Whether we like it or not, the Super7 standard is still around and although it isn't exactly flourishing, as AMD pushes the Athlon the K6-2 and K6-III platforms will need to compete against Intel's "low-end" Celeron and mid-range Pentium III processors if AMD is to survive.  From a performance perspective, as we've noticed in our latest Desktop CPU Comparison, the K6-2 and the K6-III have little difficulty competing with their Intel counterparts in most business and some content creation applications, it is in games that they aren't as strong of a force in.  However for the user that doesn't play games, AMD is looking to make their once flagship processors the ideal low-cost solution, unfortunately that is where AMD's power stops.

It is up to the motherboard manufacturers to support the standard by producing high quality Super7 motherboards, but it hasn't been until recently that one could arguably call a Super7 motherboard "high quality."  Among those motherboards have been recent contributions from companies like Tyan, and more pertinent to the topic at hand, Epox with their MVP3G2. 

If you recall, the MVP3G-M from a few months ago was one of the first ideal Super7 motherboards to hit the market.  Prior to that release, very few Super7 motherboards were deserving of the processors which they ran, and the introduction of the MVP3G-M changed all that.   Now, back with a "new and improved" model, Epox is looking to extend the life of the Super7 platform even more with their MVP3G2, a more robust and tweaked version of the original MVP3G-M.  The basic board design is the same and the end product will be quite appetizing even to the most critical of Super7 users, however it isn't perfect.   Let's find out why...

AnandTech Report Card Rating
85/B

The Good

"Is a 5/2/1 expansion slot configuration too much to ask for?  Absolutely not, although it is a rarity in the Super7 motherboard market, the Epox MVP3G-M starts out with the highly demanded 5/2/1 (PCI/ISA/AGP) layout that many Super7 users have been denied for quite some time."

The three DIMM slots made it over from the original motherboard design and are once again located towards the top end of the motherboard directly behind the ATX I/O panel.  Just south of the DIMM slots is the VT82C59MVP North Bridge controller of the MVP3 and slightly to the lower right is the Socket-7 interface connector that gives meaning to the term Super7 motherboard. 

The ATX power connector has made a comeback appearance in the same location as it did on the original MVP3G-M, at the bottom edge of the motherboard next to the two IDE connectors.  Basically, the G2's layout is nothing more than that of the MVP3G-M, which is a smart move on Epox's part by keeping the cost of producing a new PCB design out of the cost of their motherboard. 

The 1MB of on-board L2 (or L3 in the case of a system outfitted with the K6-3) cache is provided courtesy of two 4ns Winbond chips.  This is the second time we've seen these 4ns Winbond chips used on a Super7 board, the first was with the Tyan Trinity S1598 we reviewed not too long ago.  Also like the Tyan, is the G2's 8ns 32Kx8 Tag RAM module, although Epox chose SBT instead of EliteMT as their preferred manufacturer (no real differences there).  The 1MB of L2 cache in addition to the 32Kx8 Tag RAM module cripples the MVP3 chipset's cacheable memory area to 254MB meaning that if any memory is accessed above the 254MB limit, it will result in degraded performance during the accessing of the data stored within that memory space.  This, of course, does not apply to K6-3 systems, whose on-chip L2 cache takes care of the cacheable memory area of the system. 

The G2 does come with an optional 2MB of L2 cache, that model is specifically renamed as the MVP3G5 and will be plagued by considerably less availability due to the demand for such a product as well as the costs associated with it.  Including 512KB of L2 cache on the G2 is an OEM option and although it can decrease the overall cost of the motherboard, the difference won't be great.

Using VIA's North/South Bridge design to their benefit, the real differences between the G2 and its predecessor start to come into play when you look at the South Bridge controller on the board.  The VT82C596B, pin compatible with the older VT82C596 (meaning all Epox had to do was essentially pop the new chip into the old design), is the new South Bridge on the G2 and it brings with it Ultra ATA 66 support, a feature not provided for by the older South Bridge. 

VIA does have another South Bridge controller, the Super South Bridge (the 596B is referred to as the Mobile South Bridge), that features Ultra ATA 66 support as well as support for an AMR Slot and thus integrated audio/telephony codecs.  Epox's decision to use the Mobile South Bridge (596B) versus the Super South Bridge (686A) was a very intelligent one as you, the consumer, aren't forced to pay for added features that either won't be implemented on the motherboard or won't be used by you in the first place.  With the Super7 standard looking to take on Intel directly on the low end, thinking like this is what will make it happen, kudos to Epox on that point.

Epox's revered Easy Set Dual Jumper CPU configuration is present on the G2, which basically allows the FSB to be selected via a single jumper and the clock multiplier to be selected by another.  The FSB selection can also be made from within the Award BIOS setup from a list including the following frequencies: 66/68/75/83/95/100/112/124/133MHz.  Unfortunately, just like every other Super7 motherboard (ABIT, where are you?) the G2 isn't fully jumperless as the CPU's clock multiplier must still be controlled from the motherboard.  The single jumper for clock multiplier selection does make this reality an easier one to endure however. 

Due to the complexity of voltage selection options made available on the G2 (in contrast to the MVP3G-M), the single jumper setting had to be replaced with a five switch dip-switch placed next to the ATX power supply connector.  The switches are all easy to set and aren't a pain to deal with at all, however a step in the jumperless direction would have definitely been desired.

Taking advantage of the MVP3's ability to run the memory bus synchronous with the AGP bus (usually 66MHz) or synchronous with the FSB (usually 100MHz), Epox provided a single jumper setting for that option appropriately placed next to the first of the three DIMM banks. 

Since Epox chose to forego the Super South Bridge in favor of the more cost effective Mobile South Bridge w/ Ultra ATA 66 support, they also gave up support for integrated hardware monitoring.  But all you hardware monitoring freaks (don't worry, AnandTech's own Mike Andrawes falls into that category) out there have nothing to fear as the Winbond 87831D provides the hardware monitoring functionality you've been wishing for. 

Two thermistors are already provided for you by Epox on the motherboard (no thermistor headers, sorry guys), one is placed directly above the 2nd PCI slot and the other is naturally located in the middle of the Socket-7 CPU interface. 

A feature not reserved to the G2 alone but available to all MVP3 based motherboards (finally) is a single driver configuration package that automatically installs all the required drivers and patches for the MVP3 chipset under Windows 9x/NT.  The software driver package is known as the VIA Service Pack 4.01, or 4-in-1 driver for short.  The 4-in-1 package is essentially all four necessary drivers and patches (IDE Busmaster, VIA AGP, IRQ Routing, VIA Registry - ACPI) to help your system work properly the first time, without having to tweak settings, disable AGP 2X mode, or anything of the sort, which many Super7 users were used to simply because they didn't have the drivers installed properly. 

A driver release like the 4-in-1 is long overdue on VIA's part, but as the old adage goes, it's better late than never and quite a few Super7 users will be happy to know that VIA finally got their act together, at least on the driver side of things.  The 4-in-1 comes bundled on Epox's drivers and utilities CD-ROM, however it is also available for download at VIA's website.  The included CD-ROM also features a complimentary copy of Norton AntiVirus and Symantec Ghost 5.1 (hard disk cloning utility - very useful in testing labs ;)...).

Epox's user's manual is decent, it isn't a bare quick start guide, however it isn't a documentation masterpiece either so they get an average score for that.  More importantly is the stability of the G2, which was considerably better than most other Super7 motherboards we have managed to get our hands on.  But there is a little more to this issue than meets the eye...

The Bad

Performance or stability?  That is the question, and for some users the answer is performance while others will swear by a stable system any day of the year.  While some users have a tolerance for occasional crashes, others lose their train of thought at the hint of one.   So here's an interesting point that you have to be the final decision maker on:   in order to obtain the stability the G2 boasted, Epox made a few "tweaks" to the configuration of the motherboard normally contained within the BIOS but mysteriously absent from the G2's BIOS setup.  What these tweaks resulted in was an overall increase in stability across the board, but at the sacrifice of a considerable amount of performance, placing the G2 at a much lower level than its competitor, the Tyan Trinity S1598.  

The issue has to deal with the memory sensitivity of the MVP3 chipset and larger problems brought out by the combination of MVP3 motherboards and cheaper quality SDRAM DIMMs.  A "work-around" was Epox's method, the overall raising of the memory timings in order to promote a more stable, albeit slower operating motherboard.  As of now there is no solution to reverse the precautions Epox has forced upon all G2 owners other than to flash your BIOS with that of an older release for the MVP3G-M that didn't take this workaround into account. 

A topic somewhat related to this issue seems to be the presence of two different North Bridge chips on MVP3 based motherboards.  Although we couldn't get a straight answer from VIA on the issue, they did confirm that there are two versions of the MVP3 North Bridge out on the market with one being an older chip than the other.  While they wouldn't confirm which chip was older nor would they shed any light onto the performance differences (if any) between the two, we can assume that something is up due to the reluctance of VIA to talk about the issue.  We'll continue investigating and provide you all with an update as soon as we know more about the issues at hand. 

Other than performance, there are a couple items on our Super7 wish-list that have yet to be filled by any motherboard manufacturer, Epox included.  A fully jumperless setup configuration would be a definite plus, however it still has yet to be done by anyone.

The prohibitive location of the floppy disk connector on the motherboard doesn't help users that want to install full length PCI cards, and it would have been more intelligent to relocate it to a more out of the way location.  Speaking of layout, the positioning of the Socket-7 interface can interfere with the installation of some devices in drive bays that extend over that area in extremely cramped cases.

USB Compatibility

• Number of Front Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 0

• Number of Rear Universal Serial Bus Root Ports: 2

• USB IRQ Enable/Disable in BIOS: Yes

• USB Keyboard Support in BIOS: Yes

Recommended SDRAM

Recommended SDRAM: Mushkin SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM; Memory Man SEC -GH PC100 SDRAM
SDRAM Tested: 1 x 64MB Mushkin PC100 SDRAM; 1 x 64MB Memory-Man PC100 SDRAM

Manufacturer: The Memory Man
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.memory-man.com

Manufacturer: Mushkin
Purchase Web-Site: http://www.mushkin.com

The Test

In recent times, choosing a motherboard cannot be completely determined by a Winstone score. Now, many boards come within one Winstone point of each other and therefore the need to benchmark boards against each other falls. Therefore you shouldn't base your decision entirely on the benchmarks you see here, but also on the technical features and advantages of this particular board, seeing as that will probably make the greatest difference in your overall experience.

How I Tested

• Each benchmark was run a minimum of 2 times and a maximum of 5 times, if the motherboard failed to complete a single test within the 5 allocated test runs the OS/Software was re-installed on a freshly formatted Hard Drive and the BIOS settings were adjusted to prevent the test from failing again.  All such encounters were noted at the exact time of their occurrence.

• Business Winstone 98 & 3D Winbench 98 was run at each individually tested clock speed, if reliable scores were achieved with the first two test runs of the suite an average of the two was taken and recorded as the final score at that clock speed.  If the test system displayed erratic behavior while the tests were running or the results were incredibly low/high the tests were re-run up to 5 times and an average of all the test runs was taken and recorded at the final score at that clock speed

• All video tests were conducted using an AGP video accelerator

• No foreign drivers were present in the test system other than those required for the system to function to the best of its ability

• All foreign installation files were moved to a separate partition during the test as to prevent them from effecting the test results

• All tests were conducted at 1024 x 768 x 16-bit color

• Quake 2 tests were conducted at 800 x 600 x 16-bit color in Software Rendering Mode

The Final Decision

There is quite a bit of mystery surrounding the current state of the MVP3 chipset and its two North Bridge flavors, however if stability is your top concern then the G2 will have no problem delivering on its promises.  There is always room for improvement, but the G2 is definitely improved in comparison to most of the other Super7 solutions we've had to live with. 

For performance oriented users, you may want to consider the Tyan Trinity S1598 which is considerably faster, especially under 3D gaming tests such as our Quake 3 Test benchmarks illustrated.

How it Rates

Click Here to learn about AnandTech's Motherboard Testing Methodology.