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Epox 4SDA5+ SiS648 Motherboard Review
Epox 4SDA5+ SiS648 Motherboard Review - PCSTATS
In addition to the old standard IDE RAID we find 5.1 audio (software codec), 10/100 NIC, IEEE 1394, USB 2.0, three DIMM slots and AGP 8X.
 82% Rating:   
Filed under: Motherboards Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Epox Nov 12 2002   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Motherboards > Epox 4SDA5+

Benchmarks: QIII Arena & Conclusions

Quake III Arena

Source: ID Software

Quake III Arena is a First Person Shooter (FPS) that revolutionized gaming as we know it. Using multiple light sources and having graphics textures that can fill videocards, even after 3 years it's still able to bring a cutting edge system to its knees.

Quake III Arena Fastest demo001 (SYSTEM)

Motherboard (FSB)

3DMarks Ranking
1. 845PE Max2 - 133/333

379

2. PX845E Silver - 133/266 341.5
3. 4SDA5+ - 133/400 388.8
4. 4SDA5+ - 160/320 412.5

Quake III Arena Fastest nv15demo (CPU STRESS)

Motherboard (FSB)

3DMarks Ranking
1. 845PE Max2 - 133/333 109.3
2. PX845E Silver - 133/266 97.2
3. 4SDA5+ - 133/400 108.6
4. 4SDA5+ - 160/320 115.5

In the demo001, we can certainly see the 4SDA5+ flex its muscles!

Conclusions on the 4SDA5+ from Epox:

Well, the Epox 4SDA5+ certainly wasn't a disappointing motherboard. With a retail price of $180 CDN ($105 US) the 4SDA5+ is pretty price competitive as well (to Intel chipset based systems).

More importantly, the SiS 648 chipset proved it could also perform well in the benchmarks. The chipset often performed on par with i845PE based motherboards. In terms of overclocking potential, we were amazed that the 4SDA5+ was actually able to 160 MHz FSB.... most other SiS 648 based boards have a really hard time even cracking 150 MHz FSB.

The Epox 4SDA5+ features on board IDE RAID, 5.1 AC'97 audio, a 10/100 NIC, IEEE 1394, USB 2.0, 8x AGP, six PCI's and three DIMM slots. The board unofficially supports PC3200 memory. With a passive heatsink on the SiS 963 southbridge, Epox seem to be preparing this system for some extra duity. That little heatsink is a good addition as the northbridge did get fairly hot during our testing phases.

Epox should have really included Serial ATA with the 4SDA5+ since many other motherboards in its class have that new and emerging technology. While 5.1 channel sounds nice in the marketing sheets, I really have to whish the CPU sapping AC'97 codec would be dropped in favor of the C-Media 8738 chipset as the de facto standard for integrated sound.

On the tweaking level, it would have been nice to be able to set the AGP/PCI frequencies. Most users won't give this a passing though though, so this won't make much of a difference unless you are a dedicated benchmarking nut. Overall the Epox 4SDA5+ is a pretty good board and, one that would make the good foundation for anyone building a new P4 system as long as they don't intend to adopt Serial ATA anytime soon.

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< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Motherboards Reviews...»

 

Contents of Article: Epox 4SDA5+
 Pg 1.  Epox 4SDA5+ SiS648 Motherboard Review
 Pg 2.  Attention to Details - on board Features
 Pg 3.  SiS 648 Northbridge and 963 Southbridge
 Pg 4.  The BIOS on the 4SDA5+
 Pg 5.  Benchmarks: sysmark 2002, Winstone 2002
 Pg 6.  Benchmarks: Winbench 99, Sandra 2002
 Pg 7.  Benchmarks: PCmark 2002, 3DMark 2001
 Pg 8.  — Benchmarks: QIII Arena & Conclusions

 
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