EPoX EP-8U1697-GLI Motherboard - Up and running

Once I had the machine up and running, I decided to see what I could do to make it perform. EPoX has a history of making overclocking-friendly motherboards, and this one is no exception.

Here’s my test configuration:

• EPoX 8U1697 Motherboard
• AMD 64 3000+ Venice
• 2GB Patriot PC4000 memory
• Sapphire X800 PCIe

My CPU, at stock, runs at 2000 Mhz.  By utilizing the overclocking abilities of the 8U1697, I was able to slowly increase the FSB from 200 up to 250 Mhz, with only a small step up in the core CPU when at about 240 Mhz.  In essence, I was able to push this CPU to 2.52 Ghz with stock cooling.  That’s an awesome overclock for stock cooling.  With more effective cooling in place, I’m sure I could have gotten it even faster (maybe 2.8 Ghz).  Yeah, the Venice is quite overclockable, but the outstanding features of the 8U1697 made it possible to overclock very effectively.

For my testing, I used the following benchmarks:

• 3dmark05
• 3dmark03
• Half Life 2
• Doom 3

I did all of the tests against the board and CPU at stock settings, and then again overclocked at 2.53GHz.  Here are my results:

Just like its socket 939 brother, this board really shines when using it for overclocking.  We got a respectable increase in overall performance when overclocking the system using the powerful bios.

Next: Conclusion >>
 

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