ECS A890GXM-A AMD 890GX Motherboard

ECS has never been shy about releasing a new board based on a new chipset or new technology.  They seem to always be right there knocking at the door of the latest and greatest that is released and they usually do it at a better price than many others.  They may not have always performed quite as fast or overclocked quite as well as some other boards on the market, but they have usually been close and always priced a bit better.

Today, we take a look at the ECS A890GXM-A, a new board based on the 890GX chipset from AMD.  This board is part of the Black Series of motherboards from ECS, which means that it is a board that is geared more to the performance and overclocking end for enthusiasts.  The Black series seems to have done very well, and we expect to see some great results as we test this board today.  If you missed our introduction of the 890GX chipset, you can go back and read Nate's article on it and see the results that he gets from a couple of other 890GX boards.  For now, let's start by looking at the specs of the board:

Form factor    

    * ATX Size 305mm*244mm

Processor    

    * 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
    * Note: This board supports CPU up to 140W TDP only; you can refer to AMD website to check your CPU.

Memory    

    * Dual-channel DDR3 memory architecture
    * 4 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM socket support up to 32 GB
    * Support DDR3 up to 1800(OC)/1600(OC)/1333/1066 DDR3 SDRAM
    * *(Due to the fact that the DRAM maximum size is 4GB at present, the memory maximum size we have tested is 16GB)
    * *(Due to AMD CPU spec limitation, memory OC figure (1600+) is not guaranteed; please refer to Memory QVL for more information)

Chipset    

    * AMD® 890GX & AMD® SB850
    * North Bridge: AMD® 890GX
    * South Bridge: AMD® SB850

Storage    

    * Support by AMD® SB850
    * 5 x Serial ATAIII 6.0Gb/s devices
    * RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 10 configuration
    * 1 x eSATA

Graphics    

    * On Chip (AMD 890GX-based with ATI™ Radeon HD4290 graphics )
    * Integrated DirectX10.1 graphics processor
    * Share Memory: Maximum up to 512MB
    * AMD SidePort Memory: DDR3-1333 (64Mx16=128MB)

LAN and Audio support    

    * Dual Realtek 8111DL 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet Controller
    * Atheros AR8132M 10/100 Fast Ethernet Controller (Optional)
    * Realtek ALC892 8-Ch High Definition audio CODEC
    * Compliant with HD audio specification

Internal I/O Connectors & Headers    

    * 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector
    * 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power Connector
    * 1 x 4pin CPU_FAN connectors
    * 1 x 3-pin PWR_FAN connector
    * 1 x 3-pin SYS_FAN connector
    * 1 x Power on button
    * 1 x Reset button
    * 1 x Speaker header
    * 1 x Front panel switch/LED header
    * 1 x Front panel audio header
    * 1 x SPDIF out header
    * 1 x 4-pin power connector for VGA card
    * 1 x Clear CMOS header
    * 5 x Serial ATAIII 6Gb/s connectors
    * 4 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 8 USB ports
    * 1X Stand by LED (Red Light)
    * 1X Power on LED (Green light)
    * 1 x Chassis intrusion header

Expansion capabilities    

    * 3 x PCI Express Gen 2.0 x16 slots
    * 2 x PCI Express x1 slots
    * 1 x PCI slot
    * *The third PCIEX16 only support bandwidth x4


ECS 890GXM-A Motherboard

ECS also has several features with this board that are supposed to make the user experience that much better.  eJiffy is a way of fast booting into a Linux environment to get connected to the internet quicker.  We have looked at other similar features from other board makers, and I am not too sure that this is really that useful of a feature for most, but someone may like it.

They also have what they called eBLU (BIOS Live Update), which is a very useful tool to quickly and easily update your BIOS online through ECS servers.

One last thing worth mentioning is the M.I.B. III program which is an overclocking aide for those that need it.  This program is supposed to help you get every ounce of performance from your motherboard.