Love the 8KHA+, hate the manual!

[spirits247]

I really like the 8KHA+, great motherboard, but the manual stinks!

Please Epox Tech, get someone to spend time on writing a decent manual. The packaging is ok - I like the novelty box design- but could be better. The cables are great and the CD impressive, best I've seen with a motherboard, with useful programs like ghost and PC-cillin.

But the manual..................

No wonder Epox have such a good customer service in comparison to other manufacturers - they need it because no one can use the damn manual!

Overall I've had Abit, Asus, TMC (who? ) and Gigabyte boards. I have to say apart from the manual and slightly better packaging (which I can forgive because your price is so competitive ) Epox have impressed me with their price, product and performance. I'm especially taken with their customer support and speedy bios releases/ e-mails.

They are now my No 1 choice until something goes wrong!

[EPoX Tech]

I wouldn't work for any other !

I think that if you look closelty at all the manuals, the EPoX ones are in keeping with the others. They excel past the ones where a quick start guide is supplied and you have to refer to the CDROM for the full manual - that's no use if you're in the middle of building a machine.

You must appreciate that the texts are quite excellent when given the consideration that they are written in someones second language.

I think the reaction by most will be that the manual is quite good indeed.

[dimmreaper]

Only thing I needed the manual for was appendix B, which I assume would be the case for most hardware enthusiasts.

I'd have to agree that the manual is quite impressive for being written in someone's second language. It's hard to speak a second language, to write in it too takes quite a bit of skill and talent.

The manual might not be Shakespeare, but at least you can understand it(unlike Shakespeare)

[Random Nonsense]

I had no problems with my manual at all! understood it all, in fact it was my 1st hassle free build, primarily because the manual actually related the the board unlike some others i have had to play with!!!

eg, last night i had to rebuild a m8's pc, we had all sorts of problems with power switches LEDs etc because the board had the pins labelled one way, the manual totally differently! there was very little info on how to tell what was wrong etc. i prefer my 8KHA+ manual to my bro's abit kt7a it explains things in more deepth, still doesnt give in depth details of a lot of bios settings but way better than all others i have seen

[spirits247]

Well, I guess I've just had some good manuals in the past! Glad some of you think it’s good, but I’ve heard many slating it as well.

The Epox one has:

1) Jumpers orientated the wrong way round.

2) An INT table that has no explanation and no key. If it had both, people wouldn't be posting "which PCI slot shall I put my...." all the time (although some still would as they never read the manual )

3) The bios explanations are quite good in some areas, and poor in others - writer seems to get bored and just churns out the choices without any other info.

4) NO info on the maximium power of the fan headers. A few boards with fried headers me thinks........

5) No installation procedure for people attempting their first build.

The only reason I'm making these points is that as customers we have to criticise so you can make your product THE best on the market. If we all came in here and just gushed about how good everything is then your product would not improve.

THE TRUTH IS YOUR PRODUCT IS VERY IMPRESSIVE SO PLEASE TAKE MY POINTS AS NIT-PICKING, but done so you can identify where small improvements can be made.

Over at Amdmb.com and AnandTech, others pointed out that the manual was quite bad as well. Indeed, it was these who first drew my attention to it before I had chance to examine it myself.

I do appreciate however that it's definitely not the worst manual out there, but it's certainly not the best.

Why do all motherboard companies get people with English as their second language to write manuals? Surely someone with computer knowledge and English as their first could do the job?

Ok, since I'm being a bit critical today other nit-picking issues would be:

1) The ATX power connecter is in a very awkward position for some people. Many have had a problem with cables covering/touching heat sinks or not reaching the motherboard if in a tower case.

2) The IDE connecters - same story. Some people can't get the cables to reach in tall cases because they are at the bottom of the board.

3) USB2 connecter is in an awkward position.

Well, that’s it - ALL my negative issues with the 8KHA+.

If I were writing about the positives the post would be too long!

Please remember I’m NOT bashing the board – I love it – just constructively criticising!

[dimmreaper]

Originally posted by spirits247
1) The ATX power connecter is in a very awkward position for some people. Many have had a problem with cables covering/touching heat sinks or not reaching the motherboard if in a tower case.

The ATX connector is in the very best place. AMD recommends putting it as close as possible to the on-board power supply to reduce trace lengths. And AMD recommends putting the on-board power to the left of the CPU as close to the CPU as possible for optimal reaction time. I would have griped about the ATX connector location if EPoX had disregarded AMD's recommendations.

[spirits247]

Originally posted by dimmreaper
The ATX connector is in the very best place. AMD recommends putting it as close as possible to the on-board power supply to reduce trace lengths. And AMD recommends putting the on-board power to the left of the CPU as close to the CPU as possible for optimal reaction time. I would have griped about the ATX connector location if EPoX had disregarded AMD's recommendations.

You still have to admit it causes people problems with heatsinks and tall cases so therefore it's a genuine complaint. What we need is some kind of compromise.

[h_R]

i must say that i like the manual for my 8kha+ mobo very good. it might not be perfect, but what is perfect :P
its much better then the manuals to mobos ive had before (msi and asus)