Foxconn Blood Rage - If Looks Could Kill (UPDATE)
by Rajinder Gill on January 2, 2009 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
We've received confirmation from Foxconn that a certain number of retail boards may be incompatible with some of the higher power PSU's such as the PCP 1200W, Cooler master and Silverstone 1200W units we used for this preview article. Foxconn have identified and rectified the issue with a board modification that has already been rolled out to retail. If your board is having symptoms such as those described at the top of page 3 in our article, please contact Foxconn customer support. They will be happy to replace your board with an updated version.
Things are at a fever pitch in the labs at present because we've got a plethora of products from the proverbial who's who of the motherboard industry all awaiting testing and final review. Some of these "superstars" have already received some airtime in our $300 motherboard roundup. Final report compilation is ongoing, with products from ASUS, Biostar, DFI, MSI, ECS, EVGA, and Gigabyte, each presenting its own set of merits and quirks depending on your needs.
If you read the opening page of the first look round-up article, you'll already know what scintillating fun the past two months of BIOS testing has been for us. We'll sum this up by saying, "You can beat us up, but we're never down for long." Yes, we're still excited when we get something new, and the latest contender from Foxconn has certainly been at the center of enough internet-based ballyhoo to provoke our interests enough to march on into the unknown.
Much of the initial crowd "pop" reaction to Foxconn's Blood Rage is related to pictures of the motherboard that have been on the forum based cha-cha-cha circuit for several months now. We'll be the first to tell you, good looks do not necessarily a great motherboard make. But we have to admit, a passing glance at the Blood Rage is compelling enough to create the desire of at least taking a deeper look into what makes this thing tick.
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Foxconn's last big foray into the enthusiast segment was with the Intel X48-based Black Ops motherboard. It was a market tester with the goal of establishing their brand name whilst simultaneously demanding accelerated learning from their newly employed Quantum Force BIOS programmers, support staff, and engineering team.
We reviewed the Black Ops back in July. Although the board threw us a few curve balls on occasion, it happened to possess enough substance to make it one of our favorites in what would now be cited as a product from Intel's last generation technology -- a technology that we still think is viable for most users. Those that had positive experiences with the Black Ops by using it in the intended manner have been imbibed with plenty of thought provoking fodder to wonder what's coming next from the Quantum Force development team.
Part of the Blood Rage development process was getting Foxconn personnel to work with the inquisitive consumers who frequent their support forum. The forum staff asked Quantum Force team members and support forum goers what they'd like to see on their upcoming boards, ranging from component choices to color schemes. Although this takes place in various forms at other companies, it's not often you get to provide direct feedback to those who are close to the engineers and design teams. Some of this public brainstorming filtered its way into the final rendition of the Blood Rage, possibly making it the birth-child of a thousand collaborative fathers -- and that could be a good thing. Think of it as a throwback to the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Danny Devito film called "Twins", only this time the outcome is focused solely on releasing the physically superior "Junior" to the public while successfully incinerating Danny Devito's inadequate character before birth. (At least, we think that's the plan Foxconn had in mind.)
Anyway, let's not dwell on those aspects for too long; what matters is whether the Blood Rage really delivers on the promise of its super-charged appearance. Although this first look will concentrate mainly on the overclocking side of things, we'll also be telling you what we like so far and what, if anything, makes us grit our teeth. By the way, the board has performed like any other X58 based product in application and game testing so no worries on that end. Read on if you like to overclock….
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gemsurf - Friday, January 2, 2009 - link
Absolutely! Why pay any homage to a company like Foxcon that releases this crap to the unsuspecting public! Most early adoptee's will have dropped about a grand counting memory and a processor only to be a friggen frustrated betatester! That sucks and should be pointed out for what it is! A crappy company! Anandtech has the clout to be heard saying just that and it's time you did it everytime something "released to market" that doesn't work properly!JonnyDough - Friday, January 2, 2009 - link
I agree. They BLOW. Support for bios updates and drivers is lacking bad. I could even say the same for Phoenix who makes the BIOS for their boards. If you go to their website (because FoxConn BIOS are years old) and want an update to your BIOS you have to pay for a subscription to a driver update program. I guess nothing in life is free, except that I PAID FOR THE MOTHERBOARD. Which, I guess should mean that they support it for AT LEAST FIVE YEARS.Anyway, my experience with FoxConn has been dismal at best. They have no real American tech/website support to speak of. Steer clear.
JEDIYoda - Friday, January 2, 2009 - link
You will never ever satisfy all the people all the time. So continue to do your very best!!In fact some people with complaints just enjoy complaining!!
Gasaraki88 - Friday, January 2, 2009 - link
NO, I want you to call out the manufacturer and say that this is a bad motherboard because IT DOESN"T EVEN WORK OUT OF THE BOX! You do know that this mobo is for sale now in the general public right? If this was a pre-release board for reviewers then fine, but a retail board that can't boot properly? Come on...The0ne - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
This isn't new, MBs have been shipping with bad BIOS firmwares for some time now. Even if sites like Anandtech were to find the issues, the MBs are going to make it out to the public as is. We as the consumer can only pray that they will have a fix, sooner than later.On this particular subject I am really disgusted at the companies for not doing a better job. As an Engineer myself I have to ask whether I'm happy with the current state of development to release it to the public or not. And if the MB is buggy with it, then DON'T ship it until you can stabilize it. Of course you have the QA and testing that might be missing as well. Shame really.
The0ne - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
sry, website didn't process so clicked 3 times :/The0ne - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
This isn't new, MBs have been shipping with bad BIOS firmwares for some time now. Even if sites like Anandtech were to find the issues, the MBs are going to make it out to the public as is. We as the consumer can only pray that they will have a fix, sooner than later.On this particular subject I am really disgusted at the companies for not doing a better job. As an Engineer myself I have to ask whether I'm happy with the current state of development to release it to the public or not. And if the MB is buggy with it, then DON'T ship it until you can stabilize it. Of course you have the QA and testing that might be missing as well. Shame really.
The0ne - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
This isn't new, MBs have been shipping with bad BIOS firmwares for some time now. Even if sites like Anandtech were to find the issues, the MBs are going to make it out to the public as is. We as the consumer can only pray that they will have a fix, sooner than later.On this particular subject I am really disgusted at the companies for not doing a better job. As an Engineer myself I have to ask whether I'm happy with the current state of development to release it to the public or not. And if the MB is buggy with it, then DON'T ship it until you can stabilize it. Of course you have the QA and testing that might be missing as well. Shame really.
gemsurf - Friday, January 2, 2009 - link
Well, I'm a consumer (system builder) and I have yet to see an X58 board that is ready to market? Everything you have tested or teased with "has issues" and were not ready to market from what I can gather. So I guess what I would like to see is articles or follow ups on items that are really up to the promises on the box? Are there any because everything I've read here since the X58 release seems to have bios issues. Is the best board out there just the one with the fewest issues? Are they ready to trust across 25 mission critical workstations? I'm left with the impression that no, they are not? Seems these manufacturers want us to buy them and wait for the bios updates? If thats the case, then all I really expect is for you to say it that way.Exar3342 - Friday, January 2, 2009 - link
I have yet to hear any issues from the Gigabyte or Asus X58 boards (I happen to have used both myself) and each is rock-solid. Quit spreading FUD.