EPoX 8KTA3+

Layout

Whoever at EPoX designed this board really knew what they were doing. Few people may look at it this way, but sometimes motherboard design approaches the level of artistic expression, and the 8KTA3+ is one such motherboard: the well-considered overall layout and combination of components lends to it an almost aesthetic quality.

The 4 DIMM solution, for example, is much appreciated. It does not allow you to use more memory than the chipset’s maximum of 1.5GB, but it does allow you more flexibility in reaching that maximum; for example, if you happen to have a bunch of old 32MB modules laying around, you can fill this board up with them and still get 128MB.

The 1 AGP/ 6 PCI/ 1 ISA/ 0 AMR setup is ideal. You probably won’t need to fill up all 6 PCI slots; indeed doing so may be well nigh impossible, as PCI 1 shares an IRQ with the AGP slot, PCI 4 shares one with the HPT370A chip, and PCI 6 and the ISA slot is an either-or situation. I do however welcome the absence of an AMR slot and the inclusion of the sixth PCI in its place.

A second welcome exclusion is the AGP Pro slot. Instead of making the AGP slot “Pro” compatible, EPoX has chosen instead to do something useful with it: a safetly lever that locks in place when an AGP card is proprely installed and which can be depressed to uninstall the card with greater ease. I have seen such levers on Legend QDI boards in the past, but never on board targeted at the high end of the market.

AGP card lock

“3-Phase Power” is an expression that has been kicked around in motherboard reviews since the dawn of Socket A, but it has only recently become important. 3-phase power refers to a set of 6 MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors) that help convert power to the CPU. The previous norm of 4 MOSFET/2-phase solutions are insufficient for the latest Athlons, and can reach 65º under heavy loading. Virtually every new Socket A motherboard features 3-phase power, but EPoX have gone a step further on the 8KTA3+, and equipped the transistors with little heatsinks.

Power MOSFETs... with heatsinks

In case you encounter any problems during installation, EPoX has included a nice little extra on the southwest corner of the board: a diagnostic LED that displays different 2-digit codes as the board goes through the POST process. If something goes wrong, this LED will give you some clues as to where the problem lies. This onboard solution is preferrable to a separate PCI debug card.

Debug LED

A further look at the southwest corner of the board also reveales that EPoX has reserved the possibility of providing a second BIOS for those who are concerned about killing the first one with an update failure.

But for all the artistry of the board, there is still one chink in the armor: a single jumper, labeled “JP5” that is required to determine whether the FSB is to be 100 or 133. More on this Achilles’ heel later.