EPoX 8HDA3+ Socket 754 Motherboard

Company: EPoX
Product: 8HDA3+
Date Reviewed: October 27, 2003
Reviewed By: Joey Chao

EPoX 8HDA3+ Onboard Features:

There are two PS/2 ports, two serial ports, a parallel port, two LAN connections (Gb and 10/100), four USB ports, audio jacks, a coaxial SPDIF out and optical SPDIF out. The only feature that we see missing here is IEEE 1394. Other than the lack of 1394, the EPoX 8HDA3+ has a very rich I/O configuration. Dual LAN is not a very common feature to most motherboards but we are not complaining.

Gigabit Ethernet is becoming more common on motherboards today. Not everyone owns a Gigabit connection but eventually it will replace 10/100. Gb LAN will really benefit those who need to transfer large amounts of data such as offices or server applications. There are even a few people who strictly run Gb within the network and then 10/100 outside of the network. Do not forget that the 8HDA3+ also has a 10/100Mb connection giving it dual LAN.

The Sil3114CT176 provides the board with support for four more SATA devices. The chip also allows the drives to be put in RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1 configurations. This gives the board a grand total of six Serial ATA connections making it perfect for large storage applications. Most users will not complain that there is not enough storage support with this board. In fact, it is ideal even for small servers and workstations. The thought of four Western Digital Raptors in RAID 0+1 brings a smile to our faces.

The ALC655 is a 16-bit, full-duplex AC'97 Rev. 2.3 compatible six-channel audio CODEC. It supports SPDIF in and out although the board only has SPDIF output, meaning that you can connect the system to home theatre systems, etc.