Premda su obje ploče koje smo isprobali tijekom testa ponijele prilično dobro, postignutim rezultatima overclockiranja se ipak više ističe MSI-jeva ploča. Doduše, treba reći da obje ploče imaju jednako kvalitetan i opremljen BIOS, te da su postigle jednaku maksimalnu brzinu sabirnice. Kad smo već kod sabirnice, vrlo nam je čudno što s niti jednom od ploča nismo uspjeli pogurati FSB preko 1000 MHz, unatoč tome što sam čipset službeno podržava procesore s 1066-megahercnom sabirnicom. Nažalost, nismo imali prilike provjeriti da li stvar radi drugačije odnosno da li se otključava dodatni množitelj kada je na ploče ugrađen procesor s 1066-megahercnom sabirnicom.

Još jedan plus za P4N Diamond je svakako oprema budući da se Epoxova ploča ne može pohvaliti niti jednim dodatnim kontrolerom izuzev onog za Firewire. Još jedan detalj koji osjetno izdiže MSI-jevu ploču iznad konkurencije je prilično moćan zvučni čip što je veliki plus za sve one koji ne žele odvojenu PCI karticu, a ne zadovoljava ih klasično integrirano rješenje.

Zadnji sastojak u cijeloj priči je bez sumnje cijena. Epoxova ploča u trenutku pisanja teksta košta 1431 kn, dok je za MSI P4N Diamond potrebno izdvojiti 1236 kn. S obzirom na navedene prednosti u opremi i rezultatim overclockiranja, jasno je da je MSI-jeva ploča bez sumnje bolji izbor. Ovakva diskrepancija u cijeni nam je bila pomalo intrigantna pa smo provjerili da li je i u inozemstvu jednak odnos cijena Epoxove i MSI-jeve ploče. Prema online trgovini Newegg, Epoxova ploča je za oko 20 USD jeftinija od P4N Diamond (109,99 naspram 129,99), tako da nam nije baš previše jasno zbog čega je Epoxova ploča u Hrvatskoj skuplja od MSI-jeve.

Ako cijene naknadno budu korigirane, Epoxovu ploču možemo preporučiti svima onima koji ne brinu mnogo o integriranom zvuku i nisu im potrebni dodatni SATA i mrežni kontroleri. P4N Diamond u ovom konktestu odgovara zahtjevnijim korisnicima koji su za ploču spremni izvdojiti više novaca.

Zadnja stavka na listi za odstrel, prilično važna s obzirom na vrijeme objave članka je podrška za Intelove procesore Conroe. Niti jedna, niti druga ploča ova procesore ne podržavaju, s obzirom na to da je Intelovi imaju drugačije električke zahtjeve nego postojeći Pentiumi i Celeroni. S druge strane, nije da ćete bolje proći s ostalim pločama na tržištu s obzirom da je s većinom njih jednaka situacija. Drugim riječima, ako kupujete ploču da bi mogli rabiti Conroe, defitivno je nemojte kupovati sada.

Conclusion in english

Altough both Epox and MSI board passed through our tests with flying colours, P4N Diamond managed to score better in overclocking. Board have very similar BIOS with practicaly identical overclocking options so it’s no suprise they both achieved almost same maximum FSB clock. Sadly, with Epox board we had problems attaining maximum frequency of our test CPU and that is the main reason why we think that MSI board is a better overclocker. Speaking of FSB, we were pretty suprised that neither board passed 1000 MHz mark on FSB clock, contrary to specification which say that boards are compatible with Pentiums with 1066MHz FSB (Extreme Edition, that is). Unfortunately, we didn’t have an oportunity to investigate this issue further because of the lack of appropriate CPU.

One more plus for MSI’s board is abundance of additional controllers, which Epox 5NVA+SLI, Firewire controller aside, doesn’t have. Additional feature that sets P4N Diamond above the competiton is powerfull integrated audio which is a big advantage for those who don’t want, or don’t have separate PCI audio card, but still want above quality audio solution.

The final ingredient of the conclusion is price. The price of Epox 5NVA+SLI in Croatia (at the time of publishing this article) is 1431 kn. MSI board, on the other hand, has a price tag of 1236 kn. If we take into account price, performance and features, MSI board is clearly a better choice. This big and unusual difference in price moved us to check the price of these boards outside Croatia. According to Newegg, Epox board is about 20 USD cheaper than P4N Diamond (109,99 in comparison to 129,99 USD), so we are not really sure why in Croatia Epox 5NVA+SLI costs more than P4N Diamond.

If the prices in Croatia at some point get more similar to those on Newegg, we can recommend 5NVA+SLI to all users who don’t mind standard integrated and don’t need additonal SATA or network controllers. In similar fashion, P4N Diamond is for more demanding users who are willing to pay more for additional features.

Last thing to note in regard to the boards we tested is support for upcoming Intel Conroe CPUs. Neither motherboard we tested supports these new CPUs because they have different electrical specifications from old Pentiums and Celerons. On the other, almost all other LGA775 boards on the market are plagued by this same problem, even board based on Intel own chipsets like i975X. In other words, if you are planning to buy a motherboard today hoping for a slick transition to Conroe based CPU, now is surely not the time to make such shopping decision.