Epox 8rga+

features:

• Socket A for AMD Athlon™, Duron™, Athlon™ XP CPU. Supports 266/333 FSB
  
• Nvidia Nforce2 IGP Chipset + Nvidia Nforce2 MCP-T
  
• 1 Floppy drive controller - 2 serial ports - 1 parallel port
  
• 6 PCI slots - 1 AGP (AGP 8X)
  
• integrated GF4 MX graphics
  
• 2 x E/IDE Ultra DMA/133, 4 drives max.
  
• 3 x DDR SDRAM PC3200, 3GB max.
  
• 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 extra by optional USB back-panel cable
  
• Realtek ALC650 6-channel full-duplex integrated sound, with NForce Dolby level decode
  
• Onboard LAN 10/100 Mbit
  
• 2 ports IEEE 1394 (firewire™)
  
• Standard ATX format
  

package contains:

• Mainboard
  
• Ultra ATA IDE cable
  
• FDC cable
  
• User manual +
  
• multi-lingual setup guide
  
• IEEE1394 cable
  
• Driver CD
  
• I/O plate for case mounting
  

Layout:


The pcb layout is almost identical to the 8rda+. I can't find anything wrong with it, except it would have been easier if the ATX and 12V connector where placed closer to the edge, near the memslots.

In contrary to the 8rda+, the 8rga+ has a little heatsink on the southbridge. This heatsink is necessary if you plan to run your board 24/7 +190FSB. It's a pitty epox didn't replace the crappy northbridge heatsink with an active cooler, or with a better heatsink. If your planning to run this board at 1.8vdd or above, i suggest replacing it with a small aircooled HSF.

I/O panel:

• 1* PS/2 keyb, 1* PS/2 mouse
  
• 3 audio connectors: (front, rear/line in, mic/center)
  
• 4* usb 2.0
  
• 1* lan
  
• 2* VGA
  
• 1* parallel

No serial ports, but who uses them anyway? The major thing missing here is a digital audio out. People who want to hook up there 4+ point surround system will loose there line in / mic in connector.