• ECS A785GM-M Motherboard [Review]

    ECS A785GM-M Motherboard [Review]

    Roydon Cerejo, Sep 15, 2009 1245 hrs IST

    A good option for someone looking for a cheap AM3 motherboard

    Feature-packed, good performance, quick access to Internet (eJIFFY), HDMI and DVI ports, solid state capacitors

    Graphics performance is not that much higher than 780G, heat sinks need a better fit

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ECS is well-known for its relatively inexpensive yet feature-rich motherboards and today we have just another example of this. After witnessing the good performance of the X58, it's time to take a look at the AMD camp. Based on the recently launched AMD 785G chipset, we have the ECS A785GM-M motherboard in the lab. The board sports the all new HD4200 for the onboard graphics with full DX10.1 support. Yes, until now we've had the last generation IGP (Integrated Graphics) on their flagship motherboards like the 790GX, which though superior to Intel's GM4500, couldn't match up with Nvidia's 9400 IGP seen on their select MCP7A motherboards.




The second major change is the newer Southbridge, SB710, since this an AM3 based motherboard, so it only works with DDR3 memory and AM3 compatible Phenom II and Athlon II processors. The motherboard is packed with features like two E-SATA ports, every onboard video connector possible, debugging LEDs and matching heat sinks spread all across. Normally one would expect a hefty price tag for a board like this but that's not the case here. Before we examine the board and bundle in detail, let's take a quick look at the features present in this new 785G chipset.


 



785G Demystified


 





In addition to the regular video connectors the 785G also supports DisplayPort, which is not present on this one but will be in high-end variants. The new onboard HD4200 gives you full support of DX10.1 along with the latest UVD 2.0, which supports H.264/VC-1/MPEG-2 video decoding and improved AVIVO features like DVD up-conversion, etc.



Things have remained pretty much the same for the Southbridge, like support for up to 6x SATA ports, 12 USB 2.0 ports, HD audio, etc. The main difference is in the onboard graphics, which ideally should provide a decent bump in performance. But if you want to play any of today's games on decent settings it's advisable to pick up a separate graphics card as the price have fallen and you can actually buy an Nvidia 9600GT for just 4.5K.


 

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ECS A785GM-M motherboard Review AMD HD4200 SB710 eJIFFY AM3 motherboard



Discussion Board
(2) Comments
Samuel
,Delhi, on Feb 24, 2010 09:28 AM
Is this board available in India (Nehru place basically) now?
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Samuel
,Bangalore, on Sep 15, 2009 11:39 PM
Good review but Strange! I am using the previous version motherboard of 780 chipset mother from Gigabyte. This has an onboard ATI Radeon 3200. But I am able to play FarCry 2 at 17FPS with all High. And COD4 too at a very good setting. I was excepting the new chipset to play better. Looks like I shud finally consider buying a Graphic card for myself!
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