Is ECS a good brand?

[Kantastic]

So I'm going to send Newegg back my BNIB Gigabyte US2H/PII X2 545 combo soon because I want to utilize DDR3 RAM and I'm looking to get another combo just to save a few bucks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135241

Any experiences with ECS you guys feel I should know before deciding? Supposedly the Black Series is supposed to be a higher quality board.

PS - Anybody know if this board can unlock cores? I know it has SB710 but yeah... no info on Google on whether ECS patched that feature or not.

 

[theonedub]

I've used ECS boards in budget builds before with no issue. In my experience when it comes to performance motherboards ECS does not come to mind.

 

[k0rn_h0li0]

i dont like em. maybe for a beginners

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I've used ECS boards in budget builds before with no issue. In my experience when it comes to performance motherboards ECS does not come to mind.

Same story here. They are good for no-frills builds; I wouldn't try to overclock one. Biostar and PC Chips go in the same category.

 

[Kenshai]

They have pretty good high end boards. I have used a few of them in customer builds that wanted something as cheap as they could get, haven't heard a peep out of the customers in the 9 months they've had them. So I don't see an issue with ECS what so ever.

 

[boomstik360]

Same story here. They are good for no-frills builds; I wouldn't try to overclock one. Biostar and PC Chips go in the same category.

I disagree on the biostar part, I have owned a few and built some computers with mid range biostar boards and they all overclock very well especially for the price.


But for the OP, the ECS board would be good for some average overclocking check here : http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1932_5.html

and here : http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-785g-chipset-review-ecs-a785gmm-test/8

Hope this helps, but I really recommend this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131406

Or this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157168

 

[Wile E]

ECS is bad at BIOS coding, and only good at basic clocking on their "enthusiast" boards. If you want to extract the max out of your cpu, pick a different brand, plain and simple.

Now, at stock speeds, my ECS was rock stable.

 

[naoan]

for cheap decent OC-able motherboard i'd go with biostar...

 

[r9]

I would say no.

 

[hat]

My BIOSTAR TF720 A2+ overclocks well... 250FSB no problem. It just can't handle voltage. It went boom at 1.375v on a phenom 9500... my first RMA

 

[blackbird307]

I had an ECS before. Budget chipsets, budget capacitors, budget support. They aren't terrible, they just aren't meant for gaming even though they may emphasize it.

 

[MohawkAngel]

Asus M3A78-EM full of options with lot of features for small price. i got the M3A78-CM instead of the EM because its more advance but you should go for the -EM ..hdmi onboard 8.1 sound...bios full of overclocking ability

 

[qubit]

I don't suggest swapping a premium brand like Gigabyte with a good reputation and solid products for a budget brand like ECS. There's a reason why you pay more, even if it's not immediately apparent.

See my build for an example of good quality components.