Motherboard Company

[Not Bman]

I have recently changed my mind, and want to use Crossfire ati cards, so need to find a new motherboard, read a good review on this board

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135211

has anyone heard or used, or know anything about this company or board. I have never heard of them, but the board seems to be good.

 

[LeeJend]

ECS is all I buy anymore. I get really good deals on them bundled with CPUs from Frye's Electronics.

They are a low end MB. Very few features, minimal over clocking support (no Vadj, no seperate clock settings, etc). Most of the ones I have had are either a little quirky (CMOS clears, sound quality was poor) or have had a failure (printer port, sound, etc.) I really don't care because I treat MBs as throw away items now. The ECS do run stable though, even overclocked 10%.

I used to buy quality MBs at twice the price but never used the extra features and/or ended up buying a newer one for some new feature I did need.

I'm not sure I'd recommend an ECS board for crossfire even though they are all I use. how's that for an ambiguous answer?

 

[Not Bman]

Well I was thinking about picking one of these boards up, but now I don't think so. When I am getting my new system, it's going to be maxed out, with everything and power and all that good stuff. I need a motherboard that's strong and long lasting, and that can support everything.

What's a good Crossfire motherboard, that supports SATA, and all the good new things out there lol?

 

[awesome-o]

It's SLI or bust and get an ASUS SLI-Deluxe .. Premium if necessary.. It's the gamer's choice, Nvidia cards notoriously support higher resolutions.

 

[Not Bman]

I haven't heard one bad thing about ATi's newer cards, many good things

 

[Sazar]

I would keep an eye on the anandtech/toms and hardocp sites for the new board reviews.

http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2733

I think thats the board you are looking at.

 

[lancer]

bman DO NOT BUY ECS, they are cheap crap.

I would highly suggest this board.

plus its cheaper than the ECS, i cant believe anyone would pay $112 for an ECS board.


ok i just read the review that Sazar put up and (damn you Sazar, stop changing my mind about stuff) i would honestly say i could be interested in this board after all.

I've just always heard such horror stories regarding this maker, perhaps Bman can be our guinea pig!

 

[Sazar]

ECS? They aren't that bad. They usually make cheaper stuff and most of us typically look for a more robust, less "cheap" board. This product looks ok.

I wonder if you might be thinking back to the sis chipset based-boards.

Those were crap.

 

[Not Bman]

See now this is the hard part. You guys got my at 50/50. I have not had any experience with this company, but haven't really payed attention to motherboards that much, so I wouldn't even know what to look for. All I know right now is that the ECS board looks cool lol

Maybe, if some more people give there insights it could help. Are motherboards really any different from one another these days?

 

[lancer]

yes, absolutely... the biggest difference is in the manufacturing process.

Just research around the internet at different sights for reviews on the ecs board and see what people are saying about it, newegg has a lot of short reviews on it.

 

[Sazar]

See now this is the hard part. You guys got my at 50/50. I have not had any experience with this company, but haven't really payed attention to motherboards that much, so I wouldn't even know what to look for. All I know right now is that the ECS board looks cool lol

Maybe, if some more people give there insights it could help. Are motherboards really any different from one another these days?

The features change, a lot of the items are the same such as the chipsets but the quality of the components used (i.e. nics/sound/stuff like that) is different.

This board seems to have pretty good quality components and a decent layout. Not great per the pics but shouldn't be that big a hinderance.

 

[Not Bman]

All I really need out of it is that it takes my memory, dual videocard, and soundcards and maybe a physic card if i get one lol, I dont care about onboard sound or video, maybe onboard lan I might need

 

[Sazar]

Then you're set.

Key things I personally look at are quality of the nic and the board layout. Most other things are standard anyways.

Also, make sure the board has decent support.

Companies like DFI, Asus, MSI and so on/so forth release bios updates frequently and do a pretty decent job with their products.

ECS btw didn't get a 20% share of the market with having crap stuff.

 

[Not Bman]

Alright good to know, I guess if anything else I'll be the tester lol. Plus if the borad does screw up, glad motherboards are one of the cheaper things in the computer world.

 

[lancer]

they got 20% of the market by selling no name boards to computer houses that build cheap pc's, not to the general public.

 

[LeeJend]

Bman - you said you will be using a sound crad and possiibly a physics card. Keep in mind that the ECS board only has 2 PCI-e expansion slots that will be usable with a X1900 crossfire rig.

That is getting pretty damn crowded for a high speed rig like you plan. Trapped heat could be an issue.

Note one of the newegg feedback comments about the fan on the MB interfering with the 120mm case fan.

Also, download and read the manual cover to cover to make sure they haven't left out a feature you want. I have been caught off guard after buying there cards and finding features "over stated".

And remember this quote from the anandtech article.

While the Extreme Series product line should not be mistaken for the top products offered in this market segment by the likes of DFI, Asus, Gigabyte or others, ECS is determined to offer an affordable enthusiast/gaming level product

Determination and accomplishment are not the same thing.

PS I am a loyal ECS customer, just not for an ultra top end gaming system.

PPS If you want to see us all agree say you are buying an Asus or Gigabyte.

 

[Not Bman]

I normally go with Asus, but I was looking around and came aross this one. I defentily am having those 2 Video cards, and the Soundcard. Plus if not an physic card I might end up one day haveing another card.

Anyone got a good motherboard in mind, Asus if possible that supports my needs? Am keeps cool.

 

[mlakrid]

Then you're set.

Key things I personally look at are quality of the nic and the board layout. Most other things are standard anyways.

Also, make sure the board has decent support.

Companies like DFI, Asus, MSI and so on/so forth release bios updates frequently and do a pretty decent job with their products.

ECS btw didn't get a 20% share of the market with having crap stuff.

They were crap when they first came to the market... I dont remember where but I remember readin an article when I built my first computer, (approx 1994-5) it was a Cyrix 6x86 CPU, and a TYAN mobo... where they (ECS) had as much as 30-35% of their products off the line comeout bad... sadly at that time the standard was like 20% (for ALL manufacturers)

but then again so were many other names which are solid today:
Abit
Tyan
MSI
ECS

they all had manufacturing issues, which meant pumping out more boards and eating the cost of the ones which went bad, because their clean rooms were not yet up to date... andit was cheaper to make more and replace bad ones than it was to QC them properly

I have to say I have NEVER had any issues with an Asus mobo, very few complaints about Abit and Tyan, only had one major issue with an MSI, and personally have never used an ECS board, although my best friend uses them religiously like I do Asus...

Check the mobo for what you want to use it for, ensure it covers all the bases you need, and that it supports any future upgrades you want to do to that machine in the next 6-12 months...

I never seem to have a computer last more than 8 months before I end up upgrading something in it... its the Geek in me, I cant help it

 

[LeeJend]

Damn, should follow my own advice. That MB has no usable PCI-e expansion slots. The two accessible slots when using crossfire will both be PCI.

Now to really throw you a curve...

Why aren't you looking at the ATI 3200 chipset MB's? They are the next generation for crossfire. Considering what you will be spending on video cards the extra MB expense is minimal. It is also supposed to run very cool and be a good overclocker. That means you can probably run your socket 939 system at a much higher FSB.

 

[Not Bman]

Link? don't know anything about those boards...