AM2 Motherboards-Part 4: ATI Crossfire Xpress 3200

Final Words

Over the last couple of months we have been evaluating motherboards that support the new AMD Socket AM2 processor released on May 23^rd. This Part 4 completes our initial journey as we finally get a closer look at retail ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 motherboards. It is also in some ways the most interesting installment since, along the way, AMD announced to the world that it was acquiring ATI. That means these new RD580/SB600 motherboards for Socket AM2 are a precursor for what will be coming from the marriage of AMD and ATI.

We are frankly disappointed that neither of the RD580 boards we tested was quite as good as ATI's own Reference design for AM2. This has been an ongoing problem with new ATI chipsets, and hopefully the future with AMD will now present the opportunity for ATI's outstanding chipset designs to finally make it to market whole. Manufacturers seem to think they can do it better than ATI, but frankly they haven't succeeded thus far, although ASUS and DFI have come close. In this round ATI should be grateful that MSI has it mostly right, since even though it is a much simplified board, the MSI is a terrific overclocker and a joy to use. We may also see some vindication in the DFI RD580 that should be just around the corner.

The ECS KA3 MVP remains a complete mystery. We still don't understand how ECS could possibly have imagined that a design without a CAS memory timing adjustment would be acceptable to the enthusiast market. It appears they are finally on the road to fixing that oversight, but then there are the nagging overclocking and cold boot problems. It's pretty hard to turn the best AMD based overclocking chipset we have ever tested - the RD580 for AM2 - into an overclocking slug, but somehow ECS has managed to do just that. Eventually ECS turned their RD480 design into a really stellar performer, but it took quite a few BIOS updates. Perhaps they can do this again to their KA3 MVP Extreme, but we're puzzled as to why ECS has to reinvent the wheel each time a new board comes out. Is there no repository of knowledge in the company that allows it to build on what it learned in past designs?

After looking closely at nine AM2 boards using NVIDIA and ATI chipsets, it's time to dust off a few AnandTech awards. Any of these boards except the ECS would make a very good home for a shiny new AM2 and new DDR2 memory, but a few stand out from the rest.

It is easy to understand why AMD chose the ASUS M2N32-SLI as the reference board shipped in their launch kits. Typical for ASUS, the M2N32-SLI is a completely passive cooling design. The NVIDIA 590SLI is a rather hot chipset, but the ASUS still manages to keep temperatures under control with the silence only a passive design can deliver. The shipping retail version of the board is improved even more - overclocking higher and providing even more features. All of the NVIDIA 590SLI features are supported and the overclocking options are particularly noteworthy.

AnandTech presents the Gold Editors Choice for Best AM2 Motherboard to the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe. The innovative 8-phase design with completely passive cooling works very well. The end result is an exceptionally stable motherboard and the best overclocker among the eight tested AM2 motherboards. ASUS clearly listened to the computer enthusiast when they were designing the M2N32-SLI. ASUS should be applauded for including very fine voltage increments in their BIOS adjustments. Most overclockers are finding these finer adjustments very useful for getting the most from lower voltage boards while presenting less risk of damage.

The other reference board - the Foxconn C51XEM2AA - was the launch vehicle for the NVIDIA 500 chipset family. As part of a joint design with NVIDIA the Foxconn fully supports every bell and whistle NVIDIA threw at the 590SLI chipset. The Foxconn is a great overclocker but it does not overclock quite as well as the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe. The Foxconn does, however, offer every adjustment you could possibly imagine and then some to the enthusiast, and it is the only board that includes an IEEE1394b port. It was also thoroughly debugged by every review site in the world during the AM2 launch and is extremely stable and very mature.

AnandTech is pleased to present our Silver Editor's Choice for Best AM2 Motherboard to Foxconn for their innovative C51XEM2AA. Foxconn is one of the largest motherboard manufacturers in the world, but most enthusiasts do not think of Foxconn when looking for a top-of-the-line board. This Foxconn will change that perception forever. Foxconn actually managed to provide even more controls than the ASUS, and frankly if it used passive cooling on the South Bridge or overclocked just as well as the ASUS, the Foxconn would be our Gold Editors Choice. This motherboard represents a very impressive piece of engineering from Foxconn and NVIDIA.

The only drawback for either of these motherboards based on the NVIDIA 590SLI chipset is the high price you will pay. The price premium is not as significant today as it was before the launch of Conroe, but the ASUS and Foxconn still sell in the $200 price range. That is too much for many enthusiasts and we had this in mind when selecting our Bronze Award. The Epox 570SLI and MSI K9A provide almost all the performance of the Foxconn and ASUS - for about $130.

The AnandTech Bronze Award for Best AM2 Motherboard goes jointly to the MSI K9A Platinum and the Epox MF570SLI. Both boards provide outstanding value in a crowded field. The MSI is the best shipping example of the ATI RD580 chipset, an outstanding overclocker, and a board that will deliver the kind of features and performance demanded by enthusiasts - including full support for CrossFire in dual X16 PCIe slots. The Epox, based on the NVIDIA 570SLI chipset, is about $70 cheaper than 590SLI motherboards, but it still delivers virtually all the performance, overclocking and features found on the more expensive boards. The Epox MF579SLI is an exceptional value, and it is only missing dual X16 support for SLI. The Epox supports dual X8 SLI capability.

Today's Editors Choices are those we believe to offer the best performance or value on the market today - based on in-depth comparisons of the features, performance, and overclocking abilities of a large group of tested motherboards. We congratulate ASUS, Foxconn, MSI and Epox for the outstanding boards that received our Editors Choices for Best AM2 Motherboards. We are also excited about a few motherboards coming down the pike that might just shake up our notion of what is best. Intel Core 2 Duo may have taken some of the luster off the AMD pearl, but this group of AM2 motherboards represent some of the best performance and overclocking we have ever seen with AMD processors.