Introduction and Specs

ECS’ flagship Z77-based board, the Gold Board Z77H2-H2, is put through it’s paces…

Introduction

Courtesy of ECS

As part of their Black Extreme line of motherboards, the ECS Z77H2-AX pairs the promise of performance and a mile-long feature list with looks that could kill. We decided to put this board through the paces, throwing our normal suite of benchmark and functionality tests to see how well it lived up to its reputation. The ECS Z77H2-AX seems to be well priced at its $309.99 base price with all the higher-end features and bling built into the board.

Courtesy of ECS

From the initial unboxing of the board, I was dumbstruck. ECS literally gold-plated every heat-producing surface on this board, giving it a very unique look and feel. The board itself has no shortage of features with SATA 2, SATA 3, mSATA, and eSATA ports, support for 3 different networking types, and enough USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports for anyone.

Courtesy of ECS

ECS also made use of the LicidLogix Virtu MVP chipset, offering up to 3-way SLI or CrossFire support when combined with the Z77 chipset.

 

Technical Specifications (taken from the ECS website)

CPU

LGA1155 socket for new 2nd & 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ Family/ Pentium® /Celeron® Processors
DMI 5.0GT/s

CHIPSET

Intel® Z77 Express Chipset

MEMORY

Dual-channel DDR3 memory architecture
4 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM socket support up to 32 GB
Support DDR3 up to 2800(OC)/2600(OC)/2400(OC)/2133(OC)/1800(OC)/1600 DDR3 SDRAM
Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® 32-bit OS.
For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation

EXPANSION SLOT

3 x PCI Express x16 Gen3.0 slots (2X16 1X8, 2X16 support by PLX8747)
2 x PCI Express x1 slots
2 x PCI slots
1 x Mini PCI Express x1 slot
    • Supports Mini SATA
    • Supports Mini PCI Express

STORAGE

Support by Intel® Z77
    • 2 x Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s devices (SATA2 3/4)
    • 2 x Serial ATA 6.0Gb/s devices (SATA3 1/2)
    • RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 10 configuration
Support by ASMEDIA ASM1061
    • 2 x Serial ATA 6.0Gb/s devices (SATA3 5/ 6)
    • 2 x eSATA 6.0 Gb/s ports

AUDIO

Realtek ALC892 8-Ch High Definition audio CODEC
Compliant with HD audio specification

LAN

RealTek RTL 8111E Gigabit Lan

REAR PANEL I/O

4 x USB 3.0 ports
4 x USB 2.0 Ports
1 x D-sub(VGA)
1 x HDMI Port
1 x RJ45 LAN connector
1 x Audio port (1x Line in, 4x Line out, 1x Optical SPDIF Out)
1 x Clear_CMOS button
1 x wifi connector
1 x Bluetooth
2 x eSATA 6.0Gb/s ports
1 x HDMI

INTERNAL I/O CONNECTORS & HEADERS

1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector
1 x 8-pin ATX Power Supply Connector
1 x 4-pin CPU_FAN connector
1 x 3-pin SYS_FAN connector
1 x 3-pin PWR_FAN connector
1 x USB 2.0 header support additional 2 USB ports with EZ charger technology
1 x USB 3.0 header supports additional 2 USB 3.0 Ports (support by TI TUSB7320)
2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
1 x COM header
1 x Case Open header
1 x SPDIF out header
1 x Front panel switch/LED header
1 x Front panel audio header
1 x debug post LED
1 x Power on button
1 x Reset button
1 x mSATA

SYSTEM BIOS

AMI BIOS with 64Mb SPI Flash ROM
Support ECS M.I.B X Utility
Supports eBLU
Support eOC
Supports eDLU
Supports eSF

Back I/O Ports

1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)
1 x DVI-I
2 x eSATA 6Gb/s
2 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
4 x USB 3.0
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical S/PDIF out
6 x Audio jack(s)
1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button(s)

FORM FACTOR

ATX Size, 305mm*244mm

 

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