Final Verdict: ECS PX1 Extreme - FastSilicon.com

Directory

Reviews

Motherboard Reviews

Final Verdict: ECS PX1 Extreme

Friday, 22 December 2006

Page 4 of 4

Conclusions

smallboardpic

Where to start? All is not bad with this board, though I do have to question some of ECS's intentions. The inclusion of the ICH8DH Southbridge is unusual, and one of the requirements for Intel VIIV compliance. With the board's rather elaborate passive cooling system and VIIV compliance this would certainly make a fine board to use when building a Home Theatre PC, where "instant on" capabilities and silence are very important concerns. OEM's and the white box crowd will probably be jumping all over this board for the very same reasons.

Will enthusiasts and gamers? It's really a mixed bag here. The ability to support ATI Crossfire, and support it well I might add, is definitely a bonus to some. It's certainly no slouch in terms of supporting a lot of SATA devices, RAID arrays, etc... We however find the board's lack of common bios adjustments puzzling, and its lack of stability at even modest over clocks utterly strange considering our experience with other P965 boards, all of which so far we've seen hit 450+ FSB without much effort.

Scotts Opinion: I can't seem to get over the impression that ECS hasn't figured out whom this board is targeted towards. It'd make a great silent and stable board for a Windows Media Center Home Theatre system, due to its expansive drive and networking support, its inclusion of the ICH8DH Southbridge for Intel VIIV support, and its dual PCI-E x16 slots supporting ATI Crossfire. Many enthusiasts though will pass this board up simply because of the meager BIOS. It's a shame.

Nigel's Opinion: In our preview article of the PX1 Extreme, I was enthusiastic about the board’s layout and was certain the BIOS would be corrected – WRONG. I personally contacted ECS in both the United States and Taiwan, and was never able to get a clear answer as to whom this product was marketed towards. In their final email to us, we were told there was no plan for a BIOS update. With so many other P965 motherboards out there, I simply cannot recommend the PX1 “Extreme” unless you plan to build a HTPC. ECS obviously still has a lot to learn about the enthusiast market, and hopefully they’ll learn from this motherboard and the bad press its received.

No Comment Award