EPoX EP-4PLAI
I gave most of the features away on the previous page, but handy table format never killed anyone. Here's the formal specification.| EPoX EP-4PLAI | |
| CPU Support | 1 x Socket 478 |
| Northbridge | Intel 848P |
| Memory Support | 2 slots, DDR400 max, 2GB max |
| AGP | 8X |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH5 |
| Audio | ICH5 feeding Realtek ALC655 |
| Audio Connectivity | 3 port backplane speaker |
| PCI | 5 x 32-bit 33MHz PCI 2.1 slots |
| IDE | 2 ATA133 compliant ports from ICH5 |
| IDE RAID | None |
| SATA | 2 ports from ICH5 |
| SATA RAID | None |
| Ethernet | Realtek 8101L PHY, 100Mbit/sec |
| USB | ICH5, 4 x backplane USB2.0 |
| FireWire | None |
| Other I/O | PS/2, Parallel, 2 x Serial |
Just the basics, but what's really to be expected for £50? It's not as if the basics are that bad either, 100Mbit/sec Ethernet from the venerable Realtek 8101L start you off. Realtek also get AC'97 CODEC duty with the ALC655, a cutdown 650 that can nonetheless do 6-channel audio. The speaker port triplet is autosensing, capable of figuring out whether you're using them for six channel output, or mic and line input, along with standard two speaker line out. For the 4PLAI's purposes, you don't get any S/PDIF connectivity (in the tested bundle at least) for that part of its specification, but 16-bit resolution and 48kHz sampling are present and correct on all inputs and outputs. A single coax digital port would have been nice to see, but I guess a $1 header is a fair chunk of board price budget.
You get a pair of SATA ports from the ICH5 (the BIOS is confusing, mentioning RAID options and the presence of ICH5/R), plus two regular IDE ports for optical and IDE disk connection.
It's basic, but 4 USB2.0 ports, 800MHz CPU bus support and HyperThreading hold it up somewhat. I'd like to see someone do a packed Canterwood spec board using the bridge, with CSA et al, just for giggles. Bundle is as bare as you'd expect.
Bundle and Presentation
I usually run to a seperate page for the presentation and bundle, but with 4PLAI, there's really no need. EPoX aren't famed for their bundles at the best of times, this wasn't going to be an exception.
The box art actually gave my camera a headache or two, the slightly out of focus design causing the autofocus no end of trouble. Manual focus and a steady hand won out in the end. The bundle contents run to the following.
- Manual
- Floppy cable
- 80-pin IDE ribbon
- SATA data cable
- SATA power cable
- Game port cable
- ATX I/O shield
- Driver CD
Two SATA cable pairs wouldn't have killed EPoX, or another IDE ribbon, instead of the game port. Does anyone use that any more? The manual is EPoX's usual understated quality. I've been a fan of their manuals for a while, easy to read and informative gets a thumbs up. It's multi-language too, helping to keep localisation hassles to a minimum.
A close look at the CD shows it's an 875/865 driver CD first and foremost, revealing the 848P's roots as a castrated 865PE. The CD contains everything needed to get most of EPoX's recent Socket 478 boards up and running. There's drivers for everything on there, one CD fits all. The auto installer did a good job of figuring out what was needed, driver wise. Infact the Realtek 8101 is old enough that original Windows XP Pro, pre SP1, knows all about it, no updated driver really needed. The ALC655 driver was all that was needed to completely support the board, bar a quick install of the latest Intel chipset driver set.
Proof of the slimline feature set, if nothing else. What about the board itself?
