Motherboard Head to Head: Epox MVP3G2 vs Tyan S1598

Ease of Setup/Configuration - Advantage Epox

While the Tyan S1598 is aided by its superior User's Manual, the Epox G2 takes the lead in this category courtesy of a little acronym known as ESDJ, or Easy Set Dual Jumper.  The ESDJ configuration on the Epox G2 is something that has been present on Epox boards for quite some time now (with the older boards it was a single jumper) and it allows for virtually the entire configuration of the CPU (with the exception of voltage settings) using two jumpers - one for the clock multiplier and the other for the FSB setting).  The S1598, like all other Super7 solutions from Tyan, uses a much more complicated set of jumpers to configure your CPU and easily loses out to Epox in this category.  While the G2 can set the clock multiplier and FSB using 2 jumpers, the S1598 uses a combination of 6 to accomplish the same task.

The voltage configuration is also much simpler on the Epox whose single set of dip switches do the same job as the 10-pin jumper block on the S1598.  For a beginner, the G2 is much less intimidating and easier to configure than the S1598.  Not to say that it can't be done on the Tyan, it's just more of a pain to do.  More advanced users won't have a problem with this and will want to know the answer to the next question instead, What about Overclocking?

Overclocking - Advantage Epox

Overclocking on the Tyan?  It's almost non-existent, there is always the option of overclocking via an increased clock multiplier (no Super7 CPU is clock locked) however in the case of all Socket-7 CPUs with the exception of the K6-III, an increased FSB generally has a greater effect on performance than an increased clock speed due to the frequency of the L2 cache being dependent on the FSB frequency.  The lack of any FSB settings above 100MHz on the S1598 cripples Tyan's chances as an overclocker's dream, so what about Epox?

The G2 gives you the complete opposite, not only is the 112MHz FSB setting accessible via the FSB jumper of the G2's ESDJ but the Award BIOS setup contains an option to manually select the FSB from a list included overclocked as well as standard FSB settings.  With the ease of setup and now the ease of overclocking in Epox's favor, it's not a surprise to see Epox gaining the advantage here.