Epox 8RDA/8RDA+

C

Crash7

Member
Is the only difference between these two motherboards is that the plus model has on-board LAN? I'm thinking about getting one of these. If the only difference is the LAN, I'll save myself 10 bucks and stick with my NIC.
 
8RDA+= LAN, 6-Channel sound and Firewire.

True, but out of those maybe only the onboard LAN is the most used. Firewire is a complete waste if you don't have peripherals that use Firewire.
 
The 8RDA+ 6-channel sound is very good IMHO (its also been reviewed as being as good as if not superior to Audigy 1), whereas the sound on then 8RDA has been reviewed as being quite poor (I never experienced it). Certainly I haven't bothered with a replacement soundcard since I went with the new mobo. Of course if you already have an Audigy 2 or such like then its no contest.
 
I've got the 8rda myself.

No need for onboard sound (Sound Storm is quite good, but it's no match for my Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96) :D
No need for onboard NIC's, because I've got 3Com 905's for that ;)
No need for Firewire, because I don't have any Firewire stuff.
 
The problem with the 6-channel sound is that like most of the other nForce2 boards, EPoX uses the ALC650 AC'97 codec to take advantage of the nForce APU. Remember that the nForce2 APU only acts as a DSP, final sound quality is still greatly determined by the DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) in the ALC650 AC'97 codec.
 
jonmcc33 said:
8RDA+= LAN, 6-Channel sound and Firewire.

True, but out of those maybe only the onboard LAN is the most used. Firewire is a complete waste if you don't have peripherals that use Firewire.
Click to expand...

Firewire is a great way to implement a little backbone in a home network. 400 Mbit/s over a $5 cable... cheaper than any conventional Twisted Pair ethernet and 2-4 times as fast.
 
Is the Firewire interface implemented in the Nforce 2 chipset or is it a separate chip? Any word on how good/compatible the implementation is?
 
Actually the onboard 2-channel sound of the 8RDA is excellent, with very good positional audio, though no match for the upper teir cards, probably better than most of the mid teir audio cards.

I sold my Areal 2500 sound card I had because I think the onboard is so good. Of course I realise the Aureal was obsolete and unsuported, but it was still as good as some of the exsisting low-mid teir stuff out today.
 
Metaluna said:
Is the Firewire interface implemented in the Nforce 2 chipset or is it a separate chip? Any word on how good/compatible the implementation is?
Click to expand...
There are two southbridges for the nForce2 chipset. The more expensive one supports IEEE 1394a, fully compatible with a bandwidth up to 400 Mbit/s
 
Just a quick follow-up, guys. I was all set to get an 8rda at NewEgg, but then I took a look at the customer feedback they were getting on those. Those who had no problems really loved them. But they seemed to have a frighteningly high percentage of DOA's. The 8rda+ did NOT. I don't really need the extra stuff, but I figure it was worth the extra $15 or so for some peace of mind. :) I ordered an 8rda+ with an XP 2700+, a nice Vantec cooler and 2 256 meg sticks of Corsair XMSLL DDR400. All that and a 9800pro should keep me happy for a while.
 
Crash7 said:
Just a quick follow-up, guys. I was all set to get an 8rda at NewEgg, but then I took a look at the customer feedback they were getting on those. Those who had no problems really loved them. But they seemed to have a frighteningly high percentage of DOA's. The 8rda+ did NOT. I don't really need the extra stuff, but I figure it was worth the extra $15 or so for some peace of mind. :) I ordered an 8rda+ with an XP 2700+, a nice Vantec cooler and 2 256 meg sticks of Corsair XMSLL DDR400. All that and a 9800pro should keep me happy for a while.
Click to expand...

:cool:

You'll be happy with it.
 
Firewire is a great way to implement a little backbone in a home network. 400 Mbit/s over a $5 cable... cheaper than any conventional Twisted Pair ethernet and 2-4 times as fast.

Backbone? I'm not familiar with anyone using a backbone in a HOME network. I've never heard of that being done either so I'd assume it's not too easy. Also I don't know where you get your price from. Last time I checked IEEE 1394 Firewire cable wasn't $5 or anything close to that.

Cat5 is perhaps the easiest to use and implement. Every single OS supports it. Let's see Windows 95 use Firewire for a network.
 
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