For pictures and a spec list, google "ECS Z77H2-A2X Review" and a review should pop up for Akuma's Den. Sorry for any inconvenience as I cannot properly format the pictures on here.
Taiwanese computer component manufacturer Elitegroup Computer Systems (or ECS as they are more commonly known) are a growing company that are beginning to specialize in gaming hardware. With previous attempts to break into the gaming sector before (anybody remember the ECS Hydra Watercooled 9800 GTX+ SLI graphics cards?), the company is still yet to become a household name. Ironically though, the company has been around since 1987 and is the fifth largest manufacturer of motherboards, but these are mainly OEM products which has been their specialty up until now.
In early 2012, ECS announced their upcoming Z77 Black Extreme – Golden Limited Edition Series of motherboards with two flagship models, the Z77H2-A2X (which is what we have here today) and the Z77H2-AX. Both make use of a black PCB with predominately gold hardware. They are also able to make use of the new Intel 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge CPU’s and have support for PCI-E 3.0 with AMD crossfire and Nvidia SLI available.
The Z77H2-A2X is just one of ECS’s flagship Black Extreme Golden Limited Edition motherboards. The motherboard packs a plethora of features at a very reasonable price (Around ~$260 from retailers stocking it in Australia).
Let’s go!
So what do you get?
Inside the box, ECS has been very kind by including 6 black SATA 3 cables, an SLI bridge (unfortunately there is no AMD crossfire cable included, so you will be required to source your own if you need one), a motherboard manual, VIRTU Universal User’s Guide, a drivers disc and another booklet with miscellaneous information. But not only is all of this included with the motherboard, but ECS has also included a USB 3.0 drive bay device. With the new Z77 platform, USB 3.0 headers are now on-board the motherboard, and the drive bay adapter from ECS is perfect for making the most use out of USB 3.0 without having to reach around to the back of your computer or buy a drive bay yourself.
Motherboard Overview and Components
The first thing that just about everybody will notice is the black and gold theme. Personally, I am a big fan of this as not only does it look great, but it’s a theme that is very difficult to find elsewhere. At a glance, the huge heat dissipaters do seem excessive but ECS claims that its heatsinks, named ‘Qooltech IV’ technology, is 20% more efficient than other heat dissipating setups on the market. This is put down to a combination of “thermal chromic technology with heat sink”. One quick thing I will mention about this is that at certain temperatures the “Black Extreme” writing seen over the Z77 chipset heatsink will change colour.
Aesthetics aside, the board can back-up its loud visual statement with its impressive hardware. This motherboard will accept an LGA-1155 Intel CPU, and uses the new Intel Z77 chipset. The Z77 is optimized for the new Intel Ivy Bridge processors, giving you features such as PCIE 3.0.
The Z77H2-A2X features a plethora of expansion options. The greatest of which are the dual PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. The thing about this though is that when using two graphics cards at once, the bandwidth will only operate at x8 speed. Furthermore, there are two PCIe x1 slots and two PCI slots. One thing I would like to point out though, is that when using a dual width graphics card in the first PCIe 3.0 slot, the second PCIe port is blocked off which is quite a big design flaw if you do require it. If you aren't too sure of what I mean, check out the picture below this. The graphics card is an XFX 2GB HD6950 graphics card which is dual width.
Storage options are another great feature of the motherboard but come in short supply with two Sata2 (3Gb/s) ports and two Sata3 (6Gb/s) ports provided from the Z77 chipset, and another two Sata3 ports are given from an ASMEDIA ASM1061 controller. As a board targeted at enthusiasts this should be enough ports to cater for many people, but for those looking for more ports you will have to look elsewhere. An interesting storage option I’d like to note is the 52-pin Mini-PCIe connector located at the bottom right corner of the motherboard which will more than likely go unused by many, but still does give the option of using devices such as an mSata SSD.
The motherboard supports up to 32GB of 240-pin dual channel memory via four DDR3 DIMM slots, with a stock frequency up to 1600mhz available. Now, this is one of the great features of this motherboard. If you decide for whatever reason that 1600MHz is not fast enough for you, the Z77H2-A2X will more than willingly overclock to not only 2600MHz, but up to 2800MHz.
Now for some features that are not commonly found on mainstream motherboards which set the Z77H2-A2X apart. Overclockers and testers will find this motherboard to be a dream, with the integrated power and reset switches as well as an LED debug display. For those who use their computers as work horses this may not seem like much, but for people who are trying to get the most out of their system, which this board will let you do, the switches definitely come in handy and the LED debug display (a full list of the debug code meanings are included in the manual) can be great for situations where your PC refuses to start.
As I mentioned before, there is also a Mini-PCIe slot which is also an uncommon feature. One other set of features included is the built in wireless capabilities. I say capabilities as not only is there on-board WiFi, but a bluetooth dongle is pre-mounted into the board, giving you mobile connectivity and internet connectivity straight out of the box without plugging anything into any ports.
ECS has integrated a plethora of connectivity options into the Rear I/O panel. There are more USB ports than you can shake a stick at, with four USB 3.0 ports (in addition to the two extra ports given from the USB 3.0 drive bay device) as well as four USB 2.0 ports. Video output ports are also plentiful with on-board VGA D-Sub, HDMI, and DVI. You also have a sole eSATA 3.0Gb/s port, a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 LAN connector, the aforementioned bluetooth and wireless ports, and a bunch of audio ports from the Realtek ALC892 CODEC.
Bios
ECS has decided to adopt a GUI EUFI for the bios, meaning that users no longer have to look at a plain background with blocky letters. Navigating through the bios, I did feel as though the mouse was a bit hard to maneuver at times due to sensitivity, so it will be a different experience for each user. Overall though it was easy enough to use and nice to see it incorporated, but I do feel that a little bit of work could be done to improve the overall feel of it as well as some minor confusion that arises when trying to change settings.
Positives
Works fantastically
On-board USB 3.0
Two PCI-E 3.0 lanes – SLI and Crossfire support in 2x8 bandwidth
Pricing (~$260 in Australia)
Built in Bluetooth dongle
Wireless onboard is a great feature, but do take into account positioning of your computer as its range is limited
Great RAM overclocking abilities, up to 2800MHz
Bios is easy to navigate around and find what you want
Six included SATA 3 cables, as well as a USB 3.0 bay and a black Nvidia SLI cable
Negatives
The size of some of the motherboard cooling heatsinks can limit some CPU coolers and cases due to their size
Limited availability (many retailers do not stock this motherboard)
Some expansion slots are blocked off by larger graphics cards
There is a definite lack of storage options, with only 6 SATA ports available. The mini-PCIe port does aid this with the ability to use an mSata drive, but there is still a lack for those wanting multiple raid sets.
This will only worry some, but there is no Firewire port on the rear I/O panel
Neutral
The overall look of the motherboard, some may like it and others may not
No AMD Crossfire cable, only an Nvidia SLI cable
There is a suite of included software, but most people will choose to use other applications due to their limit of functionality. Regardless, it was nice to see an attempt made, but there is definitely better options out there not only from third parties, but motherboard manufacturers such as Gigabyte’s EasyTune6 program.
Final Thoughts
ECS has really created something special with the release of their Z77H2-A2X. Making full use of what makes Ivy Bridge great (onboard USB 3.0, PCI-E 3.0) and the attractive price make this board very hard to look past. For those who are after an extreme setup then this is definitely a motherboard to be considered, especially for those who want to be pushing high voltages through their motherboard without water cooling it as the ‘Qooltech IV’ technology works great. The quality and design of the motherboard really do show that ECS mean serious business in this competitive market and are a company to keep an eye on in the coming future, especially with their announced GTX680 Black Video Card.
After personally using this motherboard for over a month, I would have no concerns with recommending it to anybody who asks. For gamers it is definitely one of the best motherboards on the market with support for two PCI-E 3.0 graphics cards and the latest Ivy Bridge processors.
Final Score: 93% HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Taiwanese computer component manufacturer Elitegroup Computer Systems (or ECS as they are more commonly known) are a growing company that are beginning to specialize in gaming hardware. With previous attempts to break into the gaming sector before (anybody remember the ECS Hydra Watercooled 9800 GTX+ SLI graphics cards?), the company is still yet to become a household name. Ironically though, the company has been around since 1987 and is the fifth largest manufacturer of motherboards, but these are mainly OEM products which has been their specialty up until now.
In early 2012, ECS announced their upcoming Z77 Black Extreme – Golden Limited Edition Series of motherboards with two flagship models, the Z77H2-A2X (which is what we have here today) and the Z77H2-AX. Both make use of a black PCB with predominately gold hardware. They are also able to make use of the new Intel 3rd Generation Ivy Bridge CPU’s and have support for PCI-E 3.0 with AMD crossfire and Nvidia SLI available.
The Z77H2-A2X is just one of ECS’s flagship Black Extreme Golden Limited Edition motherboards. The motherboard packs a plethora of features at a very reasonable price (Around ~$260 from retailers stocking it in Australia).
Let’s go!
So what do you get?
Inside the box, ECS has been very kind by including 6 black SATA 3 cables, an SLI bridge (unfortunately there is no AMD crossfire cable included, so you will be required to source your own if you need one), a motherboard manual, VIRTU Universal User’s Guide, a drivers disc and another booklet with miscellaneous information. But not only is all of this included with the motherboard, but ECS has also included a USB 3.0 drive bay device. With the new Z77 platform, USB 3.0 headers are now on-board the motherboard, and the drive bay adapter from ECS is perfect for making the most use out of USB 3.0 without having to reach around to the back of your computer or buy a drive bay yourself.
Motherboard Overview and Components
The first thing that just about everybody will notice is the black and gold theme. Personally, I am a big fan of this as not only does it look great, but it’s a theme that is very difficult to find elsewhere. At a glance, the huge heat dissipaters do seem excessive but ECS claims that its heatsinks, named ‘Qooltech IV’ technology, is 20% more efficient than other heat dissipating setups on the market. This is put down to a combination of “thermal chromic technology with heat sink”. One quick thing I will mention about this is that at certain temperatures the “Black Extreme” writing seen over the Z77 chipset heatsink will change colour.
Aesthetics aside, the board can back-up its loud visual statement with its impressive hardware. This motherboard will accept an LGA-1155 Intel CPU, and uses the new Intel Z77 chipset. The Z77 is optimized for the new Intel Ivy Bridge processors, giving you features such as PCIE 3.0.
The Z77H2-A2X features a plethora of expansion options. The greatest of which are the dual PCIe 3.0 x16 slots. The thing about this though is that when using two graphics cards at once, the bandwidth will only operate at x8 speed. Furthermore, there are two PCIe x1 slots and two PCI slots. One thing I would like to point out though, is that when using a dual width graphics card in the first PCIe 3.0 slot, the second PCIe port is blocked off which is quite a big design flaw if you do require it. If you aren't too sure of what I mean, check out the picture below this. The graphics card is an XFX 2GB HD6950 graphics card which is dual width.
Storage options are another great feature of the motherboard but come in short supply with two Sata2 (3Gb/s) ports and two Sata3 (6Gb/s) ports provided from the Z77 chipset, and another two Sata3 ports are given from an ASMEDIA ASM1061 controller. As a board targeted at enthusiasts this should be enough ports to cater for many people, but for those looking for more ports you will have to look elsewhere. An interesting storage option I’d like to note is the 52-pin Mini-PCIe connector located at the bottom right corner of the motherboard which will more than likely go unused by many, but still does give the option of using devices such as an mSata SSD.
The motherboard supports up to 32GB of 240-pin dual channel memory via four DDR3 DIMM slots, with a stock frequency up to 1600mhz available. Now, this is one of the great features of this motherboard. If you decide for whatever reason that 1600MHz is not fast enough for you, the Z77H2-A2X will more than willingly overclock to not only 2600MHz, but up to 2800MHz.
Now for some features that are not commonly found on mainstream motherboards which set the Z77H2-A2X apart. Overclockers and testers will find this motherboard to be a dream, with the integrated power and reset switches as well as an LED debug display. For those who use their computers as work horses this may not seem like much, but for people who are trying to get the most out of their system, which this board will let you do, the switches definitely come in handy and the LED debug display (a full list of the debug code meanings are included in the manual) can be great for situations where your PC refuses to start.
As I mentioned before, there is also a Mini-PCIe slot which is also an uncommon feature. One other set of features included is the built in wireless capabilities. I say capabilities as not only is there on-board WiFi, but a bluetooth dongle is pre-mounted into the board, giving you mobile connectivity and internet connectivity straight out of the box without plugging anything into any ports.
ECS has integrated a plethora of connectivity options into the Rear I/O panel. There are more USB ports than you can shake a stick at, with four USB 3.0 ports (in addition to the two extra ports given from the USB 3.0 drive bay device) as well as four USB 2.0 ports. Video output ports are also plentiful with on-board VGA D-Sub, HDMI, and DVI. You also have a sole eSATA 3.0Gb/s port, a Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 LAN connector, the aforementioned bluetooth and wireless ports, and a bunch of audio ports from the Realtek ALC892 CODEC.
Bios
ECS has decided to adopt a GUI EUFI for the bios, meaning that users no longer have to look at a plain background with blocky letters. Navigating through the bios, I did feel as though the mouse was a bit hard to maneuver at times due to sensitivity, so it will be a different experience for each user. Overall though it was easy enough to use and nice to see it incorporated, but I do feel that a little bit of work could be done to improve the overall feel of it as well as some minor confusion that arises when trying to change settings.
Positives
Works fantastically
On-board USB 3.0
Two PCI-E 3.0 lanes – SLI and Crossfire support in 2x8 bandwidth
Pricing (~$260 in Australia)
Built in Bluetooth dongle
Wireless onboard is a great feature, but do take into account positioning of your computer as its range is limited
Great RAM overclocking abilities, up to 2800MHz
Bios is easy to navigate around and find what you want
Six included SATA 3 cables, as well as a USB 3.0 bay and a black Nvidia SLI cable
Negatives
The size of some of the motherboard cooling heatsinks can limit some CPU coolers and cases due to their size
Limited availability (many retailers do not stock this motherboard)
Some expansion slots are blocked off by larger graphics cards
There is a definite lack of storage options, with only 6 SATA ports available. The mini-PCIe port does aid this with the ability to use an mSata drive, but there is still a lack for those wanting multiple raid sets.
This will only worry some, but there is no Firewire port on the rear I/O panel
Neutral
The overall look of the motherboard, some may like it and others may not
No AMD Crossfire cable, only an Nvidia SLI cable
There is a suite of included software, but most people will choose to use other applications due to their limit of functionality. Regardless, it was nice to see an attempt made, but there is definitely better options out there not only from third parties, but motherboard manufacturers such as Gigabyte’s EasyTune6 program.
Final Thoughts
ECS has really created something special with the release of their Z77H2-A2X. Making full use of what makes Ivy Bridge great (onboard USB 3.0, PCI-E 3.0) and the attractive price make this board very hard to look past. For those who are after an extreme setup then this is definitely a motherboard to be considered, especially for those who want to be pushing high voltages through their motherboard without water cooling it as the ‘Qooltech IV’ technology works great. The quality and design of the motherboard really do show that ECS mean serious business in this competitive market and are a company to keep an eye on in the coming future, especially with their announced GTX680 Black Video Card.
After personally using this motherboard for over a month, I would have no concerns with recommending it to anybody who asks. For gamers it is definitely one of the best motherboards on the market with support for two PCI-E 3.0 graphics cards and the latest Ivy Bridge processors.
Final Score: 93% HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
