• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

ECS Golden Board Z77H2-AX LGA 1155

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
A rare Golden weapon, forged to defeat one of the twin dragons, AMD and Intel, has emerged! The ECS Golden Board Z77H2-AX is a limited edition, highly rare sample sent to us directly from ECS, the first in a series that showcases the potential and new outlook ECS has adopted for 2012, and the future. And like any other rare weapon, the damage it inflicts is immense!

Show full review
 
Last edited by a moderator:

TheMailMan78

Big Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
22,599 (3.68/day)
Location
'Merica. The Great SOUTH!
System Name TheMailbox 5.0 / The Mailbox 4.5
Processor RYZEN 1700X / Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 / Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155
Cooling MasterLiquid PRO 280 / Scythe Katana 4
Memory ADATA RGB 16GB DDR4 2666 16-16-16-39 / G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866: 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s) MSI 1080 "Duke" with 8Gb of RAM. Boost Clock 1847 MHz / ASUS 780ti
Storage 256Gb M4 SSD / 128Gb Agelity 4 SSD , 500Gb WD (7200)
Display(s) LG 29" Class 21:9 UltraWide® IPS LED Monitor 2560 x 1080 / Dell 27"
Case Cooler Master MASTERBOX 5t / Cooler Master 922 HAF
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec / SupremeFX X-Fi with Bose Companion 2 speakers.
Power Supply Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-750PX 750W Platinum / SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei (RAW) / Logitech G5
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow / Logitech (Unknown)
Software Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Benchmark Scores Benching is for bitches.
Needs more gold!
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
5,380 (1.08/day)
At least they have finally updated their BIOS after 2 months

and guess what? ECS haven't even bothered to mention what they have changed in the new BIOS

If it wasn't for the looks, this board is a 7.5 IMO.
 

TheMailMan78

Big Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
22,599 (3.68/day)
Location
'Merica. The Great SOUTH!
System Name TheMailbox 5.0 / The Mailbox 4.5
Processor RYZEN 1700X / Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 / Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155
Cooling MasterLiquid PRO 280 / Scythe Katana 4
Memory ADATA RGB 16GB DDR4 2666 16-16-16-39 / G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866: 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s) MSI 1080 "Duke" with 8Gb of RAM. Boost Clock 1847 MHz / ASUS 780ti
Storage 256Gb M4 SSD / 128Gb Agelity 4 SSD , 500Gb WD (7200)
Display(s) LG 29" Class 21:9 UltraWide® IPS LED Monitor 2560 x 1080 / Dell 27"
Case Cooler Master MASTERBOX 5t / Cooler Master 922 HAF
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec / SupremeFX X-Fi with Bose Companion 2 speakers.
Power Supply Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-750PX 750W Platinum / SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei (RAW) / Logitech G5
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow / Logitech (Unknown)
Software Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Benchmark Scores Benching is for bitches.
At least they have finally updated their BIOS after 2 months

and guess what? ECS haven't even bothered to mention what they have changed in the new BIOS

If it wasn't for the looks, this board is a 7.5 IMO.

Well the bios might have issues but it performs pretty damn good.
 

Athlon2K15

HyperVtX™
Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
7,909 (1.24/day)
Location
O-H-I-O
Processor Intel Core i9 11900K
Motherboard MSI Z590 Carbon EK X
Cooling Custom Water
Memory Team DDR4 4000MHz
Video Card(s) ASUS TUF RTX 3080 OC
Storage WD WN850 1TB
Display(s) 43" LG NanoCell 4K 120Hz
Power Supply Asus Thor 1200w
Mouse Asus Strix Evolve
Keyboard Asus Strix Claymore
dave did you have issues with the 1866 memory divider on your board?
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
5,380 (1.08/day)
I have problems with the memory voltage here. A kit of 1.5V but works either on 1.42V or 1.55V, god knows why...
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
dave did you have issues with the 1866 memory divider on your board?

Nope. If you do, it's probably a combination of the board's BIOS, and the DIMMs. Also, as noted, BIOS-listed votlages are false, so when it says 1.65 V, it might actually be just 1.55 V.

I have problems with the memory voltage here. A kit of 1.5V but works either on 1.42V or 1.55V, god knows why...

Your board didn't have the gold card in it, i think it's a second-hand sample. :laugh:


Should be 1.55 V, not 1.42 V, that's an odd one. Lowest mine goes is 1.55 V, perhaps this is something to do with memory instlled, and how the board reads SPD values. Hopefully new BIOS will fix these problems, because otherwise, the board is pretty good for an ECS!


I'll have a build log for rig with this board in the coming months, just need to tighten up the final details of the other parts!
 

TheMailMan78

Big Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
22,599 (3.68/day)
Location
'Merica. The Great SOUTH!
System Name TheMailbox 5.0 / The Mailbox 4.5
Processor RYZEN 1700X / Intel i7 2600k @ 4.2GHz
Motherboard Fatal1ty X370 Gaming K4 / Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155
Cooling MasterLiquid PRO 280 / Scythe Katana 4
Memory ADATA RGB 16GB DDR4 2666 16-16-16-39 / G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB DDR3 1866: 9-9-9-24
Video Card(s) MSI 1080 "Duke" with 8Gb of RAM. Boost Clock 1847 MHz / ASUS 780ti
Storage 256Gb M4 SSD / 128Gb Agelity 4 SSD , 500Gb WD (7200)
Display(s) LG 29" Class 21:9 UltraWide® IPS LED Monitor 2560 x 1080 / Dell 27"
Case Cooler Master MASTERBOX 5t / Cooler Master 922 HAF
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec / SupremeFX X-Fi with Bose Companion 2 speakers.
Power Supply Seasonic FOCUS Plus Series SSR-750PX 750W Platinum / SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold
Mouse SteelSeries Sensei (RAW) / Logitech G5
Keyboard Razer BlackWidow / Logitech (Unknown)
Software Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Benchmark Scores Benching is for bitches.
I'll have a build log for rig with this board in the coming months, just need to tighten up the final details of the other parts!
Looking forward to the "PIMP MY RIG" pics!
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
Messages
144 (0.03/day)
Location
Houston, TX
System Name 2600k
Processor i7 2600K
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK
Memory 16GB
Video Card(s) ASUS GTX 760 OC
Storage 120GB Agility 3/2TB WD Caviar Black x 2/Intel 311 (Cache Drive)
Display(s) Dell S2340M
Case Lian Li PC-8FIR (Silver)
Audio Device(s) X-Fi Titanium Fata1ity
Power Supply Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W
Software Win 7 Pro x64 SP1
Benchmark Scores Logitech G500 | Razer Lycosa Mirror | Logitech Z-5300
Its BIOS is broken, and overclocking isn't easy at all, but....
You still give it a 9.5? The BIOS is the most fundamental piece of the hardware. Without good software (BIOS) the board can't be good (see ABIT uGuru). The scores you guys give out continues to baffle me.
 
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
5,380 (1.08/day)
Major_A, i tried believe me. Dave insist that this board is a 9.5er, god knows why. As soon as im getting a new ASRock board... you know the rest.
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
You still give it a 9.5? The BIOS is the most fundamental piece of the hardware. Without good software (BIOS) the board can't be good (see ABIT uGuru). The scores you guys give out continues to baffle me.

It's just the voltage monitoring that is broken. Everything else worked just fine for me, and no aspect of that "broken" feature affected the board's ability to overclock, or the stability.

If it affected functionality, then OK, there'd be a big issue, but I found no other problems, even when running triple 6950's(barring AMD driver issues), and that's with both a 2600K and a 3770K.

As to scoring, market segment is considered. I don't compare mATX products to full ATX, and vice versa. I actually like that this board is a bit harder to overclock with...as the end result is the same.
 
Joined
Dec 28, 2007
Messages
1,368 (0.23/day)
Processor AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE Deneb @ 3.7GHz
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P
Cooling ZALMAN CNPS9700 CPU Heatsink
Memory OCZ 4GB DDR3 1600 @ 7-7-7-24 1.85v
Video Card(s) ATI Sapphire OC 7850 1200c/5800m @ 64c Full Load
Storage Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB + Western Digital 1TB External Drive
Display(s) SAMSUNG ToC T240 24'' LCD
Case Silverstone FT01-BW
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply ZALMAN ZM-750
Software Win 7 x64 SP1
for such an expensive board on a limited run they could at least include intel onboard nic and the best realtek onboard soundchip
 
Joined
Nov 27, 2006
Messages
88 (0.01/day)
Location
Slovakia
Processor Core i7 5820k
Motherboard MSI x99s Mpower
Cooling Zalman Reserator 1, XSPC RX120, Koolance QDCs, Koolance MVR-40, EK Supreme HF, EK vga supreme HF
Memory 4x8GB crucial 3000MHz
Video Card(s) R9 290x 4GB with EK fullcover waterblock.
Storage Intel SSD 330 180GB, Samsung HD103UJ 1TB, Seagate ST31500341AS 1,5TB, Seagate ST4000DM000 4TB
Display(s) HP LP3065 30"
Case Silverstone Fortress FT02B
Audio Device(s) ATI HDMI audio device -> Yamaha RX-V1600
Power Supply Corsair AX860 80plus platinum
Software Windows 8.1 prof. x64 eng retail.
Typo: There are jsut three fna headers total, and only one can be controlled from within the BIOS.

...and still no mention about fan headers in specification table.

But thanks for a nice review!
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
Typo: There are jsut three fna headers total, and only one can be controlled from within the BIOS.

...and still no mention about fan headers in specification table.

But thanks for a nice review!

Thanks. Look for number of fan headers a few reviews from now, maybe the next one. ;) The best info I can provide, while keeping things looking neat is the number and type( 3- or 4-pin).
 

Maxforcess

New Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
11 (0.00/day)
Nope. If you do, it's probably a combination of the board's BIOS, and the DIMMs. Also, as noted, BIOS-listed votlages are false, so when it says 1.65 V, it might actually be just 1.55 V.



Your board didn't have the gold card in it, i think it's a second-hand sample. :laugh:

Mine has:)


How Do I fell?? Like number 3:) Disappointed I wasn't the first:mad:
Looking forward to the "PIMP MY RIG" pics!

My is finished.


NIce motherboard. No problem to overclock 2600K@ 5Ghz+ 24/7 4.8GHz with offset
 
Last edited:

Maxforcess

New Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
11 (0.00/day)
I'm just curious who got 001/002 to review motherboard.Mine 003 yours 004.
In new bios they disabled spread spectrum option. Now there is no choice.Always is on.
 

cadaveca

My name is Dave
Joined
Apr 10, 2006
Messages
17,232 (2.63/day)
I'm just curious who got 001/002 to review motherboard.Mine 003 yours 004.
In new bios they disabled spread spectrum option. Now there is no choice.Always is on.

Yeah, I am curious too!!!

I leave that one option on always anyway. I try to not disable anything when overclocking, which means that my clocks might be a bit lower than some others might get with the same hardware, slightly, but I am not one to give up a feature for an extra 100 MHz.


I don't use "PLL overvoltage" option either. That can kill "sleep".

What memory are you using with the board?
 

Maxforcess

New Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
11 (0.00/day)
Now I'm using AMD Entertainment Edition PC3-12800 8GB previously I had 4GB of g.skill eco 1600 cl7 @ 2133 CL9
I have no need to use PLL overvoltage up to 51x multiplier for 24/7 is 48x

fast memory is only needed in synthetics benchmark
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 13, 2010
Messages
5,380 (1.08/day)
Use the multimeter to read the actual voltages and you might be disappointed :)
 
Top