Intel P67 Roundup - The Mainstream Invasion
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ECS P67H2-A2
ECS P67H2-A2
The ECS P67H2-A2 probably has the most number of features among the six P67 boards in our roundup today. There are numerous indications that it's meant for enthusiasts, from its support for both CrossFireX and SLI, including the all-important x8/x8 lane configuration, to the sheer number of third-party onboard controllers to enhance the existing P67 chipset. Then, there's the EFI BIOS and its host of tweaking options that are as comprehensive as anything we have seen so far on the P67 chipset.
As mentioned, there's no lack of onboard controllers on this ECS. Two USB 3.0 controllers, a Marvell SATA 6Gbps controller (including eSATA), two Gigabit LAN controllers are just some of the features you'll find. Given the heavy feature count, it's commendable that ECS has managed to fit everything nicely without incurring any layout issues. For instance, the graphics slots are dual-slot compatible and the SATA ports face outwards; other onboard headers are shunted to the edges of the board.
ECS is not a brand that's commonly seen locally, so you're more likely to get this board from an online retailer. At around US$195 however, it's the costliest board in our roundup, though one has to say that it does have some features that have undoubtedly increased the cost. It's then a question of whether you require the extra features.
ECS' EFI BIOS implementation looked similar to an older BIOS, except for the fact that the fonts were much sharper. It had nothing similar to the ASUS version, with its EZ mode. The settings too fit its enthusiast oriented slant with a wide range of values, though a BIOS update was required to clear up some errors in the BIOS display - values were out of range by default, generating an error when we selected it.
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