EPoX has a special feature of their BIOS's. At the POST screen, you not only get the processor speed, the memory test and the drives you would find on a regular motherboard, but you also get the temperature of the CPU, the Fan Speeds, and the Voltages of the memory and CPU are listed at the POST screen. Along with the Status LED, this gives you an extremely good idea if there is problem on boot.
EPoX uses a modified version of the Phoenix AwardBIOS for the BIOS. Standard features are the same found on many a motherboard with this particular BIOS. In the Power User area of the BIOS, there is a host of options for the overclocker. CPU MHz can be changed from the 200MHz default to a maximum of 450MHz. Socket 754 CPUs cannot change their multiplier upwards, but you can overclock by MHz while lowering the multiplier from 5.5-9x on a Sempron 3100.
PCI Express frequency can be changed from 100-145MHz from this menu. Personally I keep my PCI Express frequency at default, as the video cards like the 7800GT can be tricky with higher frequencies. CPU Voltage can be set up to +.15V in 0.0125V increments or to -0.2V in 0.0125V increments. Memory settings range from DDR200, 266, 333, and 400 settings.
Overclocking on the EPoX board was pretty good for a Sempron board. I was able to overclock the 3100+ Sempron to 2.2GHz, a 400MHz increase over the default 1.8GHz without issue. One thing about the Sempron is that it is aimed at the budget market at the moment, replacing the old Duron CPUs. The board is interesting to overclock as the CPU we use is overclocking friendly though the Socket 754 platform is relegated to the budget and older CPUs.
BIOS Screenshots
