EPoX EP-9U1697-GLi: ULi M1697 Goes Mainstream
by Gary Key on March 15, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
The ULi M1697 chipset fully supports all AMD Athlon 64 processors in both stock and overclocked conditions.
We tested our MSI 7800GTX video cards using NVIDIA 81.98 WHQL drivers to provide recent performance results. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless SLI is enabled. Resolution in SLI benchmarks is 1600x1200x32 with 4XAA and 8xAF where applicable. 3DMark and Aquamark3 benchmarks use a "Standard Score" setup at the 1024x768 video resolution for both SLI and non-SLI testing.
Note that while newer Beta drivers are now available from NVIDIA's nZone site for the 7900 series cards, the 81.98 remain the most recent official release. Testing began prior to the launch of the G71 cards, but the ULi PowerExpress Engine drivers appears to work with all current Beta drivers as well.
The ULi M1697 chipset fully supports all AMD Athlon 64 processors in both stock and overclocked conditions.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor(s): | AMD Athlon 64 4000+ utilized for all tests |
| RAM: | 2 x 512MB OCZ Technology PC4800 Platinum Edition Settings- DDR-400 at (CL2-2-2-5, 1T) |
| Hard Drive(s): | 2 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 300GB 7200 RPM SATA (16MB Buffer), 1 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300R0 300GB 7200 RPM IDE (16MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers: | ULi SATA Driver - 1059 ULi PowerExpress Engine Enabling driver - 1006E |
| Video Cards: | 1 x MSI 7800GTX (PCI Express) for all non-SLI tests 2 x MSI 7800GTX (PCI Express) for SLI tests |
| Video Drivers: | NVIDIA nForce 81.98 WHQL |
| Cooling: | Zalman CNPS9500 |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520 |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboards: | Abit AT8 Asus A8N-SLI Premium Albatron K8SLI Foxconn NF4SK8AA-8KRS Asus A8R-MVP (ATI RD480/ULi1575) Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe |
We tested our MSI 7800GTX video cards using NVIDIA 81.98 WHQL drivers to provide recent performance results. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1280x1024x32 unless SLI is enabled. Resolution in SLI benchmarks is 1600x1200x32 with 4XAA and 8xAF where applicable. 3DMark and Aquamark3 benchmarks use a "Standard Score" setup at the 1024x768 video resolution for both SLI and non-SLI testing.
Note that while newer Beta drivers are now available from NVIDIA's nZone site for the 7900 series cards, the 81.98 remain the most recent official release. Testing began prior to the launch of the G71 cards, but the ULi PowerExpress Engine drivers appears to work with all current Beta drivers as well.
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Palek - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
Gary,There is a spelling error in the last sentence of the 1st page:
"Let's find out how Epox's offering fairs against the competition."
The correct spelling is "fares" not "fairs".
Gary Key - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
I had corrected it on the final draft and somehow it still made it in. My fault for not catching it once the article went live last night. It is corrected now as are the ascending chart figures.Googer - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
Is epox part of Shuttle?http://local.google.com/local?q=Epox%20EP-9U1697-G...">http://local.google.com/local?q=Epox%20...utf-8&am...
Googer - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
The ULi M1695 is all about upgradeability and the ASrock implementation uses a 20pin PSU where as the Epox implementation needs a 24pin connection. Based on the benchmarks it also looks like you will need to purchase a PCI-e x1 gigabit controller.Speaking from experience, my biggest gripe on the ASrock M1695 is the BIOS is very quirky and can be very very slow to POST.
Epox is the king if you are an overclocker and overall performance is very impressive compaired to the ASrock ULi M1695.
Avalon - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
8Mb throughput? Are you sure that's not a mistake?The only comment on Epox's ethernet score was that it was not competitive...700Mb vs 8Mb...I'd say something is wrong, or a typo?
Palek - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
Yeah, I noticed that, too, then I found the missing "9" outside the graph area. The figure is correct, it's just the layout that is messed up.Gary Key - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
The actual number is 98.9Mb/s. Our graph engine has a small issue with variances that wide. It placed the 9 into the description field. I updated the text statement to reflect this issue. Thank you.Peter - Friday, March 17, 2006 - link
While you're updating, you might want to correct the research error that the RTL8201 is a "PCI based solution". It is not, it's just a PHY to the ULi chip's integrated 10/100 MAC.Oh, and when are you finally going to stop attributing memory performance to chipsets on AMD64?
Cygni - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
Might have to pick one of these up...Rock Hydra - Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - link
The Epox EP-9U1697 GLi displayed superb stability with 4 DDR2 modules in Dual-Channel operation at the settings of 2-2-2-7, but it required the command rate to be increased to 2T.