Ever since the nForce2 chipset was introduced late last year VIA has been a distant second to NVIDIA in the minds of Athlon XP enthusiasts. Since nForce2’s introduction NVIDIA has enjoyed increased profits and market share from their CPU chipset business. Ironically, NVIDIA’s traditionally rock solid grasp on the video chipset market has waned over the last nine months due to a combination of two factors; a severe lack of execution on the 0.13-micron process from foundry partner TSMC, and tough competition from ATI’s R300 line of products, which coincidentally became available just a few weeks before the first nForce2 motherboards started trickling into the channel late October of 2002. We wonder if ATI will be able to successfully penetrate the Socket A chipset business with a killer technology like nForce2; we’re sure NVIDIA will be watching that development quite closely.

Anyway, at long last we can take an in depth look at VIA’s final Socket A chipset, the KT600, which started shipping just under a couple of weeks ago. Today we bring you a review of one of the first motherboards based on VIA’s KT600 chipset, the Epox 8KRA2+. Epox has put together a very intriguing high-end Athlon XP motherboard that, contrary to the present pattern, is based on a single channel DDR memory controller. Read on to find out if the 8KRA2+ deserves to be in your next system...

UPDATED 7-1-2003

Epox 8KRA2+: Basic Features

Motherboard Specifications
CPU Interface	Socket-462
Chipset	VIA KT600 North Bridge VIA VT8237 South Bridge
Bus Speeds	up to 250MHz (in 1MHz increments)
Core Voltages Supported	up to 2.000V (in 0.0250V increments up to 1.85V, and 0.050V after that)
I/O Voltages Supported	N/A
DRAM Voltages Supported	up to 3.20V (in 0.1V increments)
Memory Slots	3 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots
Expansion Slots	1 AGP 8X Slot 6 PCI Slots
Onboard IDE RAID	HighPoint HPT372N controller (RAID 0, 1, & 0 + 1. Hot Swap capable)
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394	Eight USB 2.0 ports supported by VT8237 VIA VT6307 IEEE-1394 FireWire (up to 2 ports available)
Onboard LAN	VIA VT6102 10/100 controller
Onboard Audio	Realtek ALC655 codec
Onboard Serial ATA	Two SATA connectors via VT8237 (RAID 0, 1 & 0 + 1)
BIOS Revision	6/17/2003 Date

As part of the 8KRA2+’s package you get onboard Realtek ALC655 sound. This codec is capable of dynamically switching your Mic in, Line in, and Line out ports depending on which port you plug your speakers into. In other words, it doesn’t matter which port you plug your speakers into, they will be automatically configured to operate properly. Gigabyte was one of the first motherboard makers to use this codec, and others are following. Unfortunately we think Epox made a mistake by using the ALC655 instead of VIA’s VT1616 codec. For example, if you use the analog out port on an MCP-T powered nForce2 motherboard you will not be taking advantage of the nForce2 APU (Audio Processing Unit) embedded in the MCP-T, but instead will be hearing sound mostly processed via the Realtek ALC650 codec (which is of lower fidelity than most decent add-in sound card solutions). The VT1616’s advantage stems from the fact that it can offer high fidelity sound while still using analog out. In other words you won’t receive sound as good as the VT1616 codec provides from an MCP-T powered nForce2 motherboard unless you make use of a SPDIF-out port and have speakers with a receiver. Epox could have one upped other nFore2 motherboards in the sound department if they had simply opted for the VT1616 codec instead of the ALC655 codec. Of course, a KT600 motherboard with a VT1616 codec will still never be able to encode Dolby Digital sound in hardware like nForce2 motherboards with MCP-T can, but most users hardly have a need for this feature anyway.

The basic onboard LAN included with Epox’s 8KRA2+ comes courtesy of the VIA VT6102 PHY. Despite the high-end nature of this motherboard the 8KRA2+’s VT6102 PHY is a simple 10/100 solution and therefore not the 10/100/1000 Gigabit solution you would expect to find on high-end Pentium 4 motherboards and select Athlon XP motherboards. Still, this will suffice for users that do not transfer large amounts of data over GbE.

The 8KRA2+’s I/O ports configuration includes two PS/2 ports, two serial ports, one parallel port, four USB 2.0 ports, one 10/100 LAN port, and Mic In, Line In, and Line Out audio ports, which drive the onboard sound. Unfortunately the 8KRA2+ does not carry any rear SPDIF or IEEE 1394 FireWire ports, something that is slowly but surely becoming standard on cutting-edge desktop motherboards. The VIA VT6307 FireWire support is only available via onboard headers, which requires you to give up a PCI slot to activate two FireWire ports. Nonetheless the 8KRA2+’s combination of I/O ports will be able to meet the needs of average users and most enthusiasts.

The 8KRA2+ fully supports IDE RAID, courtesy of HighPoint's HPT372N controller. There are two purple IDE connectors located at the bottom right-hand corner of the 8KRA2+’s PCB that are regulated by this HPT372N controller, which is not only capable of RAID 0, 1, and 0 + 1 RAID arrays but is also capable of Hot Swapping. The Hot Swap feature is a very nice addition for users that don’t want the hassle of closing their apps and shutting down their system to install or uninstall drives on the HPT372N IDE connectors. The major downside to this controller is that it does not support ATAPI drives (i.e. optical drives), only hard disk drives. That means you will only be able to connect a total of four ATAPI drives to the 8KRA2+ via the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors. Our own personal systems certainly don’t have more than four ATAPI drives, but there are some users that may need more than four. In total, the 8KRA2+ supports eight IDE drives and two Serial ATA drives for a total of ten active drives capable of being connected to the 8KRA2+.

To give you a quick synopsis, the KT600 North Bridge is feature set identical to the KT400A North Bridge save support for 400MHz FSB Athlon XP processors. Virtually all shipping Athlon XP Thoroughbred (and some Barton) processors can run at 400MHz FSB unmodified with the correct motherboard, though your mileage will vary as it always does when you engage in any type of overclocking. We have tested half a dozen KT400A motherboards in our West Coast Labs that we haven’t published reviews on simply because we believed that KT400A would be a short-lived, interim solution until VIA could ship enough VT8237 South Bridges to go along with their KT600 North Bridges. Not surprisingly, top tier motherboard manufacturers have not released KT400A motherboards, or have only produced KT400A motherboards in limited quantities.

The final and most unique piece of the 8KRA2+ puzzle deals with the VT8237 South Bridge, the latest and greatest South Bridge from VIA and only the second shipping South Bridge on the market behind Intel’s ICH5R that integrates support for Serial ATA RAID and eight USB 2.0 ports. In terms of RAID support the VT8237 is actually superior to Intel’s ICH5R. The ICH5R only supports RAID 0 and RAID 1 (soft RAID) arrays, while the VT8237 supports RAID 0, 1, & 0 + 1 arrays. The advantage of RAID 0 + 1 is fast data access (like RAID 0) but with the ability to loose one drive and have a complete duplicate surviving drive or set of drives (like RAID 1). In case you didn’t already know, RAID 0 + 1 is stripping (RAID 0) and mirroring (RAID 1) combined without parity having to be calculated and written. The VT8237’s support for RAID 0 + 1 is a nice addition for users looking for the best combination of RAID support in a desktop motherboard. In addition to all of this VIA has also upped V-link's throughput from 533MB/s to 1066MB/s. Besides the features we just described the VT8237 is identical to the VT8235CE, which has shipped with the vast majority of KT400 motherboards and all KT400A motherboards currently available in retail channels.

UPDATE 7-3-2003

Epox 8KRA2+: Board Layout

There were quite a bit of layout problems with the 8KRA2+. While we rarely encounter a layout issue severe enough to considerably lower our opinion on a motherboard, we still feel that a motherboard’s layout is an important part of the equation our readers should be aware of, especially for enthusiasts that like to tinker, tweak, and modify their computers.

One of the more annoying layout decisions Epox makes with the 8KRA2+ is the placement of the ATX (20-pin) connector on the left-hand portion of the PCB near the I/O ports. Since standard PSUs do not have an extra long ATX cable this location is not ideal since it will increase clutter due to the intrusive ATX wires obstructing the installation/uninstallation of the CPU HSF, memory modules, and any other components that you may decide to modify or uninstall in that area. If you’re using a high-quality PSU with an extra-long ATX connector then you have nothing to worry about, but the ATX connector location is still poor for those users that can’t afford (or simply do not need) the best PSUs on the market. Admittedly, quality PSUs are getting cheaper so this point becomes more and more moot with each passing day.

One of the most important layout decisions a motherboard maker can make is the positioning of the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors in relation to the DIMM slots. In the 8KRA2+’s case the Primary/Secondary IDE connectors are not where they should be. They are located below the AGP slot, which will inevitably cause you to go out and purchase longer IDE cables (wasting the bundled cables that come with the 8KRA2+), unless you are content with a messy drive bay configuration, where your 1st drive bay goes completely unused. If you’re not at all concerned with how your computer case looks then this will not be an issue for you, but personally I think it’s ridiculous, and I am not a computer case fanatic.

Another poor layout decision was the placement of the 8KRA2+’s DIMM connectors. The DIMM connectors are extremely close to the AGP slot, so close that part of the video card we used for testing (GeForce4 Ti4600) touched the DIMM slots in their closed position. The primary reason we prefer to see DIMM connectors placed far away from the AGP slot is because you will be forced to uninstall your video card if you want to install any additional memory, which is definitely a notable hassle. Epox is one of the few motherboard makers that has bucked the trend of leaving space between DIMM connectors and the AGP slot.

The location of the Floppy connector is one bright spot though, as it is placed at the very edge of the motherboard just past the Primary/Secondary IDE connectors. This location will allow users to tuck the Floppy cable towards the front of the case, thereby avoiding any potential collision with other cables. This is a big deal for the so-called “neat freaks”, but is also nice for users that have see-through cases.

Epox 8KRA2+: BIOS and Overclocking

The 8KRA2+ uses Phoenix Technology’s Award BIOS, a very popular BIOS among enthusiasts.

The 8KRA2+’s PC Health section is fairly standard, with a few nice touches throw in. Some of readings in this section include System and CPU temperatures, CPU and Chassis fan speeds, Vcore, VDIMM, VAGP, PSU readings (all rails), and a battery voltage reading. Epox is one of the few motherboard makers that includes VDIMM and VAGP readings in the BIOS. We are glad to see Epox continue this tradition, as many enthusiasts enjoy seeing as many readings as possible in the BIOS. The only thing we would have added to this PC Health section would be a fan speed control option. We should also mention that there is an option for enabling or disabling PC Health readings during POST. This option is enabled by default and is extremely handy if you want to quickly check your system’s vitals without having to enter the BIOS and then reboot your system.

There is a DRAM timing section within the Advanced Chipset Features section of the 8KRA2+’s BIOS that includes the usual memory timings; CAS Latency, RAS to CAS Delay, RAS Precharge, and Precharge Delay. What is nice about this section is that you can also tweak such memory options as Command Rate and Bank Interleave. These options increase performance without jeopardizing stability and so were enabled during all of our performance tests. We suggest you do the same if you’re utilizing quality memory modules.

The memory divider options aren’t anything to write home about. There are three memory frequencies to choose from when your FSB is set to 200MHz. There’s DDR266, DDR333, and DDR400 (133MHz, 166MHz, 200MHz). These options will scale accordingly as your FSB is raised or lowered, despite what the misleading POST screen might display (e.g. at a 1:1 ratio the POST screen might read out DDR400 at 410MHz FSB even though memory is really running at DDR410).

Epox continues to include stellar voltage options with their motherboards, with the 8KRA2+’s VDIMM capable of being adjusted up to 3.2V in 0.1V increments. This voltage ceiling is more than enough for any hardcore enthusiast, and can in fact be detrimental to your memory modules if set at this value. Unless you’re shooting for extremely high frequencies of 466MHz-500MHz DDR we suggest no more than 2.8V. Otherwise 2.9V-3.1V with memory modules like OCZ’s GOLD series is acceptable.

The 8KRA2+’s Vcore options are more than adequate in terms of highest attainable voltage, as 2.00V is unnecessarily high for your Athlon XP anyway. What’s disappointing is that you can only adjust Vcore in 0.0250V increments up to 1.850V, and 0.050V after that. Since the 8KRA2+ undervolts between 0.03V and 0.04V this compounds the problem a bit further. Most enthusiasts should have nothing to worry about though, as any extra frequency gained from a higher than 1.80V Vcore offers little real world benefit using air cooling. Other methods of cooling are a different story altogether, but also a significantly more expensive story.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the Epox 8KRA2+ from an overclocker’s perspective is the lack of an AGP/PCI lock. This feature is standard on Intel chipset-based motherboard’s as well as nForce2 motherboards. This isn’t Epox’s fault though, it’s the fault of VIA’s KT600 chipset.

Oddly enough Epox completely left out any VAGP adjustments in this BIOS revision. However, Epox has assured us that they will release a BIOS update on their web site that allows VAPG adjustments up to 2.2V in 0.1V increments as per Epox tradition, so we can let this oversight slid for now. We don't doubt Eopx will come through because they have done similar things in the past, specifically with their Intel 875P-based 4PCA3+ motherboard; initial engineering BIOSes had a Vcore ceiling of 1.60V while the final shipping BIOS had a Vcore ceiling of 1.850V, as Epox promised.

We would like to end this section by saying that the little things Epox does with their motherboards (like incredible voltage adjustments, PC Health readings during POST, etc.) is the reason Epox has developed an almost cult-like following among performance/overclocking enthusiasts. Other motherboard makers need to differentiate themselves like Epox.

FSB Overclocking Results

For FSB overclocking, the following setup was used on the Epox 8KRA2+:

Front Side Bus Overclocking Testbed
Processor:	AMD Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton core)
CPU Vcore:	1.650V (default)
Cooling:	Volcano 7+ HSF
Power Supply:	Enermax 350W

Using the above overclocking setup we were able to reach a stable FSB overclock of 215MHz. Since the 8KRA2+ only supports a 1/6 PCI divider the AGP and PCI buses were running out of spec (66MHz/33MHz), which limited our potential FSB overclock. We wouldn’t be surprised if a 215MHz FSB overclock using a similar setup is about the best you’ll be able to get from motherboards based on the KT600 chipset, especially since Epox Socket A motherboards are usually at the very top of the FSB overclocking heap. As a reference, we’ve been able to easily reach over 220MHz FSB with several nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards, due in part to the ability of these motherboards to lock the AGP and PCI buses. AGP/PCI bus locking is commonplace now and is what will continue to hold back VIA chipset-based motherboards from winning over overclocker’s hearts.

Epox 8KRA2+: Stress Testing

We performed stress tests to the 8KRA2+ in several different areas and configurations, including:

1. Chipset and motherboard stress testing, conducted by running the FSB at 215MHz; and
2. Memory stress testing, conducted by running RAM at 400MHz with one DIMM slot filled and at 400MHz with all three DIMM slots occupied at the lowest timings possible.

Front Side Bus Stress Test Results:

As usual, we ran a large load of stress tests and benchmarks to ensure the 8KRA2+ was absolutely stable at each experimented, overclocked FSB speed. We ran our standard array of stress tests, including Prime95 torture tests, which were run in the background for a total of 24 hours.

We also proceeded to run a number of other tasks, such as data compression, various DX8 games, and light applications like Word and Excel, while running Prime95 in the background. Finally, we re-ran our entire benchmark suite, which includes Sysmark 2002, Quake3 Arena, Unreal Tournament 2003, SPECviewperf 7.0, Jedi Knight 2 and XMPEG. In the end, 215MHz FSB was the highest overclock speed that we were able to achieve on the 8KRA2+ using our conservative overclocking setup without encountering reliability issues.

Memory Stress Test Results:

This memory stress test is very basic, as it simply tests the ability of the 8KRA2+ to operate at its officially supported memory frequency (400MHz DDR) and at the lowest supported memory timings that our Corsair TwinX LL modules support:

Stable DDR400 Timings (1/3 banks populated)
Clock Speed:	200MHz
Timing Mode:	Ultra
CAS Latency:	2.0
Bank Interleave:	4-bank
RAS to CAS Delay:	2T
RAS Precharge:	6T
Precharge Delay:	2T
Command Rate:	1T

It’s not surprising to see that the 8KRA2+ achieved such low memory timings with just one memory module running at 400MHz DDR.

The following memory stress test is obviously a bit more strenuous on the memory subsystem than most memory stress tests, since it tests the rare occasion that a desktop user will install three DIMMs running at DDR400, at the most aggressive memory timings available in the BIOS:

Stable DDR400 Timings (3/3 banks populated)
Clock Speed:	200MHz
Timing Mode:	Manual
CAS Latency:	2.0
Bank Interleave:	disabled
RAS to CAS Delay:	3T
RAS Precharge:	6T
Precharge Delay:	2T
Command Rate:	1T

These are fairly decent memory timings, considering all memory banks are occupied and running at 400MHz DDR. However, we’ve certainly seen better timings, especially from dual channel DDR motherboards. All in all, these results really aren’t that poor.

We tested all these memory timings using several stress tests and general applications to guarantee stability. We initiated the tests by running Prime95 torture tests; a grand total of 24 hours of Prime95 was successfully run at the timings listed in the above charts. We also ran Sciencemark (memory tests only) and Super Pi. All three stress tests could not make the 8KRA2+ fail at the timings listed in the above charts.

Epox 8KRA2+: Tech Support and RMA

For your reference, we will repost our support evaluation procedure here:

The way our Tech Support evaluation works is first we anonymously email the manufacturer's tech support address (es), obviously not using our AnandTech mail server to avoid any sort of preferential treatment. Our emails (we can and will send more than one just to make sure we are not getting the staff “on” an "off" day) all contain fixable problems that we have had with our motherboard. We then give the manufacturer up to 72 hours to respond over business days and will report not only whether they even responded within the time allotted but also if they were successful in fixing our problems. After publishing the review, if we do eventually receive a response we will go back and amend the review with the total time it took for the manufacturer to respond to our requests.

The idea here is to encourage manufacturers to improve their technical support as well as provide new criteria to base your motherboard purchasing decisions upon; with motherboards looking more and more alike every day, we have to help separate the boys from the men in as many ways as possible. As usual, we are interested in your feedback on this and other parts of our reviews so please do email us with your comments.

On March 1, 2003, Northgate Innovations acquired the sole Epox motherboard distribution rights for North America. As a result of this agreement, Northgate Innovations will handle all sales, service, support and RMA in the U.S. However, Epox’s technical support form remains on their homepage. Simply click on the “support” hyperlink, which brings up four icons, the first being a picture of a motherboard. In case you’re interested, click on the “services” hyperlink and it will take you to a notification of Epox’s signing with Northgate Innovations.

Epox chooses to address technical support needs by using a tech support form. This form is quite thorough; it asks you to fill out your first and last name, e-mail address, address/location, model and serial number, retailer from which you purchased your Epox product and date of that purchase, and your system’s specifications (BIOS date, processor, memory, video card, etc.). Finally, at the bottom of the page, there is a space for a detailed description of your specific problem(s). All in all, we think that the tech support form is an excellent way for Epox to adequately and quickly respond to tech support emails.

As mentioned earlier, Northgate Innovations handles Epox’s RMA. Click on the “services” hyperlink in the middle of the screen, where five hyperlinks will appear, and then click on the one that reads “online RMA”. The form is quite extensive, containing both form and return policy all within the same web page. The form asks for complete personal information (including name, address, phone, etc.), customer ID, order number, invoice date, e-mail address, part number, description of the product, quantity, cost, and you must check off whether it is an exchange or refund (credit) being requested. Finally, you must list your reason for return, which includes any issues(s) associated with your product.

For your convenience, we will post Northgate’s return policy in its entirety:

1. Please make sure the product being returned has the exact part # as shown on the RMA document and original invoice.
2. Please include all add-on items (cable, software, math co-processor, ram modules, adapters, manual, etc.) in original packaging. Incomplete packages will not be accepted and will be returned at the customer’s expense.
3. Products damaged through negligence or during return shipment will void the warranty and will be returned without replacement at the customer's expense.
4. All replacements will be returned to the customer via the original shipping method.
5. All credit refunds will be processed within 15 days upon receipt of the RMA.
6. Release clearly mark RMA number on top of All packages.
7. Returned items MUST arrive to our facility within 7 days from the issuance of the RMA #, OR THE RMA # will be voided.
8. SHIPPING CHARGES ARE NOT REFUNDABLE.
9. Products will not be accepted if the warranty label/sticker is removed from the product (Only applicable for products with warranty label).
10. All return packages MUST be insured or certified.
11. **Your contact info needs to be large and legible, any hand writing that is illegible to read will increase the RMA turn around time or be delayed.

Both the return policy and RMA form are quite simple. They include all the essential information and comprehensiveness that one requires in making returns quick and effortless.

Epox was impressive with their tech support response time for this review, clocking in at just less than 12.5 hours. This is one of the best response times we’ve received from a motherboard manufacturer, although Albatron still holds the record at 2 hours flat. When you couple Epox’s excellent tech support response time with Epox/Northgate Innovations’ solid RMA policy, you have one of the best customer service-oriented motherboard makers around.

Performance Test Configuration

Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	AMD Athlon XP 3200+ (400MHz FSB)
RAM:	2 x 256MB Corsair PC3200 TwinX LL (v1.1) Modules (SPD rated at CAS 2-2-2-6)
Hard Drive(s):	Western Digital 120GB 7200 RPM Special Edition (8MB Buffer)
Bus Master Drivers:	NVIDIA nForce version 2.03 (January 30, 2003) VIA 4in1 Hyperion 4.47 (May 20, 2003)
Video Card(s):	MSI GeForce4 Ti 4600 (AGP 4X)
Video Drivers:	NVIDIA Detonator 44.03 (May 14, 2003)
Operation System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Motherboards:	Gigabyte 7NNXP (nForce2 Ultra 400) @ 202.77MHz FSB Epox 8KRA2+ (KT600) @ 202.44MHz FSB

All performance tests run on nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards utilized two 256MB Corsair TwinX LL PC3200 (v1.1) modules set to CAS 2-2-2-5 timings, running in dual channel DDR400 mode. All performance tests run on the KT600-based 8KRA2+ utilized the two Corsair modules listed in the chart above with the following performance settings enabled.

DDR400 Timings (2/3 banks populated)
Clock Speed:	200MHz
Timing Mode:	Ultra
CAS Latency:	2.0
Bank Interleave:	4-bank
RAS to CAS Delay:	2T
RAS Precharge:	6T
Precharge Delay:	2T
Command Rate:	1T

• AGP fast write enabled
• AGP Aperture set to 128MB

Content Creation & General Usage Performance

For our Content Creation & General Usage performance we continue to use SYSMark 2002. The applications benchmarked include:

• Internet Content Generation: Adobe Photoshop 6.01, Adobe Premiere 6.0, Microsoft Windows Media Encoder 7.1, Macromedia Dreamweaver 4, and Macromedia Flash 5
  
• Office Productivity: Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2002, Microsoft Access 2002, Netscape Communicator 6.0, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred v.5, WinZip 8.0, and McAfee VirusScan 5.13

For more information on the methodology and exactly what SYSMark does to generate these performance scores check out BAPCo's SYSMark 2002 Whitepaper.

Media Encoding and Gaming Performance

High End Workstation Performance - SPEC Viewperf 7.0

The latest version of SPEC Viewperf proves to be an excellent stress test for memory bandwidth and overall platform performance as you're about to see. The benchmarks included version 7 of the benchmark suite are:

3ds max (3dsmax-01)
Unigraphics (ugs-01)
Pro/Engineer (proe-01)
DesignReview (drv-08)
Data Explorer (dx-07)
Lightscape (light-05)

For more information on the tests run visit SPEC's page on the new Viewperf benchmark.

High End Workstation Performance (continued...) - SPEC Viewperf 7.0

Final Words

There are some good and some bad things to say about the Epox 8KRA2+. We’ll start with the bad. First off, the Epox 8KRA2+ simply isn’t as fast as nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards, Gigabyte’s model in this case. This is made abundantly clear by this review’s benchmark results, and will be even clearer with future KT600 motherboard reviews (though we will not rule out the possibility of an “uber” KT600 BIOS coming out that increases performance significantly). We should reemphasize, however, that the gap between KT600 and nForce2 Ultra 400 is not huge by any means, and in most cases will not be noticeable in real world usage. However, it is large enough that obsessive enthusiasts will stray away from the Epox 8KRA2+ in favor of nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards.

Despite the somewhat mediocre performance of the 8KRA2+ there are some very positive features this motherboard carries. The most positive feature is the 8KRA2+’s Serial ATA and IDE support. The VT8237 South Bridge natively supports two SATA drives (not taking into account daisy chaining) and eight USB 2.0 ports. This type of South Bridge is something nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards cannot provide, and probably won’t be able to provide for at least the next one to two months when MCP-S (or some sort of name like that) is released. Another positive feature the 8KRA2+ brings to the table is an onboard PCI HighPoint HPT372N controller that supports RAID 0, 1, & 0 + 1 arrays via two IDE connectors and is Hot Swap capable. In combination with the VT8237 South Bridge and Primary/Secondary IDE connectors the 8KRA2+ supports a grand total of ten SATA/IDE disk/optical drives. This is worth reiterating because these particular combinations of features are unique among high-end Socket A desktop motherboards.

The 8KRA2+’s overclocking ability is a mixed bag. While a 215MHz FSB overclock is not terrible by most standards, it’s still consistently lower than nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards we’ve tested before. The lack of an AGP/PCI lock is also a big minus as overclockers are forced to tweak their FSB overclock based on how out-of-spec they want their AGP/PCI buses to run. We were indeed forced to run the AGP and PCI buses out of spec because of the lack of an AGP/PCI lock.

However, in the end, we would still highly recommend the Epox 8KRA2+ to anyone striving to find that elusive high-end desktop motherboard. If you’re willing to spend a few more dollars for an nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboard we suggest you do so, as it brings higher performance and better FSB overclocking potential to the table. In addition, a good MCP-T powered nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboard, SPDIF-in/out ports, and speakers with a receiver will bring you the best onboard sound out of any desktop motherboard currently available on the market for a fraction of the cost of an add-in sound card.

UPDATE 7-3-2003 After testing the new Epox 8KRA2+ BIOS it is clear that application performance is nearly identical to the scores initially posted in this review. We now have a handful of KT600 motherboards in our West Coast Labs and it is, for the most part, quite clear that KT600 motherboards will be generally slower than nForce2 Ultra 400 motherboards. Perhaps as BIOSes mature performance will improve enough to overtake nForce2 Ultra 400, but we won't be holding our breath.