Price: £119 inc vat Supplier: Foxconn
Manufacturer: Foxconn

Foxconn were one of the first off the mark with a motherboard solution when AMD announced their AM2 socket processors and this nForce 590 SLI chipset based motherboard shows their committment to high performance, top quality and feature packed boards for demanding enthusiasts. Gone are the days of cheap and cheerful component manufacturer. Foxconn have set their sights on showing the industry innovators just how it should be done with premium products and innovative designs. Based around the NVIDIA reference motherboards, Foxconn have packed in loads of features to make a perfect platform for any AM2 system. With full support for nTune software, SuperBoot to reduce computer boot times and all the benefits of the 590 chipset such as linkboost, SLI memory for higher levels of system performance, dual gigabit ethernet, media shield with 3 sata controllers running at 3.0 GB/s and high definition audio, on paper the C51 has lots going for it.

nTune is NVIDIA's tweaking software that allows manufacturers to offer all sorts of fun stuff like adjustable motherboard settings, GPU settings, dynamic BIOS access, automated system tuning, dynamic overclocking and Foxconn gives you the lot. Impressive when you consider rivals such as Asus only offer limited support for nTune on their motherboards.

On to the eyecandy - Flash 8 required!

{jgxgal folder:=[images/stories/reviews/foxconn/am2] cols:=[4]}

As you can see, the C51XEM2AA is a well laid out motherboard. Simple, understated and functional. No tacky gimmicks. Just practical design. We did notice a few quirks with the floppy drive connector being placed away from the more conventional location next to the IDE and power connector. Also the use of black connectors across the board. Colour coding USB, Firewire, SATA connectors and the like makes installation much easier for the untrained.

The box is a bit minimal in the artwork department - a departure from the normal plastering of logos, sexy clad female warriors and other such artwork that seems to adorn most products these days. However the packaging is full with plenty of cables and accessories - in fact everything you could possibly need for the most fully loaded of systems. The handy quick install manual is a welcome reference along with a more detailed manual for those with more patience. It's the little extra attention to details like this that shows somebody at Foxconn cares about the products.

The Specs

Processor:	AMD SempronTM, AthlonTM 64, AthlonTM 64x2, AthlonTM 64FX processors, Socket AM2
Chipset:	NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI
Front Side Bus:	2000 MT/s HyperTransportTM
Memory:	Dual channel DDR2 800 / 667 / 533 x 4 DIMMs, Max 8GB
VGA on Die:	N/A
Expansion Slots:	2 x PCIe x16, 1 x PCIe x4, 1 x PCIe x1, 2 x PCI
IDE:	ATA133 x 1
Serial ATA(SATA)/RAID:	Serial ATA II x 6 with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, JBOD
Audio:	7.1+2 channel, Realtek ALC882D (HDA)
LAN:	Marvell 88E1121 Dual 10/100/1000 Base T Enthernet PHY
IEEE1394:	1394a x 2 (TSB82AA2B), 1394b x 1 (TSB81BA3)
Back Panel I/O Ports:	1 x PS/2 keyboard 1 x PS/2 mouse 1 x 1394a 1 x 1394b 6 x USB 2.0 2 x RJ45 1 set 7.1 channel Audio jacks (5 jacks + 1 S/PDIF output)
Internal I/O Connectors:	2 x USB 2.0 headers, support 4 ports 1 x Front audio header 1 x COM 1 x Speaker 1 x Front panel 1 x Buzzer 1 x 1394a
BIOS Features:	LPC-4Mb, ACPI 2.0b, APM 1.2, PnP 1.0a, SMBIOS 2.3, USB 2.0, WfM 2.0
Support CD:	NVIDIA nForce Driver, DirectX, Audio Driver, Adobe Reader, Norton Internet Security, Manual & Raid Manual, NVIDIA nTune, Foxconn LiveUpdate
Standards/Manageability:	USB 2.0, WfM 2.0, DMI 2.0, WOL by PME, LPC 1.1 Interface
Special Features:	NVIDIA®LinkBoostTM technology, SLITM-Ready, MediaShield storageTM technology, HDA, NVIDIA nTune, NCQ, AMD® Cool "n" QuietTM technology,Fox LiveUpdate, QuadSLi support
Form Factor:	ATX (12" x 9.6")

In The Labs (continued)

The results show marginal differences across the boards and to be honest it would be hard to choose between them. Still a strong result from Foxconn showing the C51 is an excellent performer.
Overclocking the C51XEM2AA proved to be a rewarding experience no doubt thanks to the excellent BIOS with comprehensive tweaking and voltage options. The FSB is adjustable from 100 to 500 MHz and processor voltage to a scorching 1.85 volts - ouch! Memory voltage is generous with 2.5 volts and more than enough for the current crop of extreme performance DDR2 on the market.

A quick bump of voltages and 270Mhz showed a healthy overclock for our system. More time spent tweaking the BIOS would no doubt resulted in even better gains but extra speed for a few seconds work is a real sweetner and shows just how easy the Foxconn C51 takes to overclocking. Looking round the internet and users have reported 300+ with this board using the nTune software showing it's a solid platform for overclockers.

The Bottom Line

Foxconn have produced a winner with their C51 nForce 590 SLI motherboard. Top performance and plenty of features make it an attractive prospect. At £119 including VAT it's one of the more affordable AM2 solutions on the market but don't let the low price fool you. This is premium quality stuff with enough expansion to meet future demands beit office or gaming use. In fact the only thing we really didn't like was the name - C51XEM2AA 8EKRS2H. Try saying that after a few pints down at your local!