Benchmarking and Overclocking:

  Now for a few benchmarks. 3DMark05, 3Dmark06, Sisoft Sandra Lite, and Prime95 were used to test the system thoroughly for stability.
 

Stock Settings

NTune's Overclock

BIOS Overclock

  The manual BIOS entries were tried both manually and set to (Auto). I was rather surprised to see the motherboard was capable of adapting to the BIOS settings for both the CPU and Memory Voltages with all the Bios settings on (Auto). The motherboard required a CMOS reset only when I became adventurous and set the memory timing to 1T instead of 2T. Any other time, the system would simply reboot taking me back to the bios screen. So for the new users, if you aren't completely up to date with the latest revisions, this motherboard can automatically take you where you want to go.
 

Stock Multi-Media	Stock Memory	Stock Arithmetic
Multi-Media Overclocked	Memory Overclocked	Arithmetic Overclocked

  The results are pretty close to the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe recently tested by Diceman. The scores are very close for using the less than perfect retail CPU cooler. However, the retail fan did do surprisingly well at keeping this lower voltage AM2 3500 cool. With the ambient temperatures reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it couldn't cool quite fast enough with the higher clock speeds. With better CPU cooling and tweaking some voltages a bit, this motherboard should be able to clock even higher.

  The C51XEM2AA was stable and performed 18 hours of successful Prime 95 passes along with days of overclocking, tweaking, and a too many rounds of Battlefield 2 to count. I had to see the in game performance first hand.

Summary:

  There are plenty of things to like about the C51XEM2AA motherboard. The features and functions are very comparable to the ASUS M2N32-SLI motherboard. As motherboards begin evolving into more powerful revisions, manufacturers are adding visual and physical features that appeal to extreme users, especially with the SLI chipsets. This motherboard has a definite quality that extreme enthusiasts look for in performance, features, BIOS, and overclocking.

  The amount and placement of the SATA II is ideal and enough for an extreme user. FOXCONN even saw fit to include any cable options you might commonly need. The necessary drivers and software on the support CD is always handy for the first time users. Its all the more greater when everything installs and configures quickly without any random glitches.

  The overclocking was what I would easily call a success. With the amount of voltage features and BIOS options, the C51XEM2AA was easy to tweak. The BIOS itself was also easy to figure out after just a couple passes through when searching for options. Couple that with the ease of setting the BIOS to Auto just to test its limits, the C51XEM2AA made me question my loyalty to my own game system motherboard.


Conclusion:

  The C51XEM2AA-8EKRS2H is a whole new product from FOXCONN. It produced a whole new level of performance and stability that rivals just about any other 590-SLI motherboard currently on the market. The platform is powerfully stable and has all the BIOS features any power user could want. It is efficiently designed and even presents a aesthetically pleasing motherboard that would be a shame to hide. Would I recommend this motherboard to the extreme or standard users? Absolutely!

  We would like to thank FOXCONN for sending us the C51XEM2AA-8EKRS2H. This new release was a great pleasure to work with and it puts FOXCONN in a whole new arena. Great job FOXCONN!