EPoX EP-9U1697 GLI Motherboard Review - SLI Killer?
ULI M1697 Chipset & Specs
When the ULi M1697 chipset was launched a few months back, it had all the traits of becoming a great budget solution with nearly all the features of the AMD nForce 4 chipset and a cheaper price too! With an ULi engineered patch that enabled SLI and reports of being a great overclocker, the ULi M1697 was quickly becoming a poor (or smart) person's solution for a cheap yet fast gaming and overclocking computer.
Besides being our first hands-on look at ULi's M1697 chipset here on PC Perspective, today we're also examining the package prepared by the folks at EPoX - the EP-9U1697 GLI motherboard. With NVIDIA just completing aquisition of ULi, the M1697 may be the last of its kind we'll see on the market for a while.
| ULi M1697 | NVIDIA nForce 4 X16 | NVIDIA nForce 4 SLI | VIA K8T900 | ATI XPress 3200 | ATI XPress 200 CrossFire | ||||
| PCI Express | |||||||||
| # PCI-E Lanes | 20 | 40 | 20 | 22 | 40 | 22 | |||
| #16X | 1 ** | 2 | 1 ** | 1 ** | 2 | 1 | |||
# 1X | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||
| # 2X | 1 | ||||||||
| Dual Graphics Suppoer | Unofficial SLI | SLI | SLI | - | CrossFire | CrossFire | |||
| SATA-II | |||||||||
| # Controllers / Lanes | 1 | * | * | * | * | * | |||
| # Connections | 4 | * | * | * | * | * | |||
| RAID | 0, 1, 0+1, 5 | * | * | * | * | * | |||
| SATA | |||||||||
| # Controllers / Lanes | - | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| # Connections | - | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||
| RAID | - | 0, 1, 0+1, 5 | 0, 1, 0+1, 5 | 0, 1, 0+1, 5 | 0,1 | 0,1 | |||
| ATA-133 | |||||||||
| # Controllers / Lanes | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| # Connections | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| RAID | No | 0, 1, 0+1, 5 | 0, 1, 0+1, 5 | No | 0, 1 | ||||
| Audio | |||||||||
| Azalia | AC '97 v2.3 | AC '97 v2.3 | Envy 24 | Azalia | AC '97 v2.3 | ||||
| PCI | |||||||||
| ? | 6 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 | ||||
| USB 2.0 | |||||||||
| 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | ||||
* Manufacturers may choose to add this functionality seperately.
** 16X slot configurable to two 8X slots for dual graphics cards.
Socket Type: | Socket 939 |
Chipset: | ULi M1697 |
Processor: | AMD Athlon-64 and Athlon-64 FX |
Max FSB: | 2.0 GTs HT FSB |
Memory: | 4 x DDR SDRAM PC2700/PC3200 Dual Channel, 4GB max. |
AGP/VGA Slot: | Single 16x / dual 8x for GLI support* |
PCI Slot: | 3x PCI, 1x PCI-E x1 |
IDE: | 2 x E/IDE Ultra DMA/133, 4 drives max. |
SATA: | 4 (SATA II, RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5) |
USB: | 8 (4 Rear, 4 Pin Header) USB 2.0 |
Network: | Integrated 10/100 LAN |
Audio: | Realtek ALC65X selectable 2 or 6-CH audio with SPDIF header |
SPDIF: | Yes |
BIOS: | Award/Phoenix BIOS v6.0 |
Power BIOS: | Yes |
LED Debug: | P80P LED Debug Display |
Size: | ATX (305mm x 245mm) |
Accessories: | IDE/Floppy Cables, SATA Data/Power Cables, I/O Shield, CD Driver, Manual |
(*corrected from "Dual PCI-E x16 for GLi Support")
Source: EPoX's website
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