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Would you like CrossFire or SLI with that?

Epox has unveiled new NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI and ATI Xpress 3200 based motherboards—the EP-MF590 SLI2 and MD580 XR. The EP-MF590 SLI2 is based on the nForce 590 SLI and supports DDR2-533/667/800 MHz memory. Four 240-pin DIMM slots are available with support for up to 16 GB of system memory.

Expansion slots come in pairs with the Epox EP-MF590 SLI2. Two PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and two PCI slots are available. Epox specifications claim the board has one Express Card connector but it’s nowhere to be seen on the board.

The standard six SATA II ports and single parallel ATA supported by the nForce 590 SLI is implemented in the EP-MF590 SLI2 as well. Epox has taken the extra step to offer a JMicron JMB363 for two SATA II ports and one parallel ATA port. Two 1394a ports are also available as an option too.

A Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit PHY provides Ethernet functionality for the Ethernet controllers built into the nForce 590 SLI. The onboard Ethernet supports Teaming and TCP offloading features. Lastly audio is provided by a Realtek ALC883 high definition audio codec. Eight channels of audio output is supported as well as S/PDIF in and outputs. 

The MD580 XR uses the Radeon Xpress 3200 (RD580) coupled with the new ATI SB600 south bridge. Since NVIDIA purchased ULi motherboard manufacturers are starting to use ATI south bridges on boards instead of the ULi M1575. Luckily the performance problems that plagued previous ATI south bridges were fixed with the SB600.

Four 240-pin DIMM slots are available with support for up to 16 GB of system memory. DDR2-533/667/800 MHz modules in dual channel are supported. Expansion slots are pretty generous with two PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and three PCI slots. Four SATA II ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 are available via the ATI SB600. As with other Epox boards announced a JMicron JMB363 is available as an option for two more SATA II ports and one PATA port.

While recent boards have been showing up with two Gigabit Ethernet controllers, the MD580 XR is equipped with a single Marvell 88E8055 PCI Express controller. Lastly audio is provided by a Realtek ALC883 high definition audio codec with support for eight channels of audio.

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24 Pin Power...
By anandtechrocks on 6/7/2006 7:33:19 PM , Rating: 2
I don't like the postitioning of this connector. I think it will hinder airflow and may get in the way of some larger heatsinks.

However, I'll take back all my criticism if it allows for cleaner power to the components...




RE: 24 Pin Power...
By KorruptioN on 6/7/2006 9:28:10 PM , Rating: 2
Epox has always been wierd with their power layouts. They also don't look like 8-phase power schemes like what we get with the high-end Asus boards, but I could be wrong on that one.

I am liking the provisions for the EPS12V connection though.

The DIMM slots are too close to the CPU and there's no spacing between each DIMM.


RE: 24 Pin Power...
By Mortal on 6/7/2006 10:48:29 PM , Rating: 2
Indeed.I'm not "enthusiastic" about that ATX connector position.

I think I've said it in each EpoX motherboard thread lately, but it really does annoy the heck out of me.


RE: 24 Pin Power...
By Stele on 6/8/2006 4:46:57 AM , Rating: 2
You're not alone, I'll bet. Epox probably places the connector there so that it can be right next to the power supply cicuitry; that would greatly shorten the traces necessary as well as avoid potential routing and EMI difficulties caused by having to run power traces halfway across the board's depth.

Having said that, they could have placed the connector on the other side of the power circuitry, i.e. on the edge of the motherboard. That's not even mentioning the fact that other manufacturers don't seem to have problems having the connector in the right place, so EpoX shouldn't either. I wonder what their excuse is.


who cares
By eckre on 6/7/2006 6:45:41 PM , Rating: 1
Who cares, there are no AM2 Athlon CPU's avalible. I think newegg has 3 of the upper end ones, no 3800s or 4000.




RE: who cares
By jm20 on 6/7/2006 6:53:09 PM , Rating: 2
Instock

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?Pr...
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?Pr...

Also instock all over Canadian Etailers, what are you seriously talking about?


By shecknoscopy on 6/7/2006 7:05:50 PM , Rating: 3
NO cooling solution! Bare chips, baby! We're going to party like it's 1982!

Yeah, yeah - I know it's a display model, and they're trying to show off their sexy li'l 590 chipset and all - but woe onto those who fire up that top board without some heatsinkage.

Well, except for our Inuit PC enthusiasts, who can just do this in their igloos. They have over 60 different words for "overclock," you know.




Black & Red ?
By R3LIC on 6/8/2006 1:34:28 AM , Rating: 2
what happened to the classic green with orange/yellow ???
aside from being awesome boards, thats why i usually buy epox.
im very dissapointed.




bad
By Missing Ghost on 6/8/2006 2:57:57 AM , Rating: 2
Sorry, but actually I think theses board are awful. That's some bad layout they have there. Bad position for the power connector, sata ports in the way of long expansion cards, IDE in the way of expansion cards, floppy at the bottom, cpu to close to ram, no heatsinks for the vrm, etc.




SOS, DD
By Beenthere on 6/7/06, Rating: -1
RE: SOS, DD
By customcoms on 6/7/2006 11:01:36 PM , Rating: 2
I hope your not including DFI in that list...they have produced the best enthusist level motherboards the world has ever seen in the past year and 1/2. When was the last time any board hit an HTT (More commonly known as the FSB, but its really not in an AMD64) speed of 500 mhz? And guess what, the majority of these boards have the standard reference board design for the PCI slot configuration..so blame ATI or Nvidia for these mess up. Besides the power layout, Epox boards have been pretty decent the past few years...nothing spectacular but they overclock more easily than DFI boards.


RE: SOS, DD
By customcoms on 6/7/2006 11:03:29 PM , Rating: 2
*mess ups*. They are easier to overclock but the same level of performance is hard to achieve (what can you expect with less settings...)


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