ECS A780GM-A Ultra Black Series
Summary
ECS has done a very good job designing the A780GM-A Ultra, and we believe this board deserves to join the ranks of their other Black Series motherboards. The surprising blend of the somewhat dated 780G Northbridge and the newer SB750 Southbridge works quite well. I have not yet been able to find another motherboard to carry this combination of chipsets from any other manufacturer. Many may say that there should have been another PCI Express x16 slot, but more than one was never officially supported by the chipset anyways, so we think it’s a bit of a moot argument.
The feature set included here is more than adequate with the inclusion of the HDMI capability, and eSATA ports on the rear panel being a great bonus. The three PCI slots are not something seen too often on today’s motherboards, even though support for them is slowly fading in favor of the newer PCI Express slots. And the integrated HD3200graphics onboard paired with ATI’s Hybrid Graphics Technology and Direct X 10 support should be more than able to handle the graphics capabilities needed for a mid-range gaming system.
So, if you find yourself asking the question: “What motherboard will meet my needs, without completely emptying my wallet?” on your next build, you may well have found the answer to that question. At the very affordable price of around $75 USD, this board has shown that it has the features and dependability more commonly associated with far higher priced boards on the market. With its wide array of ports, integrated ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology, and the support for AMD’s new Phenom II processors, the ECS A780GM-A Ultra Black Series is a solid winner in our book and a wise investment that won’t leave your wallet empty in the search for performance.
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ECS A780GM-A Ultra |
Our thanks go to ECS for providing the A780GM-A Ultra for this review.
