Foxconn Blood Rage - If Looks Could Kill (UPDATE)
by Rajinder Gill on January 2, 2009 6:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
First Impressions
We've only been using this board for a few days and although there are some issues, there's nothing fatally wrong that can't be fixed with some BIOS updates. In fact, this is the only BIOS we've had so far from Foxconn. That might sound bad to you, but compared to what we've seen from everyone else over the past two months it's incredible they've got the board to this point so fast on a couple of beta-grade BIOS releases. Foxconn confirmed to us they are working on a new BIOS that they are testing in-house rather than pushing it out to the users for immediate beta testing.
The big problem for enthusiast type overclockers at this point is that they may have to use the "Force Reset" option to an extent that prevents the board from being suitable for placement inside a closed PC case. If you are not experiencing this issue, please let us know. Out of the three boards we've tested in our labs, we have not found a combination of parts that gets around it.
Other than that, the AEGIS panel needs to work as advertised. We installed everything to the letter and found ourselves at a dead end for making voltage adjustments with it. We're not sure if it's a simple fix, as OS level incompatibilities seem to be too diverse and inconsistent for logic at times. Without these tools working consistently or support from third parties, this board may never realize its full benchmarking pedigree. Pushing processors way out of spec often leads to mandatory operating system level parameter adjustments, so there's no point in having the brawn without the means to use it.
In terms of peripherals, we've had no problems plugging in and using USB devices, SATA HDD/Optical drives, graphics cards, audio cards, or anything else of that nature. Further testing is ongoing and will be discussed in the full review if we find anything problematic.
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We'll sum up by saying that there's no doubt the Blood Rage has some of the finest components we've ever seen used on a motherboard. The specifications for the CPU and memory power supply are so outlandish that you'd expect the board to be able to run dual processors and double the supported amount of memory with relative ease. Some spit and polish to the software side of things is what's needed to justify those component choices though. Don't get us wrong, it's far better to have an over-engineered product that needs a little work than it is to have an under-engineered product needing any kind of work at all.
While we're hopeful fixes will be forthcoming, speed is of the essence. There are competitor boards available at a similar price point with the promise of just as much overclockability for air- and water-cooling users. Not to mention that the masses want out of the box functionality over anything else. Anyone who can find additional headroom or a consistent edge in those departments while simultaneously satisfying the needs of benchmarking fanatics will be a real winner. Recent in lab tests comparing several boards have shown that the final 2-5% of Nehalem overclocking comes down to all important Uncore voltage scaling when using the i7 920 class of processors. If you're looking at teaming Intel's cheapest Nehalem offering with a 2000MHz memory kit, you'll want a board that can provide scaling at the lowest possible Uncore voltages. While there are processors out there with better IMC's than others, we've found that the boards do play a part in unleashing the full potential of a Nehalem CPU. We'll find out this month if this board will be the one to provide headroom that users will expect in this price bracket, although it appears that DFI will have something to say about it.
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Mr Roboto - Thursday, February 26, 2009 - link
But, but, it looks so coooool. Who really cares how well it works. I just want to show it off to people. I'm sure I can think of an excuse why it's not working if they ask me to fire it up.Everyone will think I'm cool for owning a $300+ motherboard.
kompulsive - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - link
Epic over hype fail.cactusdog - Friday, January 9, 2009 - link
Thanks for highlighting the issues with the motherboard.An issue like this could be terrible for a consumer, especially if it is their main computer.
Consumer buys board,consumer spends several hours/days trying to get board working right. Consumer cant fix it so he researches the net for an answer for another few hours/days. Consumer learns PSU is not compatible and starts RMA process. Consumer now has no computer while he waits weeks for a replacement. Consumer buys another board because he needs a working computer while he waits for RMA.
2 months after original purchase the $300+ board is working. Board is now obsolete because there are newer better boards available.
Consumer is very annoyed.
This is why its very important for reviewers to be upfront and not make excuses for manufacturers. Thanks for doing so in this article.
kompulsive - Wednesday, January 7, 2009 - link
Overrated motherboard fail.Kougar - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
Thanks for the early look at this book. Frankly it's not the benchmark results that are useful but reviews like these that try to cover issues and functionality. Unless there some deficiency the benchmarks are all going to be nearly the same between other similar chipset boards anyway, I find myself barely glancing at them anymore.Also I wanted to say thanks for the update. That is important info to know and I'm glad that was able to be sorted out. I wonder why so many motherboards are still having issues with very specific power supplies, seems to be several each year, year after year.
Rajinder Gill - Tuesday, January 6, 2009 - link
Hard to say Kougar. I guess standby voltages on a new platform and given that this board is very very power centric. Switch on surge and current draw may be on the brink of some of the earlier units coming out of a rest/cold boot. On a sidenote, PSU's can be equally to blame at times, revisions are sometimes made and not documented to the public until something like this happens and raises question marks.later Raja
fjs - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
To echo the comments of an earlier poster, I would appreciate photographs in the article which demonstrate the available internal and external connectors adequately.I can see 2 SATA ports, and there are supposed to be 6. Where are the others hiding?
strikeback03 - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
6 SATA ports are in the angled connectors at the bottom right of the board, below the IDE connector.fjs - Monday, January 5, 2009 - link
Thank you. I can see now there are 8 SATA ports. The two I noticed were the Marvell-driven ones. The ones you refer to are orientated in the plane of the board, which I did not expect.Again, to AnandTech, a plea for more connector photos in future reviews.
yyrkoon - Sunday, January 4, 2009 - link
I personally am not coming down on you, or any Anandtech staff. You guys ( and gals? ) have a hard time making your readers, and supplying companies happy with your reviews.I would suggest however that Anandtech call it like it is, or just plain refuse to to document your findings on the web UNTIL things are corrected. As it stands, Foxconn is one of several name brands I would never touch, and this would be a perfect example why. Being name brand centric is nothing close to being a 'fanboi', it is simple common sense. Buy a $300 motherboard that does not work, or does not work correctly ? Sorry, I am not seeing the logic here. People pay extra for GOOD STUFF, not garbage. Also, like said at least a couple of times already, I am NOT a paying beta tester. I get paid to beta test, not the other way around.
I also am becoming frustrated when reading these reviews. I often go out on my own any more, and research hardware elsewhere. Try explaining that to your advertisers. The above is not a threat, or someway for me to make you at anandtech feel bad; it *is* the truth.
You guys seeing, or saw whats happening over at Toms Hardware ? It is the same thing I see happening here, just not quite as ridiculous yet.