The nice thing about computers is that if you do your work, you can buy is a modular system from the very beginning, which can be "renewed" later in life without much noise. For example, if you want to play some games fast, you are better to catch a dual videocard capable motherboard now, to not have to update it later. Entry level dual videocard capable mother, not cost much more than the standard mother these days, so there is no reason not to. It's a win win situation really.

NVIDIA SLI and ATi CrossFire support increased dramatically in recent months and can make a world of difference when frame rates hit the fan. For example, when I play 'Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter "in the PC I see that the game can be a bit laggy with a single GeForce 7800GTX videocard. After installing one second 7800GTX SLI and allowing, framerates were silk smooth with AA and AF enabled !

So what options available that will not break the budget when it comes to a dual videocard mother? First, try something built on nVIDIA's nForce 570 SLI chipset, it is not top of the line, but offers good prices with most motherboards powered by it retailing for less than $ 150 CDN. The Epox EP-MF570 SLI motherboard is an example, so let's see how he handles the games, and all the other stuff you call legitimate work.

The nvidia SLI nForce 570 is a single socket AM2 AMD chipset solution, and is a little strapped for cash PCI Express lanes, compared with the nVidia nForce 590 families. The Epox MF570 SLI has two PCI Express x16 for dual graphics cards, and support SLI, but with each videocard receive 8 PCI Express lanes each, instead of 16. With a single videocard installed, all 16 tracks are dedicated PCI Express for that. In terms of characteristics of EP-MF579 SLI offers a collection very practical; dual Gigabit network cards, 7.1 channel Intel "Azalia" High Definition audio, plus a pair of Serial ATA II ports and a second IDE channel both of which can support RAID And, of course, the mark Epox an option Port 80 diagnostics card. The Port 80 card displays two digit alpha numeric codes that help resolve the status of a computer if something is amiss. The EP-MF579 SLI has two PCI Express x1 PCI slots and three 32-bit more peripheral expansion.

Epox EP-MF570 SLI motherboard

User Guide, Installation Guide System, Driver CD, 2x Rounded Ultra/133 IDE Cables, 1x Ultra/133 IDE Cable, Floppy Cable, 4x Serial ATA Cables, MOSFET heatsinks, Rear I / O Fan, Thermistor, USB header, I / O Shield.

This is an AMD socket AM2 motherboard, supporting all the existing 940-pin AMD Sempron, Athlon64 X2 and FX processors that formfactor. It's 240-pin memory DDR2 four slots will accommodate up to 16GB of double-sided memory DDR2-800, in a dual channel configuration.

Storage options are more varied than the new Core 2 Duo mother supply, the Epox EP-MF570 SLI has two IDE channels, a way of nVidia nForce 570 SLI chipset and a through a JMicron 3GB / s Serial ATA II / IDE controller. There are a total of eight Serial ATA II ports in Epox EP-MF570 SLI, six of which modes support RAID 0, 1, 0 +1 and 5 through chipset nVIDIA SLI nForce 570. The two additional 3GB / s Serial ATA II ports can be configured for RAID modes 0, 1, but not in conjunction with the 570 chipset nForce hardware RAID controller - the two operate independently.

The Epox EP-MF570 SLI motherboard finally shows signs of Epox's wild past with the Port 80 display and a pair of red power and reset buttons on the PCB. These are the tools for anyone contemplating a little down and dirty overclocking with this forum. Epox was one of the first manufacturers to bring this kind of tool for enthusiasts, and it is great to see them make their way towards the mainstream products like this nForce 570 SLI based platform.

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The Port 80 diagnostics standard existed for more than a decade and is more useful than usual LEDs for diagnosis or beeped. If you are using an MSI, Asus or Epox motherboard, Port 80 codes are identical from one platform to another and really come in handy when you are faced with a PC that refuses to boot.

Gear in the Box and (2) Instruction Manuals

One area where Epox really stands out is with the manuals that come with the motherboard socket AM2. The EP-MF570 SLI the Installation Guide System covers all the basics; installation of hardware, BIOS, installation and configuration same RAID. The guide is written in English plane as inexperienced users must find the whole process of putting together a computer manageable.

Epox include a set of eight small blue heatsinks VRAM (adhesive with one side), which can be attached to anything that you need to think a little more cold. They are one of the perfect size to the mother "power MOSFETs in fact. MOSFETs regulate the electricity and the processor can get hot during operation. Like any electrical device, keeping it cool is a good idea.

Fans tend to concentrate in temperatures well, and so it is surprising to note that Epox also have played in a small thermistor sensor in a short cable with the EP-MF570 SLI motherboard.

The thermistor can be positioned by the CPU, videocard, or SLI nForce 570 chipset to monitor the temperature, as an example. The temperature readings show in the BIOS and Epox's Thunder Probe temperature monitoring software should you choose to install it.

Also found in the box are a pair of white rounded IDE cables, whites and four SATA cables to match. Now only Epox would get around to the necessary IDE and SATA headers white to match the cables ...

The whites are rounded cables, in fact, very flashy, types of high quality. Many manufacturers include rounded cables that are rigid, or just shrink-wrapped standard IDE cables. If you were to buy the Epox rounded IDE cables separately, they will be the only ones to $ 20 range. Each wire was cut individually, so the molding around objects in the PC chassis is much easier. This is the point of rounded IDE cables, is not it?

The 40 mm rear I / O heatsink helps expel the hot air system, but occupies the space usually reserved for the parallel port of the printer. It is likely that most of us no longer have any use for this legacy port, so Epox Tuesday moved it to a motherboard header just below the last PCI slot. If you need parallel port, you will have to acquire and install the support itself, a is not included. From note in Epox EP-MF570 SLI rear I / O panel found optical SP / DIF audio and composite outputs, two RJ45 network gigabit Ethernet jacks, four USB2.0 headers and 7.1-channel audio headphone jacks. A custom I / O shield is included for this strange layout.