EQS M56K9-MLF Motherboard

The BIOS

This is a standard Phoenix AwardBIOS. Unique features are that it provides GPU core speed synchro/async adjustment. Overclocking the IGP all the way up to 350MHz (200 to 350MHz) was successful and stable but gave negligible performance increase in games. The shared memory for graphics can be set up to 128MB, with up to a 2GB aperture size.

There are unfortunately no overclocking or voltage options and very limited ram timings - only CAS tweaking, so this is not one for the overclocking enthusiasts for sure.

Software

The software included is the standard ATI control panel and Realtek AC'97 audio software. The audio software contains the usual equaliser, sound effects, S/PDIF and 3.5mm jack settings.

Test Setup

AMD Athlon 64 4000+; EQS M56K9-MLF motherboard; 2x 512MB Corsair XL Pro PC3200 (operating in dual channel using SPD timings*); NVIDIA Reference GeForce 6800GT PCI-Express (operating at 350/1000MHz); Western Digital Raptor 74GB; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; NVIDIA Forceware 65.73 WHQL & ATI Catalyst 5.1 IGP drivers.

AMD Athlon 64 4000+; ABIT AV8 (K8T800 Pro) motherboard; 2x 512MB Corsair XL Pro PC3200 (operating in dual channel at 2.0-2-2-5); Gainward GeForce 6800GT AGP (operating at 350/1000MHz); Western Digital Raptor 74GB; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; NVIDIA Forceware 65.73 WHQL.

AMD Athlon 64 4000+; Epox 9NDA3+ (NForce 3 Ultra) motherboard; 2x 512MB Corsair XL Pro PC3200 (operating in dual channel at 2.0-2-2-5); Gainward GeForce 6800GT AGP (operating at 350/1000MHz); Western Digital Raptor 74GB; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; NVIDIA Forceware 65.73 WHQL.

Intel Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition; Intel D925XCV (i925X) motherboard; 2x 512MB Micron DDR2 PC4300 (operating in dual channel with 4-4-4-12 timings); NVIDIA Reference GeForce 6800GT PCI-Express (operating at 350/1000MHz); Western Digital Raptor 74GB; Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2; DirectX 9.0c; NVIDIA Forceware 65.73 WHQL.

* - the EQS M56K9-MLF motherboard does not have the option to change memory timings configuration, so they are forced to the SPD of the memory modules installed.