BIOS Features
ECS included the latest revision of their UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) EZ BIOS with the the Z87H3-A3X motherboard. The UEFI BIOS offers full keyboard and mouse support while using the BIOS pages with enhanced mouse navigation supported by right clicking the mouse – goes back to previous view if inside a settings pop-up or on a sub-menu page. ECS did not include any type of screen capture utility in the BIOS.
While much simpler when compared with other motherboard manufacturer's UEFI implementations, the ECS implementation remains clean and well laid out. I found the mouse and keyboard responsiveness within the BIOS to be usable with no noticeable lag.
BIOS Notable Features
The ECS UEFI BIOS implementation contains no fancy interfaces or ground-breaking designs, but it functions well and has an intuitive layout. As long as you can find the settings you're looking for and the interface is responsive, any other additions are little more than glitz and window dressing. The BIOS has two operation modes – Basic and Advanced.
Basic Mode
The Basic mode page houses a graphical interface with high level board, temperature, voltage, and fan speed information shown.
Advanced Mode, M.I.B. X section
The Advanced Mode interface houses the more advanced board related setting with all overclocking and performance related settings centralized under the M.I.B. X tab. M.I.B. X stands for MB Intelligent BIOS X, designed with a series of sub-menus containing logically divided performance settings.
BIOS Walkthrough – Performance-related Settings, Advanced Mode
Main tab
M.I.B. X tab
M.I.B. X tab, CPU OverClocking Configuration page
M.I.B. X tab, North Bridge Configuration page
M.I.B. X tab, Memory Configuration page
M.I.B. X tab, Memory Configuration page continued
M.I.B. X tab, Over Voltage Configuration page
M.I.B. X tab, Over Voltage Configuration page continued
Advanced tab
Advanced tab, PC Health Status page
Advanced tab, PC Health Status page, Smart Fan Function page
Advanced tab, CPU Configuration page
Why don’t we call Intel GigE
Why don’t we call Intel GigE NIC port what it is, a RJ-45 port? Calling it ‘a thing we stick our UTP cable into’ would be better.
The top-down shot of the
The top-down shot of the motherboard looks like diarrhea. Still can’t get over the terrible name either.
no promo shots of it covered
no promo shots of it covered in dust?
I don’t think you can count
I don’t think you can count giant slabs of copper as heatsinks. There just isn’t enough surface area. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of the underdog, but when the company that was renowned for making Fry’s house brand boards where every boot was a flip of the coin where heads was it booting and tails was it exploding into a puff of magic smoke and taking every component connected to it with it, they really need to step up the game with their design.
My thoughts:
Board color – Meh. Never really cared about board color.
Component layout – Decent enough, except for that giant block of copper. Looking at the pictures, I doubt you’d be able to fit a high-end air cooler on there like a Noctua or a Zalman CNPS series cooler. Plus, I don’t see how that giant block of copper will cool very well, there just isn’t enough surface area.
The heat shield between the CPU and the memory looks like a clever idea. I could see where that might be useful to help lower memory temperatures. Whether or not it helps in reality is a different story, but I think this is a good design choice. Plus it can be used to help cool the PCB.
I/O Panel: VGA? Seriously? They couldn’t have put display port on a “Leet” board? How are users supposed to take advantage of the triple display capability of current gen Intel graphics with a VGA port?
There’s a good amount of USB 3.0 ports there, but I would have liked to see thunderbolt on a board with this branding.
Based on the specs and features listed here, and the design, I’d be surprised if the MSRP was much above $150.
Page 3 of the review shows
Page 3 of the review shows how the Noctua NH-D14 fits on the board – there were absolutely no fit related issues with this cooler, so any other cooler should fit the board without issue (the Noctua cooler is one of the larger air coolers I've encountered).
As far as the MSRP, the board retails for $119, but can be found cheaper. Check the last page of the review for links to retailers.
Thanks…
Thank you for doing a
Thank you for doing a thorough review of this board. Yours is the best and most comprehensive that I’ve been able to find. It gives me confidence to pull the trigger on this board. It seems like a no-brainer with the included Intel NIC and higher quality audio that is absent on pricier boards.
Hey!!I am buying this ECS
Hey!!I am buying this ECS Z87H3-A3X MotherBoard…
i just wanted to know whether linux can be installed on this or not..pls reply fast
I’m running Ubuntu on it, has
I’m running Ubuntu on it, has been working fine for the 6 months I’ve had it. For the money it has features more expensive boards lack, such as ALC 1150 audio chip, eSata port, SLI and CrossfireX, and both DVI and HDMI. Even recognized my TP-LINK wireless PCI card with an Atheros chip during Linux install and correctly configured it right off the bat. What’s not to like, the color scheme? Who cares? I’m very pleased with this board.
Several years ago I had an ECS Athlon64 board that I bought for the same reason: features relative to price. Board went kaput after about 5 years, but I also had an ASUS board that lasted less than two years. Point is I’ve been pleased with ECS quality in my experience and they seem on par with other manufacturers boards.