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Introduction and Specifications

ECS unveils first AM3 motherboard with 785G chipset

A little over three weeks ago, our own Josh Walrath wrote an in-depth article about the new AMD 785G chipset and its effect on the motherboard industry and marketplace. Josh noted that the new chipset doesn't have any audio upgrades from the 780G, but there are a host of other features consumers should be pretty gitty about. The most significant upgrade to the 785G chipset is the introduction of the ATI Radeon HD 4200 integrated graphics that makes any boards with this chipset a multimedia powerhouse with full 1080p HD playback, dual-stream PiP (Picture in Picture) on Blu-ray 1.1 playback with multi-monitor capability, and support for DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs.

 

Photo courtesy of ECS

Scores of ATX and micro ATX motherboards sporting the 785G chipset have drenched the market, and most are available for under $100. One company who jumped on the 785G bandwagon was ECS, who sent us one of their first A785GM-M Black Series motherboards to review. This particular board has many features that used to be reserved for higher-end ATX boards like support for AMD 140w processors, AMD Hybrid Crossfire technology, and DirectX 10.1 capabilities.

Photo courtesy of ECS

ECS is branding this board as a home theater solution that features RealTek ALC888S 7.1CH High Definition audio with Digital Optical Output. The A785GM-M is  also adorned with titanium heatsinks over the MOS, Northbridge and Southbridge. ECS also took a page from ASUS when they developed eJIFFY, a special function that boots into another mini OS to receive e-mail and use other web applications without booting into the primary OS. 

ECS A785GM-M 785G AM3 Motherboard Specifications (taken from ECS's website)

CPU   

• Socket AM3 socket for AMD Phenom™ II processors
• High-performance HyperTransport 3.0 CPU Interface
• Support transfer rate up to 5200 mega-transfers per second 

CHIPSET

• North Bridge: AMD® 785G
• South Bridge: AMD® SB710 

GRAPHICS   

• HD 4200 Integrated DirectX10.1 graphics processor 

MEMORY

• Dual-channel DDR3 memory architecture
• 4 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM socket support up to 32GB*
• Support DDR3 1333/1066/800 SDRAM
• *(Due to the DRAM maximum size is 4GB at present, the memory maximum size we have tested is 16GB)  

EXPANSION SLOTS  

• 1 x PCI Express x16 slot
• 2 x PCI Express x1 slots
• 1 x PCI slot 

STORAGE
Supported by AMD® SB710

• 2 x Ultra DMA 100/66/33 devices
• 6 x Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s devices

RAID0, RAID1, RAID10 configuration
Supported by JMicron® JMB362

• 2 x eSATAII 3.0Gb/s devices 

AUDIO

• Realtek ALC 888S supports 8-channel HD audio
• Compliant with HD audio specification 

LAN

• RealTek 8111DL Gigabit Fast Ethernet NIC 

REAR PANEL I/O

• 6 x USB ports 
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet Port 
• 1 x 1394a port 
• 2 x e-SATA ports 
• 1 x Audio port (1x Line in, 4x Line out, 1x Optical SPDIF Out) 
• 1 x VGA port 
• 1 x DVI connector 
• 1 x HDMI Port 

INTERNAL I/O CONNECTORS AND HEADERS   

• 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply Connector & 8-pin 12V Connector 
• 1 x 4-pin 12V Connector 
• 1 x CPU_FAN connector 
• 1 x PWR_FAN connector 
• 1 x SYS Fan header 
• 1 x IDE connector 
• 6 x Serial ATA 3Gb/s connectors 
• 1 x 7S-LED Display 
• 1 x Buzzer 
• 1 x Front panel switch/LED header 
• 1 x Front panel audio header 
• 1X Power on LED (Green light) 
• 1X Stand by LED (Red Light) 
• 1 x SPDIF out header 
• 1 x 1394a header 
• 3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 6 USB ports 
• 1 x Power button/1 x Reset button 
• 1 x Clear CMOS button 

SYSTEM BIOS   
AMI BIOS with 8Mb SPI ROM

• Supports Plug and Play, STR/STD, Hardware monitor, Multi Boot, DMI,HDCP 
• Supports ACPI 3.0 revision
• Support ECS M.I.B II Utility 
• CPU voltage adjustable 
• Memory voltage adjustable 
• NB Chipset Voltage Adjustable 
• SB Chipset Voltage Adjustable 
• HT Voltage Adjustable 
• External Clock Adjustable 
• Multiple Frequency Adjustable 

ECS eJIFFY utility 

• Instant access to the internet 
• Leaves away from virus attacks under Windows 
• An alternative interface when Windows crashes 
• Free and upgradable tool

FORM FACTOR

• Micro-ATX Size, 244mm*244mm
   
   
  

 

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