ECS K7AMA socketA motherboard review
Author: Vidar Langberget.
Posted : 2001-08-11 00:00:00.0
Category :
Introduction
Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) is not one of the most known motherboard makers in the world, but they are currently one of the three largest motherboard manufacturers. This might be surprising to many of you, but Elitegroup have aimed their solution towards OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers, the
companies that assemble PCs), and not the retail market.
Since they have mostly OEM customers, they have a slightly different focus than companies like MSI and Abit. OEMs are more concerned with features and price than performance and overclocking options. This means that few of their boards feature overclocking options. But ECS motherboards are incredibly cheap. The ECS K7AMA can be found for ~$70. The ASUS A7A266, which is also based on the ALI MAGIK chipset, is more than $50 more expensive. The ASUS board may offer better expansion options, and generally be a better board. But is it worth that much more?
Since the K7AMA isn’t aimed at the enthusiast and overclockers markets, why have I reviewed it here? Even though most people visiting this site comes from enthusiast and overclocking sites, I think that many of those people are putting together machines for friends or for work. Or they may have a second system that they don’t intend to overclock. For those people, the ECS K7AMA is a interesting choice.