A company whose mainboards are very popular among users of AMD processors – EpoX – recently said it would add a number of new advanced SKUs for AMD’s 64-bit and 32-bit chips into its lineup. The firm will use NVIDIA nForce3 and nForce2 core-logic products as well as VIA’s KT880.

The family of nForce3-based mainboards will include variety of platform products based on NVIDIA nForce3 150, NVIDIA nForce3 250 and NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb chips. Three new mainboards will come as noticeable expansion of AMD64 intended SKUs. The list of VIA KT880-based products will consist of three offerings to complement existing lineup designed for different AMD Athlon XP processors. All new products are said to appear already this quarter, as EPoX already discusses their features with its customers.

EPoX EP-8KDAI mainboard based on NVIDIA nForce3 150 core-logic is nearly ready to go – its design seems to be finished, therefore, it is a matter of weeks until we see it in retail. Given that the nForce3 150 can hardly impress anyone now, this Socket 754 ATX mainboard is mostly proposed as a cost-effective offering. It has 2 DIMM slots for up to 2GB of PC2100, PC2700 or PC3200 DDR SDRAM, 5 PCI and 1 AGP 8x slot, 2-channel integrated ATA-33/66/100/133 controller, 10/100Mb/s Ethernet adapter from Realtek, 6 USB 2.0 ports and integrated AC`97 6-channel audio solution with S/PDIF connector.

The nForce3 250 and 250Gb products are more remarkable and have more chances to catch an eye of overclockers or enthusiasts demanding all the latest features together with high performance. EP-8KDA3I (nForce3 250) and EP-8KDA3I+ (nForce3 250Gb) are expected to go live sometime in the second half of the quarter, but before the 29^th of March, as these are still Socket 754 mainboards. The products will sport 3 DIMM slots for up to 3GB of PC2100, PC2700 or PC3200 DDR SDRAM, 6 PCI and 1 AGP 8x slot, 2-channel integrated ATA-33/66/100/133 controller, 2 Serial ATA-150 ports with RAID, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 8-channel AC’97 audio solution with S/PDIF support, 10/100Mb/s Ethernet adapter from Realtek (EP-8KDA3I only). 4 additional Serial ATA-150 ports and Gigabit Ethernet are available on EP-8KDA3I+. Engineering and design of the mainboards is not finalized yet.

For a little bit outdated, but very tasty from the price-point of view, AMD Athlon XP processors, EPoX is said to prepare EP-8VTA2G, EP-8VTA2G+ and EP-8VTAI mainboards based on VIA’s KT880 core-logic with dual-channel memory controller. The first two mainboards will have principally the same design and will carry 4 DIMM slots for up to 4GB of PC2100, PC2700 or PC3200 DDR SDRAM, 6 PCI and 1 AGP 8x slot, 2-channel integrated ATA-33/66/100/133 controller, 2 Serial ATA-150 ports with RAID, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 8-channel AC’97 audio solution with S/PDIF support, 10/100Mb/s Ethernet adapter from Realtek (EP-8VTA2G only). 4 additional Serial ATA-150 ports and Gigabit Ethernet are available on EP-8VTA2G+. Engineering and design of the mainboards is not finished yet. The EP-8VTAI is, in contrast, nearly ready to go, but this only boasts 2 DIMM slots, 5 PCI, 1 AGP 8x, 2 Parallel ATA-33/66/100/133 connectors, 2 Serial ATA-150 ports, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 10/100Mb/s Ethernet as well as 6-channel audio.

Besides the mentioned models for Socket A processors, EPoX will roll-out two NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 products with NVIDIA’s new MCPs featuring Serial ATA-150 and Gigabit Ethernet.

Pricing and exact availability timeframes for products mentioned herein are not set at the moment.