ECS A85F2-A Golden Review: All That Glitters
by Ian Cutress on January 12, 2013 11:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- ECS
- FM2
- A85X
ECS A85F2-A Golden In The Box
So far in our FM2 coverage, as the price of the motherboards has been sub-$150, the boxes tend to be a little light. No-one is willing to parade a board in a ton of extra USB 3.0 so no USB 3.0 brackets are put in place, neither is a drive for WiFi apart from a few select models. Given the fact that ECS shift a large amount of product compared to Zotac, EVGA and to a certain extent Biostar, I would assume that what they can put in box would be an organised procurement of stuff that could go into every box.
What we get is:
Rear IO Panel Shield
User Manual
Driver CD
Seven SATA cables
As kind of expected, while ECS does not go beyond a bunch of SATA cables, we get plenty of them. Seven cables covers all the onboard SATA ports which is great if a user wants to go down the storage route.
ECS A85F2-A Golden Overclocking
Experience with ECS A85F2-A Golden
Given the memory issues that have plagued my testing of this motherboard, I was not expecting much in terms of CPU overclocking. There are no automatic overclocking presets, and the OS software deals with BCLK/FSB only, meaning we are to dive straight into the BIOS. Even when using the options there, basic tests that would pass on all other boards fail to pass here. The voltage range itself is a little odd, being from 1.495 V to 1.975 V in 0.020 V increments. Normally for FM2 we start at a 44x multiplier at 1.400 volts and go from there.
Methodology:
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.
Manual Overclock:
Using the BIOS, we took a similar approach to overclocking as with the other A85X motherboards tested with this processor. We start at 1.4 volts on the CPU in the BIOS and a CPU multiplier of 44x for all cores. Here are the results:
All other settings were left at default apart from CPU Multiplier and CPU Voltage. As shown, performance on the ECS is rather poor, requiring 1.575 V for 4.4 GHz to pass 5 minutes of OCCT. While a five minute test is not a complete and thorough stability test in every sense of the word (is a system that crashes after 50 days at full load ‘stable’?), it provides a reference point with out other reviews for comparison and is a mid point for review time limitations.
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santeana - Saturday, January 12, 2013 - link
Actually, I was surprised to see they did as well as they even did. Hasn't ECS always been sort of a no-name class board? I've seen them a lot over the years in OEM systems but I would never think to look for an ECS board if I were building a custom PC. Then again, with all the new gadgets I've had my hands on lately, maybe I'm just out of the PC-loop lolmayankleoboy1 - Saturday, January 12, 2013 - link
Maybe ECS is bigger is Asian countries ?RyanLochte - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $5600… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online(Click on menu Home)http://goo.gl/FTmpQ
Happy New Year!
Flunk - Saturday, January 12, 2013 - link
I think they build a lot of boards for large system integrators.CeriseCogburn - Monday, January 14, 2013 - link
I think the gaming results page is a forced sham since we don't see any Intel based systems spanking the crap out of this amd junk.
BrokenCrayons - Monday, January 14, 2013 - link
When reviewing motherboards, the board itself should be compared among competing products which would mean using as much common hardware as possible to eliminate the differences introducted by parts that are not subject to review. In the case of the AMD platform in question, using similar equipment (processor, GPU, memory, storage, etc.) allows a reader to see where among other motherboards this particular product fits because it becomes the only variable between each review.Numbers obtained from Intel parts wouldn't add any comparative value to the review since more than just the motherboard would become a factor in quantification of total system performance. In the case of this review, the deviation in system memory was disclaimed and could not be prevented because of problems with the BIOS failing to recognize DIMMs that were common to previous reviews. Ian pointed that variation out before, during, and after presenting benchmark results so readers would be aware something changed that impacted performance AND that the new variable was a necessity due to apparent manufacturer design flaws.
If you want to compare this board's results with Intel products (probably to make yourself feel better for having blind brand loyalty if you're not simply attempting to troll), then you can check out the results in the benchmark database. Just click the "BENCH" link at the top of the page for instant brand-loyalist gratification.
CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - link
All you're doing is claiming ONLY A FRIKKING BRAND LOYALIST WHO WILL ONLY CONSIDER THIS AMD SOCKET TYPE MOTHERBOARD NEED BE INFORMED.YOU STUPID IDIOT !
We know the prices of amd boards and amd cpu, an Intel equivalent is VERY EASY to come up with.
you're the ******* brand loyalist you dummy.
cabonsx3 - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - link
LOL, Cerise... what are you 14?Seems legit to me. Was this article a comparison of Intel and AMD platforms? Didn't seem to be... looked like an ECS FM2 motherboard review and comparison to other FM2 offerings. You know, competitive products, ones that use the same technologies?
BrokenCrayons hit the nail on the head.
CeriseCogburn - Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - link
You're a lying idiot too.zero2dash - Sunday, January 13, 2013 - link
I had an ECS board with my P4 3.0C and it was a solid, stable board.These days though, I can't say I'd go for an ECS when there's Asus, ASRock, and Gigabyte which have all been trouble-free for me and typically are all feature-rich.