Conclusion
Let's break it all down and try to find the board that supplies us with the best overall package.
On the speed front the Asus P4C800 Deluxe appears to hold a slender lead, thanks to its over-inflated FSB and tweaked BIOS. All three boards have solid, dependable BIOSes with decent voltage adjustments. For pure ease of navigation the EPoX would probably get our nod. However, it seems to let itself down by providing mediocre Vcore adjustment. MSI, on the other hand, seem quite happy to let voltage freaks loose on their motherboard. Offering a dangerous amount of voltage in each of the key areas, you'd want to tread carefully when inputting BIOS options.
Performance and stability
18 - Asus P4C800D
16 - EPoX 4PCA3
15 - MSI 875P (only because of its inability to set memory latencies manually and relatively poor voltage regulation)
The Asus and EPoX boards appeared to have a little better voltage regulation than the MSI motherboard. That said, each board was solid as the proverbial rock in rigorous testing. The MSI did have a little trouble rebooting at 250+FSB, but we can't hold that against them. Asus' Ai BIOS setup is a nice touch.
BIOS
17 - MSI 875P EPoX
17 - Asus P4C800D
16 - EPoX 4PCA3 (Criminally low Vcore, excellent otherwise)
In terms of features the MSI is the slight winner. Onboard S-ATA RAID, discrete S-ATA, IDE RAID, 6-channel sound, Firewire, and CSA Gigabit LAN give it the greatest number of decent features of three. Whether you'll use all of these features is debatable. The Asus is close behind. It lacks the ICH5/R SB and specifies a lower standard of Firewire controller. Its AD1985 sound CODEC is a nice touch, though. The EPoX is no slouch in the feature stakes as it provides the IDE by the bucket. Only the lack of Firewire counts against this particular model.
Features and layout
19 - MSI 875P
18 - Asus P4C800D
17 - EPoX 4PCA3
MSI, the kings of add-on brackets, probably take the bundle and presentation category. The MSI box is a labyrinth of goodies. Additional brackets for every feature are provided, allowing you to maximise the board's potential. Asus let themselves down a little by not providing all the extras one would expect. There's no S-ATA power connectors, no extra cables for USB2.0 or Firewire. They do have some reasonable software bundled though. EPoX also seem to forego the USB2.0 cables that would have endeared themselves to a few more potential customers
Bundle and presentation
19 - MSI 875P
16 - Asus P4C800D
16 - EPoX 4PCA3
From a purely enthusiasts' perspective, the Asus was the most forgiving of high FSB and memory speeds. It didn't flinch at 3.6GHz/300FSB/200MHz memory. Perfect rebooting each and every time made it an excellent overclockers' board. The EPoX was close behind. The MSI wasn't totally happy when being pushed to the limit. We're assured that this board differs slightly to the production version but it wouldn't be our overclocking choice, irrespective of the voltages on offer. The voltage fluctuation seemed a little too severe at high FSB and volts.
Enthusiasts' perspective
19 - Asus P4C800D
18 - EPoX 4PCA3
15 - MSI 875P
Overall scores
88 - Asus P4C800 Deluxe
85 - MSI 875P Neo FISR
83 - EPoX EP-4PCA3+
The scores highlighted may not fit in with your thinking. It all depends upon your criteria for a motherboard. Suffice to say that each board has its relative strengths and weaknesses. No board is perfect and no board is poor. You pays your money an you makes your choice.
Looking through on-line vendors the Asus seems to be priced at around £165, the MSI at £155 and the EPoX at around £120. The Asus and MSI are widely available now. All three boards are recommended. It's hard not to with the level of features, performance and stability on offer. Just pick what's best for you.
