ECS A960M-M2 AM3+ AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Sounds like a good deal

Cons: Dead

Other Thoughts: Board 1 bad power connector sent back to new egg got a replacement
Board 2 stopped seeing my video card after a few weeks RMA to the company
Board 3 still not seeing the video cards (tried 2 different cards)
I have almost as much in shipping as a paid for the board save your money buy something else

Manufacturer Response:

We are sorry to hear about the issues you have expereinced so far. The odds of two motherboards having the same problem are quite low. No display can be caused by the other main components also, this includes CPU, power supply, memory, video and motherboard.

If possible we would recommend testing the motherboard in the following fashion.

Remove the motherboard from the case, with only CPU, CPU fan, memory and power supply connected. Place on a flat non static surface. Reseat the CPU. Test with only one memory at a time and reseat memory. Ensure that both the 24 pin and 4 pin (ATX12V) connections are connected from the power supply. We would recommend testing with onboard video at this time, if possible. Connect the power button from the case or short the power pins (6 and 8) to power on the system. If still have any issues or questions, please contact us and we can work with you to find a solution.

We attempted to contact you by phone but had to leave a message. We did send out an email. If you have any further questions, please contact us.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD13020110013

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1- 510-456-9836
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: Price was great... It had exactly what I needed.

Cons: It died about two months in... too late to RMA.

Other Thoughts: Very disappointed with this purchase. When it did work, it would take forever to go from post to boot. Half the time it would freeze at post and need to be restarted. Towards to end I noticed it would freeze the entire system, and need to be restarted. Now won't even boot.

Manufacturer Response:

We are sorry to hear about the issue you have experienced with your motherboard. If you haven't already, please contact us. We would like to find out more details to your configuration and work with you in finding a solution.

An issue such as you are describing can be caused by any of the main components, including CPU, memory, power supply and motherboard. If possible we would recommend testing the motherboard in the following fashion.

Remove the motherboard from the case, with only CPU, CPU fan, memory and power supply connected. Place on a flat non static surface. Reseat the CPU. Test with only one memory at a time and reseat memory. Ensure that both the 24 pin and 4 pin (ATX12V) connections are connected from the power supply. Connect the power button from the case or short the power pins (6 and 8) to power on the system. If still have any issues or questions, please contact us and we can work with you to find a solution.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD13022210011

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1- 510-456-9836
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: Nice little board, that can accept 125w Phenom CPUs (see CPU compatibility chart)
Integrated video with HDMI output makes it ideal for a simple, straight-forward HTPC project.
Not a lot of bells & whistles, nor is it the basis for a gamer rig, but if you just want a simple PC that reliably turns on, lets you surf the web, manage your media collection, and watch video on your big screen, this will do fine.

Cons: I installed a set of G.Skill 8G RAM (from another project); would only boot with 4G installed.
(No big deal... still exceeds my needs)
Not actually ECS's fault.
So, check you RAM compatibility chart, first.
Took one egg away, for poor documentation. (anyone who's built a PC before, will have no problems, however)

Other Thoughts: I built a modest HTPC, for our exercise room, (with components from other projects) with AMD Phenom™ II X4 Quad-Core 965 CPU, 4G G.Skill Ripjaw RAM, Seagate Barracuda 120G HD. Uses the integrated GPU & sound, thru HDMI, to drive a large flat screen.
It's simple, and does the job.

Pros: fast shipping from newegg

Cons: junk board 1st one had a bad power plug 2nd one died after 2 months
not worth it at any price

Manufacturer Response:

We are sorry to hear about the issues you have had so far. Please contact us as we would like to get details on your current configuration and what the exact issue is with your system. Being dead could also be caused by any of the main components including CPU, memory, power supply or motherboard. We would like to work with you in resolving this issue or providing an RMA if necessary.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD13020110013

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1-510-456-9836
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: Very nice board for the price. Really inexpensive and still has a few nice settings that you can get to in the bios. You CAN overclock with this board, but not too aggressively as it doesn't have enough "fine tuning" settings to allow aggressive overclocking. Bought two of these boards and haven't had a single issue since I got the operating system installed.

Cons: Can be a little tricky to get the system up and running at first. On the first system (my wife's) I have a Phenom II x4 945 processor installed with a 500gb IDE drive and a DVD-RW IDE drive installed on the same (and only) channel. Almost returned the board thinking it was DOA. Could get the system to boot past the POST screen if only one or the other was installed, but not both. Turned out to be a compatibility issue between the IDE drives. After trying several different DVD burners, I got the system to work properly with the 3rd DVD burner (same 500gb Hard drive). The 3rd burner actually turned out to be the oldest model of the three. Go figure. Had I not had multiple DVD burners to choose from, I would have thought the board was DOA. It was not.
On the 2nd system (my sister's) I have an Athlon II x4 640 Propus processor installed with a 120Gb SATA Hard drive and an IDE DVD-RW drive. Could not get past the post screen on this system at first. Turned out to be the IDE ribbon cable. I was incorrectly using an older 40 wire cable instead of a "correct" 80 wire one. Since I changed to the 80 wire one, I've had no issues (2+ months and counting).
Lessons learned : DOA boards are not usually DOA. Most likely a user issue, or some kind of hardware incompatibilty that can be corrected with different hardware.

Other Thoughts: I've used ECS boards for years and have never had a defective board. Currently have a different model that is 6 years old and still functioning perfectly.

Remember folks, this is a hybrid board (IDE and SATA) and thus some compatibility issues could/will rear their ugly head(s) because of it. If this board were only SATA or IDE, it would be much easier for the typical user to get it up and running properly (and much easier for the manufacturer to program the BIOS and it's options). Yes, I've used (older) hybrid boards before with not much of a problem, but IDE is a dead/dying interface and to find new boards supporting this is a godsend. Remember that before utterly knocking this board down to 1 or 2 eggs.

ECS: If you are reading this, please implement a newer BIOS that allows two features/options that I feel would be a great addition to this nice board.
1) Please allow some kind of processor under-volting. The Athlon II x4 640 comes from the factory over-volted. It is set to run at 1.38 volts (at 3 GHz) and can be run at 1.32 volts at 3.3 GHz (I am doing this currently using the AMD overdrive software). Passes both Intel burntest and Prime95 stress testing with the "under-volted" settings. If left at stock values it runs too hot (maxes out at 64C), but at 1.32 volts it only gets to 54C. Much safer temperature. Yes, I could get a better heatsink, but it shouldn't run that hot in a 20C room with a stock heatsink. Even just 2 settings of -50mV and -100Mv would be nice. The problem with the AOD software is I have only figured out how to implement the profile by attaching it to my antivirus software. This works great when booting the computer, but the profile is not reapplied properly when resuming from sleep mode. The only way I can find around this is to disable sleep mode (powering down the system every time it's not going to be used for an extended amount of time). By allowing some amount of under-volting, I could re-allow sleep mode and not rely on the AMD AOD software.
2) Please add the 1.65v value for memory. I have choices of 1.5, 1.6, and 1.8 (and some others that are higher than that) which will run my Kingston 1600 MHz memory. The 1.8v setting causes the memory to get pretty hot (tiny stock heat spreaders) and I don't feel comfortable with it that warm. The 1.6v and 1.5v settings will not allow 1600 MHz speed. I can set it to 1333 MHZ at 1.5v or my current setting of 1467 MHz at 1.6v. This is achieved thru overclocking the FSB to 220 MHz (stock is 200). System is pretty fast and perfectly stable, but I would REALLY like to be able to run the memory at it's proper 1600 MHz at 1.65v.

Pros: Its Cheap

Cons: Overclocking doesnt work, my computer wont start if if set the ratio on my Phenom 955 BE anything higher than 16. Also, when i first got the board, i was using a GTX 650. Then i swithched it out with a GTX 560. Now when i try to put the 650 back in, my computer wont boot. Sometimes it doesnt recognize my hard drive, so i have to plug the sata cable into a different port and restart.

Other Thoughts: Much better boards are available for a only a few more bucks.

Manufacturer Response:

Overclocking results can vary and is dependent on the main components of your system. When switching back to the orignal video card, can you try to clear the CMOS settings first. Otherwise, please do contact us as we would like to find out more about your configuration and help find a solution to your issues.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD13010410013

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1-510-771-0284
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: Price.

Cons: On board adapters. Only one PCI-e that is worth anything. but its a mATX.

Other Thoughts: I build a budget "entertainment" PC for my daughter. The build went together well. Used a WD HHD, Corsair PSU, some crucial RAM, LG DVD burner and a sapphire 6770. No it isn't a monster but will fit her needs for awhile as its mainly used for browsing the web and light media viewing. With all the rebates including the one I got on this MB I built a decent PC for about $350 bucks, I cant complain. Hopefully I don't experience the horror stories like others have.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your feedback. It is appreciated. We need your feedback in order to improve the quality of our products and service.

*** Please take a few minutes to review our products. We want to hear from you! ***

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this or any ECS products, please contact us. We are here to help.

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1-510-771-0284
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: None, DOA. Attempted to troubleshoot, and nothing worked. Not functional

Cons: DOA. Troubleshooting tips failed.

Other Thoughts: I have put together a number of systems with a vast variety of motherboards. I have had issues before, but nothing like this. The board does not function. I read other reviews indicating the same issue, but thought I would take a chance for the low cost. Not worth it, as it doesn't work and now I have to hassle with sending it back to newegg.

Manufacturer Response:

We are sorry to hear about the issues you are experiencing with your motherboard. Prior to shipping from our factory, all motherboards are tested to ensure that they are working properly. A DOA issue can be caused by any of the main components, including CPU, memory, power supply and motherboard. If possible we would recommend testing the motherboard in the following fashion.

Remove the motherboard from the case, with only CPU, CPU fan, memory and power supply connected. Place on a flat non static surface. Reseat the CPU. Test with only one memory at a time and reseat memory. Ensure that both the 24 pin and 4 pin (ATX12V) connections are connected from the power supply. Connect the power button from the case or short the power pins (6 and 8) to power on the system. If still have any issues or questions, please contact us and we can work with you to find a solution.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD12122010008

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1-510-771-0284
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: I cant think of any

Cons: Horrible customer service, got a problem? Reset cmos. Need a RMA? no problem just rip your board out and in a few days after they get they might send you a new one while you are out of luck. Heavens know they wont front you a new (and hopefully working motherboard though i have my doubts on that). STAY FAR AWAY! Oh and since I know ecs will look at this my ticket number is ECW12121110009

Manufacturer Response:

We do apologize for the issues you have experienced. Your issue was not a known issue and was tested here to see if it could be duplicated. Since it was not RMA was recommended. Your case was processed for 99-hour replacement service. Unfortunately, due to the holidays, this will likely be delayed. Normal RMA procedure does not provide a cross shipment but if you require one, the service department can work with you, as we let you know in your case.

If you have any further questions, you can contact us at the number below or through you previous case.

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1-510-771-0284

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|

Pros: None

Cons: I bought this mother board for home theater purposes. I start having problems with PCI- Express port (Video not working), as a request from technical services I had to flash the bios a couple times making it working for one day until it crash.
If you have ever complained about customer care going to India, you have never try ELITEGROUP. At least the guys on India will talk to you, all this time the only thing I have achieve is to leave a message on the answer machine and after that they will update the case on the web otherwise they won’t even check it.
It took me 13 days to get an RMA # on DEC 13. With a note we will be close from Dec 14 to Jan 3.
I would not recommend any ECS products. IF someone is happy or love ECS, I will be selling this for $10 Plus shipping.

Manufacturer Response:

We apologize for your issues so far. We sincerely apologize for any miscommunication that you may have encountered and if you would like, contact us so we can ensure your case is proceeding as it should. Our office hours and number is listed below.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD12121410004

I or any of my team members here at technical support will be able to help you.
Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
Andy
Phone# 1-510-771-0284
Email: andy_K@ecsusa.com

External Link(s):

Elite Member 99-hour service|