Only recently AMD launched the Phenom II X4 processor that scored pretty well on our benchmark charts. So we decided to test it with the order of the day, the ECS A780GM-A Ultra motherboard. It has great all-in-one features like 160w CPU support and on board video processor based on the ATI HD3200 that supports Hybrid CrossFire. This board is a great budget board for the AMD processor market.

An entirely black box with a red dragon on the front makes up the box for this ECS Black Edition board. The package included is the first sign to this being a budget board, no extra’s and keeping it simple it includes; an IDE cable, four SATA cables, driver CD, I/O shield and the product documentation.

The board overall looks quite attractive with the full black PCB and contrasting component slots. The motherboard is equipped with full solid state capacitors for better operation.

Adjacent to the AM2+ socket that supports Phenom CPU’s is a large heatsink that covers the MOSFETs to keep them cool. This enables the CPU socket to handle 160w CPU’s easily and even allows for better overclocking in general.

There are four DDR2 DIMMs on the other side of the CPU socket. These support speeds of up to 1066 MHz in dual channel mode and a maximum total memory capacity of 8 GB.

The AMD SB750 southbridge chip controls the six orange SATA2 connecters along with the three USB headers that support to six USB slots.
The rear I/O panel has two PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse, a 15-pin VGA port for the ATi 3200 IGP, HDMI port, six USB slots, an e-SATA port that is powered by the JMB 361 chip, and RJ45 Ethernet port and an six audio I/O ports including an S/PDIF out.

The on-board features like the integrated AMD HD 3200 graphics processor and 160w processor support on the ECS A780GM-A Ultra really make it worth spending on this motherboard. This gives you the opportunity to spend less on a motherboard and still build a system with the AMD Phenom II X4 940 CPU. The board performs exceptionally well as we can see in the graphs. It is certainly well beyond what you would normally expect from a board priced as this one.

SATA connecters are in the perfect place, nothing can block them even if a large VGA card is installed. So far until now we have seen ECS increase BIOS options with every new motherboard they release. The ECS A780GM-A Ultra motherboard certainly carries one that’s better than its predecessors.

Read full version with comparison details at tbreak.com

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