweak to your heart's content here.
Just some of the features on the EPoX 9NPA+ SLI.
EPoX leaves fan-speed adjustment to its USDM Windows-based utility. Note the strong lines for CPU and DDR voltage.
NVIDIA's flexible RAID technology on full show here. The BIOS isn't bad per se, but with others now incorporating on-the-fly overclocking and BIOS restore/load functions on even low-end boards, EPoX's BIOSes begin to look a touch jaded.
