Presentation and bundle
EPoX has gotten steadily better at presentation. The majority of motherboards are sold via online vendors in the UK. That's not always the case in other countries, so presentation matters.
It looks nice, and it has a nice carrying handle. The information sticker contends that the board is rated to a 1.6GTs HyperTransport link. That's 4x LDT frequency in BIOS talk.
Perhaps the strangest and most thoughtful addition has to be EPoX's multitool, which comprises of a double-sided screwdriver. We saw this tool first surface on the eX5-300S barebones system. It's genuinely thoughtful with respect to installation. What's more, EPoX also included a pack of heatsinks that can be placed on select hotter components. There's a couple of purple rounded ATA cables that are let down by a standard grey floppy cable. We can't see why EPoX never carried the rounded theme through. A couple of USB2.0 ports sit off a fly lead and another cable provides GAME and COM ports. EPoX is a bit stingy in only including 2 SATA cables for the 6 ports, though.
EPoX's manuals are usually above average. That's no exception here. The main manual, written entirely in good English, covers most of the points a novice builder would need to know. A bit of colour wouldn't go amiss, however.
Software-wise, it's all acceptable. A nice GUI lets you install drivers and utilities with ease. What stands out is EPoX's Magic BIOS and WinFlash, a couple of web-based flashing utilities; Magic Screen, a user-defined boot screen; there's also a comprehensive system monitoring GUI and full versions of Ghost and PC-Cillin antivirus software. What we'd like is a one-touch complete software installation program, rebooting as need be. Wouldn't that be nice?.
A decent enough bundle, really. Perhaps EPoX should venture into the world of front-mounted add-on boxes like, say, DFI and Chaintech. It's nice not to have everything crammed on to the back panel.
