CDeX

Unlike video encoding, ripping a CD to an MP3 is something that you could sit and watch if you felt so inclined. As with most other comparable systems, the results for this test are pretty much on par.

Unreal Tournament 2004

The results for this test are pretty much where we expected them to be, which is as it should be.

Overclocking

Using an Asetek Waterchill system, with only a water block on the CPU, we tested the overclocking potential of the Foxconn 925XE. We would have put a block on the chipset as well, but with the new chipset HSF mounting solution, we have no way of attaching the block to the northbridge chipset. We managed to get our 3 GHz P4 running stable at 3.75 GHz, which is a healthy 750 MHz overclock. This is the same overclock that we were able to reach with this CPU on an Asus P5AD2 Premium, which, unfortunately is not working or we would have used it as a comparison in this review.

As for comments about the overclocking options in the BIOS, they are fairly nice, allowing you to adjust a wide range of the settings. The only problem that I have with it is that you cannot simply enter in a memory frequency, but rather, you have to select a ratio between the CPU and memory, which gets to be a real pain when testing components.

Final Words

Overall, the Foxconn 925XE is a solid motherboard. Its performance is right no par with other similar systems, and possibly ahead in some tests, though we cannot confirm this given our inability to test with another motherboard and our same components. The cable bundle is absolutely awesome, which is something I really like about the package that Foxconn put together here.

During testing I only encountered on problem, which was related to the onboard network connection. It is my guess that I had the cable plugged into NIC 2, because after a few hours of use, the NIC stopped working for FTP and Email, but web browsing still worked. Plugging the network cable into NIC 1 solved this problem, so, I would assume that Windows was getting confused, or something along those lines. Overall, not a anything big as far as a problem is concerned.

Other than that little issue, this board has run flawlessly. The startup time is fast as well, which is more than I can say for a couple of other 925 series chipset boards I have seen where you could go make a sandwich before the machine booted up.

The onboard audio is excellent as well. I have been using a Creative Audigy 2 Platinum as my sound card for the past 2 years, and for most uses, I can not tell a difference between the onboard audio and the quality of the audio output from the Audigy 2 Platinum.

Pros: Excellent cable bundle, Solid performance and stability, Good layout, Nice BIOS

Cons: NIC connection might cause a little confusion

Bottom Line: If you are looking for a new motherboard running off of the latest 925XE chipset, you should definitely pay attention to Foxconn.

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