ECS Z170-Lightsaber Motherboard Review

UEFI Features

ECS included the latest revision of their UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) EZ BIOS. The UEFI 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. By default, the user sees the EZ Mode screen when entering the UEFI. The Advanced mode screens is accessible via the Advanced Mode button at the upper right corner of the screen. The EZ Mode screen can be access via the Back to EZ Mode link on the Exit tab.

While much simpler when compared with other motherboard manufacturer's UEFI implementations, the ECS implementation is clean and masterfully designed. I found the mouse and keyboard responsiveness to be well maintained with no noticeable lag.

UEFI Notable Features

The ECS UEFI 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 UEFI has two operation modes – Basic and Advanced.

EZ Mode

The EZ Mode page houses a graphical interface with high level board, temperature, voltage, and fan speed information shown.

 

Advanced Mode, M.I.B. X tab

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.

Advanced Mode, M.I.B. X tab, Audio LED settings

In the main section of the M.I.B. X tab, ECS integrated settings to configure the color of the LEDs integrated into the audio PCB line. The Audio LEDs can be configured to glow in one of seven colors: red, green, blue, water blue, purple, yellow, and white.

Advanced Mode, M.I.B. X tab, Profile configuration page

Advanced Mode, M.I.B. X tab, Profile configuration page, Select Profile popup

The Profile Configuration page allows the user to store or restore up to eight full UEFI settings profiles. Further, profiles can be saved or retrieved from attached USB devices.

Advanced Mode, Main tab, System Language popup

Advanced Mode, Main tab with non-English language active

The UEFI supports the use of up to 10 different languages. The UEFI active language can be set via the System Language setting within the Main tab in the Advanced Mode screens.

UEFI Walk through – 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, CPU OverClocking Configuration page, Power Limit 3 Settings page

M.I.B. X tab, CPU OverClocking Configuration page, Power Limit 4 Settings page

M.I.B. X tab, Memory Configuration page

M.I.B. X tab, Memory Configuration page continued

M.I.B. X tab, Intel Graphics Configuration page

M.I.B. X tab, Over Voltage Configuration page

Advanced tab

Advanced tab, LAN Configuration page

Advanced tab, PC Health Status page

Advanced tab, PC Health Status page, Smart Fan Function page

Advanced tab, Power Management Setup page

Advanced tab, ACPI Settings page

Advanced tab, CPU Configuration page

Advanced tab, SATA Configuration page

Advanced tab, SATA Configuration page, ASMedia Configuration page

Advanced tab, USB Configuration page

Advanced tab, Trusted Computing page

Chipset tab

Chipset tab, System Agent Configuration page

Chipset tab, PCH Configuration page

Chipset tab, Management Engine Technology Configuration page

Security tab

Boot tab

Exit tab

Main tab, Help popup