EPoX vs. ASUS 570 SLI

[racerx_is_alive]

I'm putting together an AM2 computer, and had pretty much settled on the EPoX EP-MF570SLI mobo, when I decided that firewire would be pretty important. Up to that point, I was very impressed with the reviews I had read on that motherboard. I've recently decided to buy a digital camcorder, so I have two options. I can pick up a $10 PCI card that will provide firewire ports for me, or I can pick the ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe. Price-wise, it's a wash.

The firewire card would be the only card in the PCI bus. Am I losing significant amounts of speed by having it on the PCI bus? Is the ASUS mobo good enough that I should pick it over the EPoX?

 

[xmojo]

The firewire card would be the only card in the PCI bus. Am I losing significant amounts of speed by having it on the PCI bus? Is the ASUS mobo good enough that I should pick it over the EPoX?

Possibly. If my calculations are correct (if not, other readers feel free to correct me) the PCI bus runs at 33MB/s (33 Megabytes/sec) which translates to 264Mbps (264 Megabits per second). Firewire has a top speed potential of 400Mbps, so the PCI bus may not realise the potential of the Firewire card.

 

[fredgiblet]

The firewire card would be the only card in the PCI bus. Am I losing significant amounts of speed by having it on the PCI bus? Is the ASUS mobo good enough that I should pick it over the EPoX?

Possibly. If my calculations are correct (if not, other readers feel free to correct me) the PCI bus runs at 33MB/s (33 Megabytes/sec) which translates to 264Mbps (264 Megabits per second). Firewire has a top speed potential of 400Mbps, so the PCI bus may not realise the potential of the Firewire card.

Your calculations are off, PCI is 33Mhz 32-bit, 32-bit=4 bytes per clock 4 bytes per clock * 33Mhz = 133MB/sec

 

[racerx_is_alive]

So PCI bandwidth isn't an issue. Has anyone had good results with the ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe? I've seen lots of reviews for the M2N32-SLI (the 590 board) but I'm having trouble finding much on their 570 version.