BleepingComputer.com: Review Request for EPox AF590 sli 2 MoBo

I've been looking into building a new to me system with high (not the highest) gaming possibilities. In a shop close to home ( no shipping) I was offered up a system with this (EPOX AF590 sli2) mother board as a base. I read a review moments ago, from 2007 that touched base on bench marks and some connector issues. But for the most part gave the mobo a 8.5 or so and said it to be a stable OC platform.

I'm green at this type of assessment and was wondering what your thoughts might be on the product.

Also; I was wondering what a responsible price offer might be for the mobo alone. The box has 265.00 on it but the sales person made it very clear that the price was negotiable. They also have the assembled system w/alot of stuff I didn't write down( single card, 1 drive, hard drive;sorry I don't have specs) installed and functioning for 1200.00, negotiable priced as well. The case wasn't my cup o tea so I thought of parts instead.

Shipping to my area of the U.S. is a bit much, for instance; 1 video card 2nd day UPS 74.00 from newegg. Arg''''

Run far away. Epox went under a couple years ago (they were a big victim of the "Bad caps" syndrome). I think someone is trying to rip you off.

As far as I can tell they (Epox) are still around, however, I went to the WEBSITE but could not find any info on that mobo. I had a Epox mobo years ago and it was a good board, very stable. But I would be wary about someone who says the price is "negotiable"...

Wildabeast, on Jan 21 2009, 06:41 AM, said:

As did I. I used Epox boards for a lot of builds. Their Socket 7 stuff was great. The problems were later on starting with Socket A boards. The bad cap scare hurt them worse than any other maker it seemed. It was about 2003-2004 that it got really bad, I had to warranty a fair amount of boards.

Thanks for the quik replies. I went to the website that Wildabeast linked, then clicked on USA (third down in country section) its the board on the top right of next web page .
dpunisher, I don't know what Bad Caps is all about? I appreiciat the heads up (sounds real important). Can anyone elaborate?
Maybe the price is negotiable for many reasons? No longer a support company, couple year old board, may be the bad ones, I don't know the "bad cap" about.

The review I read was dated 2007. So I'm not sure, but maybe this board was a 2007 offering.
Again, thanks
Can anyone add to this?

What is Socket 7 referring to, I'm green.

I called the shop that I found the boards at, and the sales rep said EPoX has folded. This is, one of the later boards though. The built PC they have (with one in it) has been up since 2007. Who knows if its been used. But the bad cap thing in his exsplanation was that, Some bad capacitors had made it into the industry, and that the bad units would corrode them selves and burst the body ( usually the top of the can).

I have to say, My (bad) GF FX 5500oc has many bubles of the casings on caps( almost all), my E-Gate 6800xt Has one(bursting?) with some small brown dots. Is this the Same cap problem that rocked the industry. Yikes. And led to EPoX going out?
Can a burst cap be replaced on a board if it doesn't take somethink with it? or does it always?

Wow.

I got the socket seven question answerd as well. This board is not that old.

Thanks.

Here is a copy / paste of specs.
Socket AM2

Chipset:
NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI

Processor:
AMD Athlon64, Athlon64-FX, Athlon64-X2, Sempron

Max FSB:
2.0 GTs HT FSB

Memory:
4X DDR2 533/667/800 Dual Channel

AGP/VGA Slot:
Dual PCI-E x16 SLI

PCI Slot:
2x PCI, 2x PCI-E x1

IDE:
2 (1 by 570MCP, 1 by JMB363)

SATA:
8 (6 by 570MCP, 2 by JMB363), RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5

USB:
10 (4 Rear, 6 by Pin Header) USB 2.0

Network:
Dual GigaLAN

Audio:
Realtek ALC883 8-CH HD audio with SPDIF

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

Question:
Please email sales@epox.com for more detail spec information not listed

Is one to run from, or make a killer deal on? I checked further into there site and the last price listed was 169.00usd. The shop I found them at will go to 199.00 so I don't know. He says he paid around that. At any, rate does a board with a bad cap take out the CPU or? is it real bad news?

This post has been edited by PCwarrior: 21 January 2009 - 07:06 PM

I just cannot figure why you want an older board that doesn't support the latest and greatest CPUs, that is made by a company that doesn't offer support when you can get a better/later board/chipset for the same money or less. Just an example: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813157134

If you don't want to do SLI, you can get a good AMD chipset motherboard for considerably less. I apologize in advance if I missed something in your posts.

I stand down. After chatting with you and others here , I am totally convinced the board in question is not for me.
You mention latest and greatest, But I really can't play there. I may come close with a build, but I'm not playing with the pocket bling alot of others seem to have. It seems more self education is in order before I jump at any solid build plans. My buddy says watch for some one with a bleeding edge machine from last year and buy that, but I would (without pressure) enjoy the building of my own fresh rowdy machine.
Its funny, the other day I'm talking to a sales guy at the PC store about the possible specs I'm in search of, and he got this wide eyed look and asked, what do you intend to do with this thing? I should have said launch rockets( gaming pun ) but i just replied game alittle. LOL.

I'm going to install my new locally acquired 7300gt (175.00 i got ripped off eh )Agp for now. I should rearrange my IDE cables for air flow and possibly get heat sinks for On-board 512mem w/ better fan and cooler (so it doesn't become the third toasted AGP GFX)for now. Then instead of gaming, put a plan together for a complete build to last me.
Thank You very much for the input.

Darned if I didn't peel open the plastic cover of the box containing the("new") 7300gt, and find the anti-static bag opened (w/the seal torn into three pieces). I then inspected the board and found the fan coated with dust. Yikes. I returned it without any fuss from the guy in the shop but, Man o Man was that a lesson. 179.00 for a used 60 some dollar vid card.

Same shop with the MOBO. I'm outa there for good.