EPoX 8HDA3+ Socket 754 Motherboard

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

EPoX 8HDA3+ Layout:

The board layout is designed fairly well, but we do have a few problems. The 20-pin ATX connector is right next to the 4-pin connector at the top left of the board. This is generally opposite of where we like to see them. The socket has been moved towards the center of the board, somewhat explaining why the connectors have been moved to the opposite side. The 8HDA3+ has two DIMM slots and we have seen more with other Athlon 64 boards. Some users might find this a little disappointing. Overall, we do not find that there are many gamers out there who need more slots but it is always nice to at least have the option.

The IDE connections are along the right side but far down enough to where cable length could be an issue for full tower cases. The floppy port is just below the IDE making it even further away. There are two SATA ports to the right of the South Bridge and the other four are along the bottom right of the board next to the Sil3114 chip.

The AGP slot is too close the DIMM slots. This means that every time a user would like to remove the memory that he/she will also have to remove the video card. This can be a real hassle for enthusiasts who are always tinkering inside the system, possibly trying out different memory. This is a common mistake found on many motherboards, and since we do a lot of memory testing, it is agitating.

The K8T800 chipset is located just to the left of the socket. It is cooled by a passive heatsink and does not have the four mounting holes around the chipset. The problem with not having the mounting holes is that an aftermarket cooler cannot be used unless a thermal adhesive is used. Some of the adhesives out there are not reversible and that makes some users hesitant to use them. We would have really liked to see the mounting holes. Perhaps a later revision of the board will add them to the design.

A feature that we commonly see on EPoX motherboards is the double 7-segment debug display. What this does is give codes during the initial booting of the machine. If something goes wrong during POST then the display will show the corresponding code to the error. It helps to troubleshoot problems with the machine instead of having to do guesswork.

Another feature that comes with the 8HDA3+ is color-coded connections for all of the front panel buttons such as reset switch, power on LED, and speaker. The positive pins for the connects are marked with plus signs making installation of these cables extremely easy. Normally users would have to refer to the manual but all the information is marked on the board. We have seen a large amount of motherboards manufacturers who are also starting to add this feature. It costs almost nothing to do so why not go ahead and add it. It saves a lot of headaches for end-users.