865PE/875P Motherboard Roundup June 2003 - Part 1: 20-way Shootout

Epox 4PDA2+

The 4PDA2+ comes with a somewhat unique IDE RAID support powered by HighPoint's HPT372N controller. Two of the four onboard IDE connectors are regulated by the HPT372N while the final two IDE connectors are controlled by the ICH5R South Bridge (but running through the PCI bus), better known as the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors. Not surprisingly Epox went with Silicon Image's SI3112A controller for two of the four Serial ATA connectors onboard the 4PDA2+, as this controller is widely used among high-performance modern-day motherboards, though performance still lags a bit behind SATA controllers from Promise. With the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors, SI3122A Serial ATA connectors, ICH5R Serial ATA connectors, and HPT372N IDE connectors the 4PDA2+ is able to support a grand total of twelve SATA/IDE drives. This is certainly an impressive amount of drive support. We can't image any user being disappointed with such a varied assortment of SATA and IDE options. Unfortunately you won't be able to use the HPT372N for any ATAPI (optical) drives, but keep in mind that you can always use the Primary/Secondary IDE channels.

Epox has a good habit of organizing their BIOS features well, a tradition that is continued with the 4PDA2+. While a FSB maximum of 350MHz isn't anything special, a VDIMM max of 3.30V and a VAGP max of 2.2V are certainly noteworthy. If only the Vcore support were better; currently the highest available option in the 4PDA2+'s BIOS is 1.60V. Epox tells us, however, that a revision 2.0 4PDA2+ motherboard will be released onto the market with Vcore support up to 1.85V just like their 875P-based 4PCA3+. If you're going to be purchasing the 4PDA2+ and are a hardcore overclocker we suggest you wait for revision 2.0 of the 4PDA2+, otherwise go for it if you don't desire more than 1.60 Vcore.

Another nice addition that is rare among motherboards BIOSes is VDIMM and VAGP voltage readings in the PC Health section. VAGP undervolts to about 1.47V-1.48V at default 1.5V VAGP spec, while VDIMM undervolts by just 0.01V. One other interesting thing to note is that Epox doesn't adhere to the default voltage spec of 2.5V set for all modern-day memory modules. Instead Epox goes with 2.6V, which isn't a bad thing if you're a memory performance buff.

We can't stress enough how good Epox is at providing solid and overclocking-friendly BIOSes that are fully functional right from the start. The fact that this motherboard worked exactly as it should have straight out of the box is another thing we take seriously, as it's a common trait among popular, high-performance desktop motherboards.

The addition of IEEE 1394 FireWire support is also worthy of note, as even the most high-end motherboard can sometimes lack basic PCI IEEE 1394 FireWire. Oddly enough Epox chose to implement IEEE 1394 FireWire for their 865PE-based 4PDA2+ and not their 875P-based 4PCA3+. Funnily enough Epox is one of a shrinking majority of motherboard manufacturers whose 865PE motherboard is still slower than their 875P motherboard, meaning Epox has yet to find the workaround to enable PAT-like abilities.

Anyway, Epox chose Agere's FW323 controller for FireWire support. This controller is capable of supporting up to 3 ports, all of which must be activated via the three onboard headers located at the bottom of the PCB below the 5th PCI slot. Thankfully Epox doesn't skimp on accessories and includes the 3-port FireWire bracket to make use of the onboard headers.

The few negative aspects of the 4PDA2+ are, for the most part, fairly trivial. One layout decision we were quite annoyed with was the location of the clear CMOS jumper, which is located in the worst possible position you could image, smack dab in the middle of two mid-sized capacitors and two SATA connectors. We were forced to use a tweezers just to clear the CMOS. One other feature we would have like to have been changed was the omission of Intel's CSA Gigabit bus. Instead the 4PDA2+ integrates onboard Broadcom 5705 Gigabit Ethernet running directly through the PCI bus. As we illustrated here, CSA does make a significant impact on performance. However if you're like most people, you're not transferring large amount of data through Gigabit Ethernet and therefore do not need to worry about this feature.