Would you like CrossFire or SLI with that?
Epox has unveiled new NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI and ATI Xpress 3200 based motherboards—the EP-MF590 SLI2 and MD580 XR. The EP-MF590 SLI2 is based on the nForce 590 SLI and supports DDR2-533/667/800 MHz memory. Four 240-pin DIMM slots are available with support for up to 16 GB of system memory.
Expansion slots come in pairs with the Epox EP-MF590 SLI2. Two PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and two PCI slots are available. Epox specifications claim the board has one Express Card connector but it’s nowhere to be seen on the board.
The standard six SATA II ports and single parallel ATA supported by the nForce 590 SLI is implemented in the EP-MF590 SLI2 as well. Epox has taken the extra step to offer a JMicron JMB363 for two SATA II ports and one parallel ATA port. Two 1394a ports are also available as an option too.
A Marvell 88E1116 Gigabit PHY provides Ethernet functionality for the Ethernet controllers built into the nForce 590 SLI. The onboard Ethernet supports Teaming and TCP offloading features. Lastly audio is provided by a Realtek ALC883 high definition audio codec. Eight channels of audio output is supported as well as S/PDIF in and outputs.
The MD580 XR uses the Radeon Xpress 3200 (RD580) coupled with the new ATI SB600 south bridge. Since NVIDIA purchased ULi motherboard manufacturers are starting to use ATI south bridges on boards instead of the ULi M1575. Luckily the performance problems that plagued previous ATI south bridges were fixed with the SB600.
Four 240-pin DIMM slots are available with support for up to 16 GB of system memory. DDR2-533/667/800 MHz modules in dual channel are supported. Expansion slots are pretty generous with two PCI Express x16, two PCI Express x1, and three PCI slots. Four SATA II ports with support for RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 are available via the ATI SB600. As with other Epox boards announced a JMicron JMB363 is available as an option for two more SATA II ports and one PATA port.
While recent boards have been showing up with two Gigabit Ethernet controllers, the MD580 XR is equipped with a single Marvell 88E8055 PCI Express controller. Lastly audio is provided by a Realtek ALC883 high definition audio codec with support for eight channels of audio.
sa: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=2658