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ECS (EliteGroup) GF8200A (V1.0) AMD Motherboards
Customer Reviews for ECS BLACK SERIES GF8200A (V1.0) AM2+/AM3 NVIDIA GeForce 8200 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Newegg.com's Product Ratings and Reviews feature enables Newegg.com customers to help each other make informed buying decisions. Learn More

Price: $79.99
Sale Price: $69.99
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Review Summary (442 Reviews): Rating + 4
OverallLast 2 WeeksLast 6 Months
Excellent Rating + 5 163ReviewsExcellent
newegg
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Good Rating + 4 112ReviewsGood
newegg
25%
Average Rating + 3 50ReviewsAverage
newegg
11%
Poor Rating + 2 36ReviewsPoor
newegg
8%
Very Poor Rating + 1 81ReviewsVery Poor
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Reviewer Product Review
Chas
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/7/2010 2:17:55 PM

Rating + 4


Pros: Board has worked great since March '09. Easy to overclock with. Does everything I want it to. Use with Windows Vista and Fedora and I've had no funky driver issues.

Cons: Did not want to overclock my Brisbane 5400+ (unlocked multi). It would never POST with the multiplier options even turned on. I eventually bought a new CPU so that problem got solved. Some of the language in the BIOS is wack. Hot northbridge. No SLi

Other Thoughts: Great board, overall. This is my first non Asus board and I'm quite impressed!

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winnie72
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
2/6/2010 3:40:36 PM

Rating + 2 Horrible


Pros: It functions..NOW

Cons: I was overly enthusiastic as this was my first mobo installation so I had room to expand and put a 260 in. This ruined my experience. I had installed everything and tried booting it up. No luck. It read the HDD but did not boot. I decided to flash it. I had to learn to flash a BIOS. After HOURS of fiddling with the BIOS flashing(thanks for the worthless instructions, ECS) It finally booted. Then it a lot the drivers stopped working and didn't read a lot of ports (for instance my ethernet port.) Oh gee, how am I supposed to download the driver without my ethernet port? Did that, did this. Now I'm waiting to download the last driver; however, the ECS driver page is DOWN! Also, when I tried to move around my sata cable, the entire sata port fell off until only the pins were left. Horrible experience. Even worst, the stupid manufacturers monitoring these reviews is just going to patronize me with a generic "Contact us if you are still having problems" reply. Their support hours suck too

Other Thoughts: Windows Vista 32bit. I bet it won't last very long either. Do not buy from ECS.
Manufacturer Response:We are sorry to hear about the experiences you have had. We really would like for you to contact us so we may look into your previous case and address your concerns.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10020810048

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/5/2010 5:30:01 PM

Rating + 5


Pros: Has been running flawlessly now for a couple of months.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Upgraded integrated graphics controller is a nice addition.

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Tynen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/4/2010 11:48:41 AM

Rating + 3 Raid controller iffy


Pros: Cheap
Easily overclock AMD Athlon II x 4
Supports RAID 5

Cons: Hard to get Windows 7 to accept drivers. I tried the drivers provided on the site but they're unsigned. I researched and researched which raid controller is on board. I'm still not sure if it's an nForce 730a or a nForce 720.

Other Thoughts: AMD Athlon II x4 13 x 224 = 2.9GHZ
4GB DDR2 400mhz (need to buy faster ram)
2 x 250 GB Sata II RAID 0
Radeon HD 5770

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Chris
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/3/2010 11:10:17 PM

Rating + 4 Great with a bit of frustration


Pros: standard, stable motherboard with many features. I have been slowly converting a "best buy" HP retail computer into a gaming rig, and this was one of the updates.

Cons: here's where the frustration begins haha; this mobo is VERY UNSTABLE with any windows OS other than Windows 7. spent 2 days straight trying to get the OS, graphics card, and sound card to work the way they are supposed to. the mobo would cut off the graphics card or sound card at random times in Windows Vista, forcing me to reinstall drivers at some times or do a clean install of Windows Vista at other times. Also, forcing me to remove both the graphics card and sound card many times, and constantly turning the comp on and off. Finally, I did one final clean install of Windows 7 Professional, and everything was smooth from there on out. Seriously, no problems what so ever, and the drivers for the graphics installed automatically as I was installing Win7!

one con that bugs me is that my cpu fan is on 100%, and no matter what setting I use in both BIOS and software, it will not change. I'm idling at 11C and full load at 23C. the cpu fan is stock and only a 3-pin.

Other Thoughts: If you are not planning on running Windows 7 or a linux distro, then plan on banging your head against walls. Luckily I am a Comp Sci major and I get both copies of Windows 7 Pro(x86 and x64) for free :)

My 55nm GPU does not support hybrid SLI. I tested it with WoW and Unreal Tourn. 3, both enabled and disabled when I was running Vista. Not much of an improvement at all; sometimes a decrease in performance compared to the stand alone discrete card, and the heat and power consumption was tremendous. I didn't want to believe it, but hybrid SLI is a complete failure.

Overall, I got this board for $42 on 01/31/2010 after MIR and promo code. Great for the price!

System spec:
Windows 7 Pro x86 - will replace with x64
ECS GF8200A
AMD Phenom 8400 2.1gHz - will replace w/ AMD P2 550
3gB of generic ram ddr2 800 - will replace with better
BFG GTX 260 Maxcore 55 OC
RocketFish 5.1 PCI sound - needed cheap toslink output
600w OCZ ModX Modular power supply
NZXT Beta case w/ 4 rosewil

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totaltech
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/3/2010 7:23:59 PM

Rating + 5 Working great since 2008


Pros: Fast Rebate
Great Price for entry level boards backed by a company growing with positive reputation. I have used a dozen ECS boards in the past few years, all working great.
HDMI, AM3 (bios upgrade), 1066 DDR2 (phenom-see bios for settings)

Cons: Paid Less in 2008? Although a great board, I would like to see the price under 5o into the 4o's after rebate considering DDR3 boards are priced competitively by ECS.

Other Thoughts: 8200 isn't supported by 10.5.8 leo, I added 8400es silent for Quartz Extreme. Getting the ram to clock stable to a bit of research.

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Mast3rL33
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/3/2010 6:47:57 AM

Rating + 4 So far so good


Pros: Great accessories, I love the Right Angle Sata cables. Bios is clean and simple.

Have not tried the 8200 because I had a HD4550 from my previous rig.

Cons: Driver disc did not work (Win7 x64), but download was available from site for Audio and Chipset Drivers

Other Thoughts: Good product. Great price. Love the rebate on top of it all.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/2/2010 11:15:28 PM

Rating + 5 Nice Board


Pros: This is a really nice board works great and its a really good price for what it comes with. The Graphic card that it has built in is pretty good plays Bioshock fairly well on high settings. Other then that it has lots of expandability which is nice.

Cons: Disk it comes with is useless on windows 7 had to download everything off the sites for the drivers. No big deal at all.

Other Thoughts: Mobo is great for the price I'm happy. It plays games fairly well with the video card it has if your building one with a low budget its a little laggy in games like the new call of duty and Prototype when there is lots of action but other then that it would run well. But those are both pretty intense games so I would recommend adding a video card down the road for sure if you like to game it up a bit. But its a great motherboard

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BNBY12
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
2/2/2010 9:09:45 PM

Rating + 3 Good board.


Pros: A little trouble out of the box. Would not boot, no BIOS, nothing. ECS support is very lacking. Had to do everything by email and that takes time. Would take about 2 days on avarage to hear back from them.
I am running a AMD 550 x 2 @ 3.6Mhz and no problems.

Cons: Tech support is below par!
Nothing but email support, no "live" anything with these guys.

Other Thoughts: After getting board up and running I do like the overclocking features on this board. The only reason I gave it 3 Eggs is the tech support is very poor.
Manufacturer Response:We are sorry to hear about the issues you were experiencing contacting.

We do have a support number which is listed in the Manufacturers info section, for this motherboard, here on Newegg.

For future reference we can be reached at 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

If you have any further question you may contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or the previously listed number. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10020510023

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Rob
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/28/2010 10:35:21 AM

Rating + 4 Good for the money


Pros: Nice form factor. Room for one of the new two-stall video cards if I want to upgrade to one. More spread out than the compact boards, so easier install plugs and easier to cool. Windows 7 recognized it.

Cons: Was a little surprized that it only took processors up to 95w...and found out too late. Had to go with triple core, rather than quad core as a result to keep upgrade from getting too expensive (so I would have to sneak it past the wife). Windows 7 spit back the drivers disc and website ran like a wounded turtle, so haven't updated drivers yet.

Other Thoughts: Haven't gotten the hybrid SLI to work yet. Info about it is rather sparse, other than to tell you to turn it on in bios.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

JohnA
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
1/27/2010 12:09:26 PM

Rating + 5 Yes, it will load XP but might fight back.


Pros: Quite versitile. Lots of slots for memory, Pci cards, and SATA peripherals. Will support Sempron through Phenom CPU and DDR2 memory from 400 through 1066. Has connections for IDE and floppy drives.

Cons: Not Cons but be aware: The display chip gets rather hot - I added a 25 mm cooling fan. Full ATX size, it will not fit in a micro case. A bit tricky to install XP if you have an older XP install disk. You will need to make a new install disk by "slipstreaming" SP2 (or maybe SP3)into the install software. This can be done with free, downloadable software. ECS tech support will tell you where to get the software (or go to nLite).

Other Thoughts: Both the phone and on line contact to ECS tech support was a bit erratic but they answered the on line quiery very promptly and accurately. This was my fourth ECS build and all are operating very well. This GF8200A is actually running better than I had expected. The initial problem with loading XP was somewaht disconcerting but was educational.

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Ahk
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/26/2010 10:32:31 PM

Rating + 5 Happy


Pros: The reviews i read were mixed,but after installing it in my new build i had no problems with drivers or set up.Loaded W7 home premium and it booted right up.

Cons: Wish it had another pci expressx16 but for the price not really a con.

Other Thoughts: c dvd/burn,phenom x3 black edition,thermaltake 500w psu.All for around 400 before rebates,im pretty happy right now.Used this MoBo with old Crucial 1066 i gig sticks and it detected their full share without modifying voltages.Two case fans(120mm,80m),and onboard chipset fan.1 sata11 500g hdd,sony optiar

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/24/2010 5:18:58 AM

Rating + 1


Pros: pretty box

Cons: same problem as everybody else bsod while loading xp.returned board and bought a gigabyte.box is up and runningwith no problems

Manufacturer Response:This motherboard is certified for Windows XP.

If you ever need assistance with an ECS motherboard, please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10012610011

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/22/2010 8:10:59 AM

Rating + 5 Works Fine


Pros: Great motherboard it works fine no issue.

Cons: Really old bios you need to update it in the ECS homepage.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/20/2010 11:18:54 AM

Rating + 1 Does not boot or Install Windows XP


Pros: None

Cons: Have never been able to get this Motherboard to load Windows XP. I have used 2 different versions of windows XP and all it will do is lockup or Blue sceen. I have tried 3 different hard drives, 2 different CPU's, and 2 different types of memory with the same results. I have tried ECS tech support and received no response. I purchased another brand of Motherboard to replace this one and never had any problems

Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with this system build and you issues installing XP please contact us. We would like to help you and look into your previous case.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10012110039

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

spiderman_x22
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
1/19/2010 11:03:41 AM

Rating + 4 Great Motherboard


Pros: I bought this motherboard about 9 months ago and it worked perfectly.

The onboard video card works pretty well, she run lots of games as well but not like having a non-integrated video card.

Easy to install.

eSata port.

Lots of usb ports.

Cons: One day without warning my CPU dosn't turn on, so I have to take off all that I have conected (Hard disks, memory, usbs, power supply, etc) an then wen I reconect everything my CPU turn on again

Other Thoughts: One day without warning, my CPU doesn't turn on, so I had to take off all that I had conected (Hard disks, memory, usbs, power supply, etc) and then when I reconnected everything, my CPU finally turn on.



And that's why I qualify it with 4.

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N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/14/2010 3:12:48 PM

Rating + 1 Don't buy it if your budget is set


Pros: Don't have change to install yet.

Cons: This mb requires specific Manufacture and model RAM and CPU. Tech support doesn't want to give you RMA for return or repair. They kept give you suggestion and ask you to give them Bios version (I don't know why since the item already indicated v. 1.). They asked you upgrade BIOS via DOS utilites. Even you are tech knowledge, still take you a lot of time to find out what doesn't work. Time is money...if ECS want to keep customers, they need to support better.....I will not going to buy anymore mb from ECS...

Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may find what your exact issue is and help you find a resolution. We would also like to look into your previous case and address your concerns.

v1.0 is the revision of the motherboard but does not correlate to what BIOS version you have.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10011510044

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

angler
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/13/2010 9:46:57 AM

Rating + 4 No worries


Pros: Easy install, overclocked 800Mhz memory to 1066.
Rock solid so far with x2 240 processor after locating correct "co-processor" driver.

Cons: Windows 7 complain about missing co-processor driver, not the easiest to track down. My case had a 3-pin power LED connector this one has a two-pin

Other Thoughts: hope the rebate comes through

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

tnt
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/7/2010 7:44:11 AM

Rating + 1 2 doas


Pros: cheap good features

Cons: I have tried 2 diffrent powersupplies, 2 diffrent types of memory, 2 diffrent cases, verfied the cpu works in another motherboard everything else is disconnected. It will not post the bios. I RMA'd the first motherboard and recieved another. Same issue. Anything I'm missing? Ive contacted ECS twice.

Other Thoughts: Ive never had this kind of trouble with a motherboard
Manufacturer Response:Please contact us. We would like to look into your issue and your previous cases.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10011210012

Thank you,
ECS

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/6/2010 1:56:00 PM

Rating + 1 DOA


Pros: Price is right on this motherboard.

Cons: The first board came DOA. The board had an obvious mechanical defect on it (corner bended). Newegg is currently replacing the defective product.

Other Thoughts: Better quality control on OEM product will prevent this issue.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/6/2010 8:58:07 AM

Rating + 1 USB Dicey, Low Voltages?


Pros: Nice package, price, medium level of parts in box.

Cons: No DDR3, Not all Fan headers are reporting RPM information. Devices plugged into USB ports kinda work (HD recognized intermittently, Wireless-N adapter constantly drops internet connection.)

Both SiSandra and SpeedFan are reporting system voltages half of normal (12v = 6.1 5v = 3v). Don't know if voltages mis-reported due to new (unsupported) chipset or if there is real problem

Other Thoughts: This mb is a replacement for a MSI am2 mb, everything was running fine (although a little slow, due to mb limitations) before I put in this mb. Would rather not replace mb, but based on the iffy quality may have to.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Allen
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/3/2010 6:17:05 PM

Rating + 2 video acting up


Pros: great board with lots of usb slots.

Cons: I have had the board about 6 months now and the onboard video has started acting up. Bad screen flicker. Tried updating the drivers, changing the monitor, changing the HDD all with the same result. Decided to remove the nvidia software and the problem has mostly went away but it flickers every once in awhile.

Other Thoughts: I may have to breakdown and buy a video card.
Manufacturer Response:If you haven't already, please contact us. We would like to look into this issue and help find a solution.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10010510046

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
1/3/2010 4:22:17 PM

Rating + 2 worked for a month


Pros: Many options good board while it worked

Cons: died after 1 month Hoping the warranty will replace the board

Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your GF8200A, please contact us. We would like to find out exactly what your issue is and help find a resolution.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10010510047

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

n3tw0rkn3rd
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/30/2009 8:30:08 AM

Rating + 4 Watch the Chipset...


Pros: It's a great board. Simple setup and configuration, easy to configure overclocking, stable. Been running for 6 months with no issues.

Cons: Poor chipset location. Take a look at the pictures. The chipset is right next to the PCI Express slot. I run a GTX 260 in my machine and it pretty much covers up the top half of the chipset heatsink. Not only does the heat not have anywhere to go after dissipating, but it also pumps it right onto your video card.

Other Thoughts: I'm not going to write up a long review, as there are plenty about the board. Overall the board works well, just be aware of the chipset location. I was fortunate to find it early, and have a fan blowing up from the bottom of the case to cool the video card and chipset.

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Eddy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/26/2009 12:45:17 PM

Rating + 1 Burnt


Pros: Worked great when it was working.

Cons: After Six months mine burned I dont know how I am really upset with this mobo.

Manufacturer Response:If you haven't already, please contact us. We would like to look into your configuration and get this issued resolved for you.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09122910017

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Eddy
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/26/2009 11:00:08 AM

Rating + 1 Burned


Pros: I was very pleased for 5 months. Liked the HDMI output built in.

Cons: After like 6 months i started to have some problems with over heating and I have good cooling. One day I just left it on and when I came back it was off. I went to turn it on and it didn't want to so i held the power button on my case and i started to smell some burning smell and smoke was coming out my case! I opened it and it was coming out like next to my cpu but it wasn't my cpu it was coming out by where it says eSATA and HDMI on the board. I am really upset with this since I thought I had finally bought a good computer setup.

Manufacturer Response:If you haven't already, please contact us. We would like to look into your configuration and get this issued resolved for you.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09122910018
Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/26/2009 4:42:19 AM

Rating + 5 Surprised


Pros: Better than I expected! Everything plugged in great, good layout. Comes with 90deg. angled SATA cables, a plus. Easily configurable. Paired well with a AMD Athlon II x2 245.

Cons: No firewire port, have to download the latest Nvidia Nforce 730a/8200/8300 chipset drivers to get the chipset to recognize the SMU in Windows 7. Finding the drivers was a pain. Look under Nforce 7 series.

Other Thoughts: I have had feature and slowness issues with other ECS branded boards in the past, but this board with a decent chipset has made me rethink ECS. Though I purchased this board only on price, I might relook at ECS.

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zero2491
Tech Level: average
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/25/2009 10:32:56 PM

Rating + 5 great motherboard


Pros: this is a great motherboard. cant beat the price with all that is included.

Cons: only real con is only one pcie x16 and cpu can only be 95w.

Other Thoughts: i have had this motherboard for a year ant eleven days. (i checked my last post) and this board is still going strong with out any problems at all. this board is unbeatable. Despite getting it a year ago i can still keep up with all the recent stuff like the new athlons that are out, which are excellent because they are great on saving power.

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NewEggBuyer
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/24/2009 12:58:50 PM

Rating + 4 Great MB


Pros: The arrangement of various components is no issue thus far. No issues booting. XP does not go to standby automatically after set time. Not sure why. Will need to see the BIOS. The NB temperature is around 55 deg cel which is too high. Got a small fan mounted on it.

Cons: The ATX MO but not full width. So only 6 screws used.
Hope the heat synch bracket can take a cantilever load of Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU cooler plus it's fan for a long time. The serial# is required for the rebates, but there are a lot of # on the MB - without the serial# heading. So wrote all # on the rebate form.

Other Thoughts: Running with 4G corsair mem, amd athalon dual core processor, IDE hard drive and dvd. The onboard components work.

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/22/2009 1:23:07 AM

Rating + 4 Another good board


Pros: Excellent board for budget build. Has the basics to get running with just enough onboard connections. I have the 8200 and the 780g ultra boards and happy with both. Contacted ecs about a fan speed problem and they really didn't help but replied promply.

4 ram slots
2600 hypertrans
hdmi
10/100/1000Mbps

Cons: Smart fan controller wasn't working. I used a few different amd fans with 3 and 4 pin connections to get a quiter/slower cpu fan speed but never worked. Ended up buying a zalman hearsink with controller to slow the fan down.

Doesn't fit a full atx screw layout on any of my cases only could use 6 screws. Problem is that the board hangs unsupported so be very careful plugging in/out the power ide or sata with the board. You get plenty of heatsinks on the 780g ultra board but the 8200a doesn't have them or aren't as nice.

On the 780g ultra board I run the AMD 6500+ at 2.8 with a stock phenom fan but freezes at 2.8 at startup on the 8200a board had to run the cpu at 2.6ghz with phenom fan.

Other Thoughts: Ubuntu 9.10
AMD 6500+ 64 x2
4x512mb 5300 hynix
250w power supply
500gig wd blue hard drive
no usb front ports no dvd no video

display computer

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confused
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2009 7:25:43 PM

Rating + 2 meh


Pros: good amount of room for making connections. did not give me any problems with installation.

Cons: this thing worked great.. for about 6 months. then it abruptly died.

Other Thoughts: the ecs tech support leaves alot wanting. been waiting all weekend for a response to my ticket. id stay away from them due to the lack of attention/care they seem to give to there problems. other company sites i wont name here responded to my problem within the hour. but if you dont have problems with it EVER then go for it.
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your issues, please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD10010510051

Thank you,
ECS

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guardian
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2009 2:26:47 PM

Rating + 5 Update of earlier review


Pros: The board is OK. My earlier comment that it loses track of the day was 100% wrong. It was MY mistake. The board keeps track of day and time perfectly. Hence, I am upping my rating to five eggs (was four eggs prior) in an effort to be fair.

Cons: None whatsoever personally as long as it doesn't go belly up. So far it is doing splendidly. Biggest con is some of the other reviews right here alongside my own. In certain instances they are quite scary. When it's working, this is a board anyone would be extremely pleased to own. I certainly am! But if my board just dies for no reason, well, that won't be fun. I have five fans running inside my case to make every effort I can at avoiding that outcome.

Other Thoughts: My board is absolutely fine, flawless without exception, but I'm not sure I'd buy another. Reports here of so many failures are worrying. Certainly, I am hoping for the best. My five egg rating reflects my personal experience only.

This board, along with a Regor also bought from The Egg, handles full HD (1080p) movie playback smoothly. It also deals with lower resolution 720p HDTV effortlessly. The Regor is running only at its nominal speed of 2.8gHz; I'm not overclocking. And since I'm not a gamer, this is as fast as I want to run. I tried to create a rig that would do my jobs in stock trim, without pushing things. Also, plugged in four one gig sticks of DDR2 RAM (PC800). This flew from the first moment the board was powered up.

If this board continues to function as well as it is working at present, I'm gonna be a very happy camper. And if it dies, I'll just move the Regor to another platform. So far this board has exhibited not even a minor hiccup. It is rock soli

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AIM Systems Corp.
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2009 1:46:44 PM

Rating + 3 Forget the rebate


Pros: Feature rich board.

Cons: Returning for warranty is a pain. It is almost like they have only one tech for the whole nation.

Other Thoughts: DON'T COUNT ON GETTING THE REBATE. The rebate terms are ridiculous. The rebate expires18 days from the moment of your purchase. You do the math.

The manufactures rebate is a marketing trick. Don't calculate the rebate into your purchasing decision.

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EN
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/19/2009 9:30:06 AM

Rating + 5 Still working(Crosses fingers)


Pros: After reading the reviews i was scared , but the cost at the time was just to good to pass up. I guess now im glad because its working fine with my athlon II 240 and even managed a nice overclock from 2.8 to 3.5ghz

Cons: none yet , although the onboard graphics are terrible.
and hybrid SLI is a joke.

Other Thoughts: AMD athlon II x2 240 2.8ghz
A - data 2 x 2gb ddr2 400
ECS GF8200A
radeon HD 4850 powercolor

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guardian
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/13/2009 11:25:45 AM

Rating + 4 OK So Far


Pros: Bought during the Egg's 2009 Black Friday sale along with a Regor. Finally finished case install today, but have not really yet put the board to work. Overall, so far so good and would buy again at that price.

Cons: Rating really is 4.5 eggs. Only dilemma so far: board seems unable to know what day it is. It keeps track of the time just fine, but it loses the day. I will not return my board merely on account of this problem. Also, it's quite an old BIOS, from last May. Have not yet updated. When I do, maybe this "lost in time" problem will disappear.

Other Thoughts: Ran smack into the "no pci.sys" problem first thing installing XP Pro SP0 and was dead in the water. Using IDE HDD so thought I might avoid. Nope. Should have done it years ago. But finally, using this situation as a prod, slipstreamed XP Pro up to SP3. That sure solved the "no pci.sys" problem instantly. Ya can't use SP0.

Was uncomfortable with operating temp of orange heat sink . . . was too high to suit me. Removed "Black Series" label to obtain flat surface. Then mounted very small, very light, old CPU fan from junk box onto heat sink. Heat sink now runs cold and I feel better. Heat kills, and this board might not have nine lives.

I have not tested all features of my board yet. HDMI works and USB works. Installation was straightforward. Manual is very good. Sound is untested. It'll be a while before I test the SATA interface.

Bottom line glad so far I bought the board. Unless it blows up I will continue to be glad because the price was right.

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AZ CAT
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/10/2009 8:13:08 AM

Rating + 5 Great Board!


Pros: - good overclock options. Paired with an Athlkon X2 240 and got it OCd from 2.8GHz to 3.87GHz so I'm HAPPY!
- Good documentation
- Easily pulled drivers from website to make Windows 7 happy.
- Excellent choice for a budget gaming system.
- Sound is good when paired with good speakers.
- Got it on sale which made me even more pleased

Cons: - can't think of any.

Other Thoughts: Santa - I would like more MHz for Christmas!

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Slimebucket
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/10/2009 3:25:42 AM

Rating + 5 Really good if at low price


Pros: - On board HDMI
- Decent integrated GPU
- On Board surround sound
- Power and reset buttons on motherboard! - awesome for building / troubleshooting
- Great layout
-4 Ram DIMM slots

- Bought on black friday sale for $50 with $25 rebate so at the end I paid around $30 with tax for this beast... really was considering buying 4 more at the price as that was the best price I had ever seen for full AM2+/AM3 with all the options that this board had...

Cons: None really, if bought on sale, or at a good price this board has everything an average gamer could want in a motherboard.

Other Thoughts: Really kicking myself for not buying 5 when they where on sale.... like $25 for a full size motherboard with HDMI, surround sound, AND a integrated Geforce 8200!?!?

Seriously, JUST a Geforce 8200 Ghx card alone would be more than $25!!!!!!!

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Max Trigger
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/9/2009 10:45:15 PM

Rating + 5 ECS GF8200A MB


Pros: On board Video, Hybrid SLI. Audio sounds great and even got a case sticker that every board manufacturer should always include it in their package otherwise they are missing a good opportunity...

Cons: not all solid caps and 2OZ. copper board like other guys!

Other Thoughts: Seems like they're all too lazy to update the the BIOS before selling them so always update system BIOS before put it in service this could save your headache later on.

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Itsbearx13
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/9/2009 11:44:17 AM

Rating + 5 Growing Fond


Pros: I've purchased this product for over 10 builds now, and haven't been disappointing yet. Easy, convenient board layout, cheap, ideal for mid end builds.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: Don't really count it as a pro, but looks snazzy in most setups.

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Bert
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/8/2009 3:44:33 PM

Rating + 5 GF8200A (V1.0)


Pros: The manual was good enough for me. Everything was well labeled. Recognized AMD Sempron 140 as a 2.7Ghz processor, but doesn't identify the model. This is my first build and I was pleasantly surprised. Used DDR2 667 from Crucial and it was correctly recognized.

Cons: None that I can think of.

Other Thoughts: Not running Windows, just Ubuntu Linux 9.10 and it runs quite nicely. Great support available on the web.

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t6
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/8/2009 10:38:02 AM

Rating + 3


Pros: The second board works as advertised. Fairly well laid out with regard to the PCI slots and such.

Cons: The first MOBO I recieved did not recognize a (any) discrete video card. Everything else worked perfectly.

The RMA process thru Newegg was fairly painless, although the cost for this experience in dollars and time left a sour taste in my mouth as I had to tack on an additional 18 dollars to ship the board back and wait for the return.

Also, as others have stated, the website is slower than dialup. Do not expect to download anything in one sitting and be sure to use a download manager. It is truly a trying experience.

Other Thoughts: Three eggs because the second board is what I had anticipated from the first one. Two eggs off for a dysfunctional first board.

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toubabou
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/7/2009 11:26:31 AM

Rating + 5 Easy to build, good performance


Pros: The board went into the box very smoothly, and everything was configured without any trouble. The BIOS is nice, but even better was that I didn't need to dig in it because the board just did what I needed. I'm delighted with the PATA connector for the DVD drive, or I wouldn't have been able to finish the build right away.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: The BIOS provides for a RAID setup. I ignored it and just used Ubuntu's Linux RAID software. The five SATA ports on the main board make future expansion look really easy.

The application this is in is not a heavy one - Ubuntu 64 Desktop running primarily as a file server booted from RAID-1 SATA drives. No hiccups, no heat related problems, running 24/7 since installed.

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Mustangmizer
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
12/6/2009 2:44:47 PM

Rating + 3 Died after 28 days


Pros: Worked good, pretty fast. Stayed very cool.

Cons: Died on me after about 28 days, Not sure what went wrong with it. Turned on and no signal to monitor, tried 2 different monitors, tried on board and my 9800gtx graphics cards and nothing. Fans turn on that's about it.

Other Thoughts: Im crossing my fingers that newegg will refund it. Considering it died on the 28 day i had it, and its the week end so i cant send it out till monday.
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your issues, please contact us. We would like to work with you to find a resolution.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09121010045

Thank you,
ECS

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N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/6/2009 11:05:13 AM

Rating + 5 Great deal for the price and then some


Pros: Decent on-board video. Works great through HDMI including sound. Good sharp display on a 26" monitor. Running Windows 7 Home Premium. Easy install. Got the latest W7 drivers from ECS website including bios update which went in super smooth. Just mailed my rebate. When that comes back this will be an incredibly cheap board. Runs a Phenom X3 2.4 GHz perfectly. Overclocks to 2.8 GHz without a hitch.

Cons: Wish ECS would provide a Windows-based utility to adjust cpu clock and voltages as well as fan speeds like many other mobo manufacturers do.

Other Thoughts: I was lured in by the price and the features. Didn't really need another system. But, since I had an older box that could use an upgrade, I jumped on it. I'm surprised and delighted by the assume value I got for my money. This now my main machine. I'm planning on adding a nice high-performance video card and new excellent hard drive.

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Baconslayer09
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/6/2009 1:21:38 AM

Rating + 4 So Far, So Good


Pros: I was a bit skeptical when I bought this board because the nearly 20% of the reviews were 1 egg, meaning that the thing had a pretty high fail rate. However, mine got here just fine and it's working just fine. The black finish is really nice and the board looks to be of decent quality. For the price, it has a lot of good features, like 32 GB RAM support, on-board GeForce Video, and an HDMI port. Also supports both AM2/2+ and AM3 processors.

Cons: The board is pretty cheap and for the price, you are going to get what you're paying for. The fact that his only supports DDR2 RAM is a big minus considering that you really want to future proof your setup as much as possible.

If you're planning on buying an AM3 only processor, you might want to reconsider buying this board since you need to upgrade your BIOS in order to run AM3 only processors, meaning that in order to boot this thing up, you need an AM2 or AM2+ processor.

If you're an overclocker, this board is very mediocre, if not below average. I've been able to overclock my AMD Athlon II X4 to 3.3 GHz, but that's about it. You can change the HT voltage, NB voltage, and the memory voltage, CPU voltage change is nowhere to be seen. You can also adjust the memory timings and of course, the FSB of the CPU.

Other Thoughts: For the price, this is a quality board. You're not going to get DDR3 memory support or awesome overclocking options, but you will get a board that works with some nice features. If you're on a budget and is looking to buy a mainstream AMD processor, this is your board to get.

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Kirk
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/5/2009 2:55:59 PM

Rating + 3 Great for the first 8 hours


Pros: Inexpensive especially with rebates
Great performance/features to cost ratio
AM3 Ready
3 PCI Slots, 4 Memory Slots
Looks good and solid

Cons: Failed within the first 24 hours of use.
1066 Mhz memory speed only for AM2+ processors
96 Watt TDP Max CPU

Other Thoughts: Not sure what is going on with this ECS motherboard will all the failures reported. It looks like savings in initial price will be offset by return shipping costs until I get one that holds up. Would be happy with this board if it did not fail. Would be 4+ if it worked without problem.
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your issues, please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECP09120810052

Thank you,
ECS

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Rich
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/4/2009 8:35:38 PM

Rating + 4 Not bad for the money


Pros: Full Manual, looks nice, running ok for now. FDC for my multi-format card reader/floppy drive combo. Onboard VGA doing ok for right now.
$30 after rebate... GO NEWEGG!!

Cons: BE AWARE - Only 3 out of the 5 SATA ports will operate in SATA mode. This is "due to the limitation of the nVidia chipset". It can see all 5 if AHCI or RAID used but not worth all the BSOD hassles when turning THAT option "on" with an already established system. I wish I had seen THAT little tidbit prior to ordering but for $30, I can swap out the SATA DVD for an IDE type. I have (had) 3 SATA HDD's and 1 SATA DVD-RW in my system. Picky with Memory and where you put them. Lowest voltage setting is 1.9v but most on the "QVL" list are 1.8v?? I have (had) a set of A-Data 1GB sticks but can only get it to post/boot with one in slot 3 (placed as per the manual - yeah, read it later on-lol))oh. and it is NOT on the memory QVL which is fairly small). I am not a gamer/OC'er so I like "the norm" but it appears I'll be hunting for some memory bargains soon! Bring on the promo's NEWEGG!!

Other Thoughts: Got the board as a replacement/rule-out other bad stuff experiment so nothing lost with its few flaws. Researched the AHCI "on" = BSOD and opted to just not go through all the workarounds.
System as of right now:
Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 550W
ECS BLACK SERIES GF8200A (V1.0)
AMD Regor 245
A-data ADQVE1A16K 1GB DDR2-800 (yes, 1GB)
1 SAMSUNG 500GB SATA II HDD
2 SEAGATE 500GB SATA II HDD's
RCR-FD201 12-n-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader w/ FDD
MS Wireless 4000 KB / Mouse
Brother MFC-5460CN
Canon IP6700D
TredNet TEW-633GR
Cyber Power Backup UPS

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amishbobinc
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/4/2009 6:34:28 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent Gaming Board


Pros: The board has lots of options and overclocks very well once you figure it out. The support for AMD3 CPU's is excellent, and I have my Phenom II x3 running at 3.21 ghz stable. I have pushed it to 3.4 GHZ but after that it started to become unstable. This board is an excellent deal, try to get it when its having a good sale. I got my last one for under 60. I have one in my rig and I have built 2 other people computers with this board. All of them are still working with no issues. RAID setup for windows 7 required no driver disks or floppys and was quick and painless.

Cons: Mobo's heat sink is in the middle of the board...and your Video card goes right across it. I haven't had any issues with it though - it stays pretty cool and doesn't add any heat to my case. Some of the settings need to be changed when overclocking. the HT speed needs to be changed from auto, and cool n quiet needs to be disabled or windows doesn't detect the overclock. ECS documentation isn't the best, but I have seen far worse.

Other Thoughts: Great MOBO for the price, make sure you read through some of these reviews for helpful advice on tweaking the bios.

AMD phenom 2 X3 720, 4GB of g.skill pc6400, 2 WD 320 GB HD's, EVGA GTX 260 SC, Antec 300 case, lite-on DVD drive,
Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may address your issue with the missing SATA cables. This motherboard should have come with them.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120810048

Thank you,
ECS

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Big Daddy Dave
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/4/2009 4:01:47 PM

Rating + 3 SATA Cables would have been nice...


Pros: Fairly simple motherboard, runs with very little tweaking, and has plenty of opportunity to OC with the right memory and processor.

Cons: I believe it SHOULD have come with at least a couple of SATA cables, however mine did not. If I HAD the cables already, it wouldn't be a problem, however this was my first SATA ready board, and with new SATA drives that also came without the cables, it would have been REALLY NICE. (STILL WOULD BE NICE as I still have two drives I have yet to connect, and I am too busy, or perhaps cheap, to buy them).

Other Thoughts: The pictures show you get to SATA cables, make sure they are in there so you don't have a "you snooze, you loze" issue come up. Other than that, a beast of a board. One egg lost for no SATA cables, and One egg lost for really horrible documentation (at least it told me where to hook up the power switch!).
Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may address your issue with the missing SATA cables. This motherboard should have come with them.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120810048

Thank you,
ECS

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Mr. T
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/4/2009 11:54:12 AM

Rating + 5 So Far So Good...


Pros: Supports AM3. On board Video works fine. Recognized my processor right away. Didn't have to fiddle with the BIOS at all in that respect.

Cons: HDMI doesn't work, but VGA does. Not sure if that's because my monitor got dropped a month or so ago or the HDMI cable I have doesn't work, or the on board itself. Not really looking into it though. VGA works is perfectly fine without it.

Other Thoughts: I had to replace my old socket 939 system. My old ABIT AV8 motherboard failed a few weeks ago.

My setup:
OS: Linux Ubuntu 9.10
Case: Mid Tower Raidmax
PSU: Mad Dog 400w modular
Motherboard: ECS 8200A
CPU: AM3 Sempron 140 @ stock
RAM: single stick of Crucial 1gb DDR2 667
HDD: IDE 160GB Western Digital
CD/DVD Drive: IDE DVD-RW x16
GPU: On board
Monitor: Acer 23" x233h @ 1920 x 1080 resolution

Mailed the rebate in today. Waiting to get it.

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Nicky DuMickelshmitz
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/3/2009 5:38:45 PM

Rating + 2 Not a good start


Pros: It's a great concept with a nice layout and features. Nice looking board too.

Cons: BSOD'd with every config I thru at it. It would start loading Windows (right after loading pre-install data to RAM) then BSOD.

Other Thoughts: I am sending it back tomorrow, crossing my fingers that the next one is worth a .......
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with this system build please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120810035

Thank you,
ECS

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masterasia
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/2/2009 10:09:38 PM

Rating + 2 This board reminded me why ECS is at the bottom of my list


Pros: 1. Cheap BF Deal
2. Supports Windows 7 just fine

Cons: 1. Came with way out dated BIOS
2. Can't save BIOS settings into a profile (it's suppose to be a gamer's board)
3. My video card (GTX 250) blocks 2 SATA ports
4. Driver disk is useless in Windows 7
5. Not a full ATX board (the width is short so you'll only be using 6 motherboard standoffs)
6. You have to set the Volts manually for the ram if they are 1066 Mhz and above

Other Thoughts: Specs
AMD X2 5200+
4 gigs OCZ Platinum 1066 Mhz (2.1V)
Two 500gig Samsung F3 in Raid-0
GTS 250 1 gig
CoolerMaster V8 (18 Degrees Celsius on idle)
CoolerMaster Scout Storm
OCZ 550W Fatl1ty PSU

If you get an unstable overclock, you have to clear the CMOS using the jumper, then when you boot up again, it loses all the BIOS settings and RAID is turned off. You have to set all the BIOS settings over again. There's no save or revert back to previous BIOS settings. ECS Black is suppose to be their gaming line. It's not a gaming board unless you are able to save BIOS settings and or have more than one BIOS.

This is my first ECS board in 10 years. They didn't make good boards back then and still don't make good boards today. This was for a budget build that wasn't for me.
Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may address your issues with the layout and design of this motherboard. We do appreciate your feedback.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120810028

Thank you,
ECS

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/1/2009 5:30:17 PM

Rating + 1 TERRIBLE SERVICE


Pros: Great product, all the technical components of the motherboard worked great

Cons: THE CHEAP PLASTIC. Seriously, the cpu fan mount, a cheap piece of plastic, broke after 1 month of use., shattering under the weight of the stock AMD Phenom 2 cpu fan. Seriously, the thing it's designed for, it broke under.

And ECS's response? "We can give you a quote for the fan bracket."

That's it.

Well, thanks for all your help, I sure do want to buy a brand new piece of the plastic to break again!

Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may look into your previous case and address your concerns.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120410024

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Xeensd
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
12/1/2009 2:34:34 PM

Rating + 5 Excellent HTPC board


Pros: CUDA
HDMI
Solid board
Excellent price

Cons: none really

Other Thoughts: Bought with rebate. Excellent for HTPC.

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Jerry
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/30/2009 11:33:50 AM

Rating + 1 Had problems from the start


Pros: None, considering the board died two months after installation, so there's no returning it as Newegg gives you thirty days.

Cons: Had install problems. The GPU ran excessively hot. I am using a XCLIO Windtunnel case with a Freezer 64 Pro heat-sink, so there was no excuse for the overheating. The Motherboard started running at 50+ celsius then 70+ celsius, then died. I never did get the rebate either. So much for ECS, I'll never buy another ECS product.

Other Thoughts: Don't buy one of these unless you've got money to throw away and don't mind installing/uninstalling burned motherboards
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your issues please contact us so we may look into them.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120110017

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/29/2009 11:56:12 AM

Rating + 1 PC Whiz


Pros: Ordered it from Newegg on Nov 10, 2009 delivered on Nov 12, 2009. Great service from Newegg. Have NEVER had any RMA with New egg.

Cons: This MB works for one week. Now, it's NOT even POSTed.
Don't know what actions should be taken yet. It's $80.00 MB.

Other Thoughts: Wonder if Newegg would send me a NEW one. It's too much trouble to take this one out, packed it and send it back.
Manufacturer Response:If you haven't already, please contact us so we may look into your issue and find out more about your system configuration.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120110009

Thank you,
ECS

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Kleersteel
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/27/2009 4:06:42 PM

Rating + 4 Still going...


Pros: Got this Mobo because it was part of a bundle they had and I needed a system because my gaming rig had crashed and burned...Never even heard of the company b4 but figured, it's good to try something new. Well, almost 6 months later, it's still going. Have a XFX Black series Geforce 260 and no problems with either (had the GPU for 3 months)

CPU-AMD 7850 Dual Core (stock fan...and it sucks need better one)
4 GB Corsair
XFX 260 Black series
ECS Black Series GF8200A
Seagate 350 HD 7200RPM

Cons: None that I have encountered. Just took me awhile to find out where to change the mode from MOB GPU to external GPU...lol

Other Thoughts: With that Geforce 260 under the hood the whole rig get really hot. I took the side off and have a fan running to help keep the heat monster at bay. I know ECS have other boards out but, for the $$ it is worth giving it a try.

I have a cheap rig compared so some, but I am able to run all the latest games with all the eye candy enabled. I also like the fact that this have a on board GPU and I am able to run Phy-x flat out on that, while I run the other graphic reqirements with my XFX card. So, Batman looks awesome and even have a few UT3 Maps made for use with Phy-x in mind....can't wait till other games make full use of Phy-x.

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Len
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/24/2009 3:58:00 PM

Rating + 2 Bad Board and Rebate Takes Forever


Pros: NewEgg is great. They replaced the board promptly when it died after a one week.

Cons: Seems QC is very lacking on the board. Very disappointed. To add insult to injury....the rebate process is not only cumbersome but it's already been months and haven't received anything.

Other Thoughts: There are better options out there. Gigabyte seems to be a good choice. Call all the customer service lines before you buy and see which one answers first. Then you'll know who is the more customer friendly company. Elitegroup is very difficult to get to.
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your issue, please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120110016

Thank you,
ECS

4 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

billycole2001
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/24/2009 12:50:12 AM

Rating + 1 Starts off nice


Pros: It was nice pretty andset up nice

Cons: only worked 7 mnths with best cooling.contacted ecs with no luck sucks !baught new psu i love newegg hate this mb

Other Thoughts: it played most games.but 1 star
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with your issue please contact us so we may get this resolved as soon as possible and look into your previous case.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09120110008

Thank you,
ECS

2 out of 6 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Cybersamurai
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/22/2009 12:06:21 AM

Rating + 5 For the price, how can you complain?


Pros: Purchased this mobo on 29 Aug 2008 and have not had a single problem with it. While i had low expectations due to the price, it has outperformed beyond my wildest dreams. FANTASTIC price value.

Cons: Only reason i'm about to replace it is that i'm moving on to SLI and Liquid cooling due to more requirements for my PC. Have nothing negative to say, as long as you know what your uses will be for the mobo and it meets your requirements, you will not be disappointed!

Other Thoughts: Wish it had SLI that was not hybrid, then i wouldn't be replacing it after 1 year.

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Drees
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/20/2009 3:20:35 PM

Rating + 4 Good board


Pros: This board performs really well once you go through the process of finding drivers and related files. Looks pretty cool. Good piece of hardware.

Cons: Took a long time to manually install the drivers for Windows Vista 64 bit manually. Took me a long time to even get the LAN device up and going so I could go the the ECS website and get all the updated drivers. Then found that the ECS website is pain to say the least. Get a different board from a different manufacturer especially if your gonna build your first computer.

Other Thoughts: Overall, the board works really well, and have had no issues since the initial installation.

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N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/20/2009 10:48:33 AM

Rating + 1 No video!


Pros: Looks great, fairly cheap, has great features.

Cons: I tore my computer down and installed 2 new sata drives, I got everything hooked up and powered it on. All fans spin, drives spool up but no video! I wanted to give ECS a try because of the price and the rebate, but i can see now that I made a bad choice. If the replacement board fails I WILL get my money back and buy a Gigabyte mobo.

Other Thoughts: Would be system config:
ECS GF8200A
AMD Athalon 64 x2 7750
1 80gig sata OS drive
1 640gig sata storage drive
4 Gigs of DDR2 800 memory
Nvidia 8600gt graphics card
Manufacturer Response:If you are still experiencing issues, please contact us so we may work with you to find a resolution.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09112410016

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/19/2009 7:39:40 AM

Rating + 1 Garbage Complete and Utter Garbage


Pros: It arrived to my house as promised and acted like a MOBO for about 7 minutes

Cons: Froze and resulted in a BSOD trying to install any OS from XP to 7. Finally got 7 installed and can only use computer for about 30 minutes before I either get a bsod or complete crash. Replaced every other part in my PC from video and sound card to memory and CPU. Still crashes. I have been trying to get an RMA for a week now and I will say they respond quickly but they asked me to take pics of the actual MOBO??? Apparently it doesnt exist and the newegg invoice isnt enough proof I own this pile. Completely regret this decision and will buy a new MOBO soon. Newegg should stop selling this motherboard.

Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with this issue, please contact us so we may look into your previous case and address your concerns and find out why pictures were requested.

Under normal circumstances a picture of the motherboard is not required. If there was some concern over this motherboard "existing" there may have been a misunderstanding on which motherboard you had or your serial number was not valid. In which case we may have requested a picture of the board or where the serial number is normally located.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09112410009

Thank you,
ECS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

BootMasterMike
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/13/2009 2:15:46 PM

Rating + 4 Troublesome but eventually worth it


Pros: 32 MB RAM maximum, AHCI thats seems to behave itself, a seperate boot up option to eliminate needing GRUB or other boot managers, 5 SATA ports, lots of BIOS options, excellent driver support online

Cons: OS installations sometimes don't behave well my IDE DVD writer (Windows 7 64 required a different DVD drive, Ubuntu worked with a certain argument set, CentOS 5.4 had no problems whatsoever); one IDE port for total of two devices, not really a con, but >4GB sticks barely exist today

Other Thoughts: I was having all kinds of trouble when I got this board and almost gave up on it. Windows 7 would not install until trying three different drives til I found one that worked. I was then able to swap in the DVD burner. I thought I had some bad front USB pins (others had this problem as well), but turns out my old parts on my case are bad. After finally getting things set up, ECS had Windows 7 64 bit drivers already online (ASUS hasn't updated anything yet). I enjoy being able to decide which drive to boot with a press of a button during startup without messing with an outside boot manager and thus hiding my installations from other users and the different installations themselves. The only real trouble I had with the board is the Windows 7 installation which caused a headache for a weekend. Flashing the bios here didn't help. May just get an external usb DVD drive as a safeguard. Looking forward to this system lasting a long time like my socket A ECS system.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Jon Aye
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/13/2009 5:18:41 AM

Rating + 4 Decent Value *Update


Pros: Plenty of room for upgrades (<95W AM3, esata, lotsa usb, onboard raid). Excellent price. I bought mine in January 09 bundled with a low-power cpu (BE-2300 discontinued *sad) and it works great, I will be moving to Athlon/Phenom II quad soon.

Cons: Orange heat-sink gets HOT!
My audio connector went a little weird after about 8 months, I have to wiggle the plug in the jack to find the right position- obviously not a huge deal, if I wanted amazing audio I'd buy a card rather than relying on onboard.
My keyboard is connected to a USB hub and will not allow me to press del on reboot, so if I want to work on bios I have to dig out my moldy old ps2 keyboard.

Other Thoughts: I haven't really used the onboard video (including geforce boost or hybrid SLI), so I can't comment on that. It seems the SATA connectors need to be used in sequence, that pretty much messes up my hot-swap enclosure.
None of these cons or issues are huge, just realize that this is a budget board and not for higher-end use (single PCIeX16). Also, this is an aging board, I'd consider getting a 785/790 if I were to stick with ECS, that way you could at least use DDR3.

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NOLS
Tech Level: high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/10/2009 7:25:50 AM

Rating + 5 Still Running Good


Pros: Running 24/7 without hiccup. The best for the Budget. Running Windows ultimate with no problem. I am planning to upgrade processor using the the same board. Bios is easy to use. Plenty of USB, SATA and the video and the sound is great too. I am using to play game and HTPC.

Cons: absolutely none.

Other Thoughts: AMD Phenom x4 9600
G skill PC2 8500 4Gigs
400 watts antec power supply
Windows 7 Ultimate

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nate
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/5/2009 7:27:43 PM

Rating + 2 motherboard dead in the water


Pros: motherboard workED perfect for about 3 months..

Cons: installed a new grfx card and boom all of the sudden the board wont post at all... tested all components individually and they all work the board just quit... ECS wont pick up when i call...

i always liked ECS but there customer support isnt proving to be as good as everyone said it was

Other Thoughts: i liked the board but it does me no good now that it wont work and the manufacturer wont answer there 1800 number
Manufacturer Response:Unfortunately we do not have a 1-800 number.

If you still require assistance with your issues, please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09110610030

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

J
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/3/2009 2:14:26 PM

Rating + 4 What's with the haters??


Pros: I can't believe the bad reputation this board has. I think all the dead-board complaints come from people who who either mishandle or incorrectly install the board.

First, it looks great. Nice black finish, and pretty good design.

Second, it works great (so far). It booted up nicely on the first try and has recognized all my hardware without issue. It has never given me any kind of error or failure to boot.

Third, the price is outstanding. I'm still waiting on the rebate, but even if it didn't come, I got the board with a good discount combo.

Cons: These aren't the worst cons in the history of motherboards, but there are some things that could use work:

1st, the board comes with directions that provide for unnecessary steps in manual and software installation. 2nd, the graphics card is not as great as I thought it would be based on a couple of reviews. Even with updated drivers, it still crackles with even older games (Half-life 2), and has this muddled look with HD video playback. I've tried using various players, but seems to be an issue with the card. Really not a big deal though, as it still looks great and is SLI capable... ill get on a new video card soon.

Other Thoughts: overall a really good working board. don't hate if you broke it yourself!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Dizzytaz00
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
11/3/2009 3:15:29 AM

Rating + 2 Buyer's Beware


Pros: ONLY 1) Newegg has awesome shipping!!!

Cons: OK after 4+ months this motherboard reliabilityi is failure
I've already sent the motherboard back once to ECS. Now the Motherboard is DEAD AGAIN!!! Which I'm not going to take the time spend 2 hours on the phone & to have it replaced again!!! This motherboard undoubtfully has issues & will not recommend.........

So if you choose this Motherboard & Good Luck!!

A 50%/ 50% Chance you be Luck to get one that works.

Other Thoughts: Recipient of Hot Product, Good Value & Recommended Award
That hard to believe now!!!

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Chuck
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/27/2009 7:29:30 AM

Rating + 4 It Works


Pros: Cool color. Comes with 2 SATA cables and an IDE ribbon. Ability to OC and tweak. Fits nicely. Onboard graphics of GeForce 8200 with native HDMI. Decent onboard sound.

Cons: Pins for onboard speaker are directly behind/under the PCIE2 slot. Not SLI capable. Downloading new drivers from ECS took forever. Doesn't seem to work well with my DVD drive and Win7 (I'm looking into it). Does not come with OC software, have to work in BIOS.

Other Thoughts: ECS Black Series GF8200A
AMD Phenom II X2 Callisto 545 (not UL'd or OC'd)
ASUS GeForce 9600 GSO
Raidmax Hybrid 2 RX-530SS
Corsair Twin2X4096-6400CS
Samsung HD502HI 500GB

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

domonas
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/26/2009 11:01:09 AM

Rating + 5 Basic but works!


Pros: Basic board but that's the price range. Good BIOS options. A very inexpensive AM3 board. Everything looks and feels well built. My first ECS experience and I couldn't be happier.

Cons: There really can only be cons if you expected something and they don't deliver. I knew it wasn't a xfire/sli board, so no deductions there. I guess having a DVI connection would be nice, but I knew there wasn't one with the purchase... so no deduction there.

Other Thoughts: Excellent basic board. Excellent price AR ($47).

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

GS
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/25/2009 9:11:16 PM

Rating + 1 DOA


Pros: Looks great ! Very affordable !

Cons: DOA out of the box ! I'll be returning this MOB...hooked up , CPU fan wouldn't work ! Purchased another MOB Gigabyte..system fired up and running !

Other Thoughts: Don't think I'll buy another ECS MOB...first impressions are lasting !
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with this motherboard, we would like for you to contact us, so we may look into your power issues and look at possible causes.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09102610059

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/25/2009 3:24:12 PM

Rating + 5 Basic but works!


Pros: Clean, sleek, it just works. Basic board with few options, but able to overclock.

Cons: If it works as advertised, then how can there be any cons? Would I like more things on this board? of course, but it's not meant to be a high-end board.

Other Thoughts: First time buying ECS, as I'm used to building with ASUS or Gigabyte or MSI. But I'm definitley buying ECS boards for friends that want a basic setup with limitations on budget room.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/25/2009 9:03:38 AM

Rating + 4 Great So Far


Pros: Very nicely packaged
Very good overall

Cons: The CPU fan brackets are a pain to get the fan on. Make sure when you put the fan on, you (as always) put it on the motherboard while it's out of the case. Should be a no-brainer, but there are some people who would.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Onlythepianoplayer
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/22/2009 4:46:18 PM

Rating + 2 Not So Happy


Pros: When it worked it was awesome. Booted fast and with my dual core 6000+ processor this computer really screamed.

Cons: After about a week I started to detect a "crackle" when playing audio. Not just on the internal card but also on another I had installed in a PCI slot. Then, Windows got a little finicky and wouldn't boot. Had to shut down completely and try sometimes multiple times. Then twice I got the BSOD. But the computer rebooted both times. Then suddenly it would no longer boot. Tried another hard drive but it won't even let me install windows. Been down now two weeks waiting for a replacement. Spent endless hours trouble shooting!

Other Thoughts: This was my first build and all components were brand new and factory fresh Immediately I assumed I'd done something wrong, but researched everything I could and seems the only thing it could be is the mother board. Very frustrating when new products only last a week or so.
Manufacturer Response:If you still require assistance with this motherboard, please contact us so we may look into your previous case and ensure it going smoothly.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09102610054

Thank you,
ECS

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/22/2009 3:18:57 PM

Rating + 1 DOA


Pros: Shipping was fast

Cons: didnt work

Other Thoughts: Going to try another
Manufacturer Response:If you continue to have issues, please contact us so we may find out what exactly is the issue and provide some assistance if necessary.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09102610045

Thank you,
ECS

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Alex "clutchMoDE" O
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/21/2009 3:17:12 PM

Rating + 5 One of the Better Mobo's


Pros: Ok, this board is supremely awesome. I love having all the usb ports, cuz its best for gamers. It works great with my ram and my proc. Haven't had one issue with it!

Cons: NONE!!!!

Other Thoughts: Buy this. Worth the price. Have had this board for around 8 months now, and havent had ONE issue with it!

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/20/2009 9:06:17 PM

Rating + 1 If you need a week computer


Pros: Haha you like my wordplay? Let me explain, this motherboard will provide you with a weak computer that only last one week.
So for pros i will put it works for one week! ;)

Cons: After that week it takes itself out. Can't clear anything it just dies. First one took forever to boot up and randomly turned off. Second one ran voltages way to high, and bsod'd me for playing an CD! it bsod'd me for turning off my computer. It would bsod me for breathing! Please read so many of the reviews that state this board is very faulty! I wish i would have listened to them! It is worth the extra $10-$30 for an Asus, MSi, or GIGABYTE board! Don't make the same mistake i did! I would highly recommend not to get this board!

Other Thoughts: If you prefer one week/weak computers this product is perfect for you!
Manufacturer Response:If you haven't already, please contact us so we may find out about your components being used and help with you issue.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09102610039

Thank you,
ECS

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/20/2009 1:30:27 PM

Rating + 5 Its alive!!!!!


Pros: Booted up no problem. Running Ubuntu 9.04 all four cores recognized. Nice features, low price, AM3 ready and cheap. This motherboard is very fast with just the bare minimum. Go get it.

Cons: None so far

Other Thoughts: Athlon II X4 620, Generic DDR 667 512mb memory, Antec 300 case, Generic power supply.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Mac19124
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/18/2009 1:01:37 PM

Rating + 3 I love it...now


Pros: Great price, works great now [see cons] Plenty of connections and room for expansion later

Cons: At the time I bought this it said it supported AM3 CPU's out of the box. Turns out it doesn't support them out of the box, only after a BIOS update does it support AM3 CPU's. I had to go out and buy and AM2 CPU just so I could perform a BIOS update to get my AM3 CPU up and running

Other Thoughts: It's a great board but if your going to use and AM3 CPU with it make sure you have an AM2 on hand to update the BIOS

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Cap'n Morgan
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/18/2009 10:26:15 AM

Rating + 4 Not a bad starter board


Pros: I've found this board to be extremely stable, although I'm not OCing. I mostly do online gaming and DVD burning with this machine. Running PC2-6400 RAM and an AM2 6000+ 3.0GHz CPU.

Cons: Video quit about a month after I installed it. Luckily I had a spare PCI video card on hand.

Other Thoughts: Why didn't I send it back and get a replacement? Because I had no intention of using the onboard video for any real length of time, it just happened to quit before I could get a beefy PCI-E for it. So for me it really wasn't that big a deal, hence 4 eggs.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/17/2009 8:20:32 AM

Rating + 5 Great budget mobo


Pros: Great bios, is stable and fast.

Cons: XP could not find SATA hard drive during installation until I switched to compatibility mode in BIOS

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

samwise51
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/17/2009 6:41:07 AM

Rating + 4


Pros: This is a great board that has served my needs (ie: gaming). Customer support was exceptional once I was able to talk to a representative over the phone. I actually worked with ECS to fix a problem with the NB Multiplier not sticking in the BIOS, and now the board is overclocking like the machine it is.

Cons: My only con is that there aren't two PCIE x16 slots, but for the price it actually built me a very nice gaming rig with an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250.

Other Thoughts: My rig

Motherboard
ECS Black Series GF8200A

Processor
AMD Phenom II 720 3 cores @ 3.4GHz

Memory
4GB Nanya DDR2 800 6-6-6-18 (PC2-6400)

Video Processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

bsntech
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/16/2009 12:01:40 PM

Rating + 4 Initial Results


Pros: Number of expansion slots, eSATA, HDMI, built-in GeForce 8200 for using VDPAU through Ubuntu/MythTV, support for DDR2 1066 memory (see Con).

I had trouble flashing the BIOS since I use Linux - just had to make a bootable CD with the necessary ROM and flash utility. The updated BIOS fixed a problem where there was a duplicate line entry for the same settings in one of the pages (I believe it was APIC mode).

Cons: Had an issue with the DDR2 1066 memory support. I had to actually set the frequency manually to 533 MHz even after changing the voltage to 1.14 v. Memory is Mushkin 996684 1 GB x 2. Onboard SPD would keep showing it only as 800 MHz. However, it is stable when set manually in the BIOS to 533 MHz.

MCP78S chipset runs EXTREMELY HOT! You definitely need to get a fan on this thing. Running outside of a case (sitting on the motherboard box currently), the chipset runs at 95 Celsius (203 Fahrenheit). Running an OpenGL screensaver pushed it to 105 Celsius (221 Fahrenheit) without a fan. I put a case fan over the top for testing and it reduced the temperature to 35 Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in minutes. Docked an egg for this reason - a fan should have definitely been onboard with these temperatures. Temperatures were received from the nvidia-settings applet in Ubuntu.

S/PDIF coax-out would have been nice but the headers are available for those who make one or purchase one.

Other Thoughts: Originally I was going to purchase another GeForce 8200 motherboard that had a S/PDIF coax connection, but was concerned about the heatsink blocking the PCIe slot as others said - and the availability of expansion slots. This board provides a better deal than the other board I compared. When purchased, there was a rebate that made the cost of this board 10 less as well.

Another note - not sure if this was nvidia-settings reporting bad information, but I originally used Auto in the BIOS for the GPU shared memory (showed 256 MB shared on BIOS screen). nvidia-settings was showing that there was 512 MB of memory for the GPU. Went to the BIOS and explicitly set to 512 MB shared memory and nvidia-settings still showed 512 MB as the memory.

Running this with a Phenom X4 9650, Mushkin 996684 1 GB x 2 kit, WD 500 GB SATA drive and a Samsung IDE DVD burner, PVR-150, and HVR-1600 and is used as a HTPC.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Elliott78212
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/15/2009 11:10:17 PM

Rating + 5 7months its GREAT!!!


Pros: Oh I love ECS/Nvidia this board is great I love it. The Black Series Boards are the best from ECS. I have this running games like SupCom, TitanQuest, Prey, FarCry, a few others, all in hybrid mode with Nvidia 8500gt 1gb VideoCard, in hybrid Vista recognizes it as 8600. I even played Crysis on medium with some elements on high no lag was surprising to say the least.
4gb Crucial 2gb sticks, AMD Kuma 7750 2.7ghz not OC'd, Hitachi 500gb sata HD, Windows Vista Ultimate with all updates & patches. Vista Score 5.9, this would be a great board for anyone if your a very light gamer the onboard video works fine I tested that with FarCry and Dungeon Seige Legends of Aranna and Dungeon Siege II with no issues in Hybrid mode you can use Nvidia 8400 or 8500 so I got a small boost what I already had which is nice. Lots of USB ports and HDMI. I would buy another if I didn't already have one of each of the ECS Black Series boards except the 790 don't have that one. I also tested 64bit no problems.

Cons: it doesn't install itself or make toast but it does keep my coffee warm using a usb port and a coffee cup warming plate.

Other Thoughts: I have all the Vista bells & whistles on inlcuding the much derided Dreamscene that I so love in Ultimate, MagicJack phone, Desktop Widget Sidebar & of course the usual start up items it boots up in less than 2 minutes & less with removing some startup items. Wakes from sleep everytime Never a BSOD. I said this a few months ago & I say it now I finally got my VISTA WOW. I tested Windows 7 RC on this it was awesome but 7 doesn't come with any real Ultimate Extras & the few that came with Vista I really like so no plans on upgrading as u lose them in 7, thats to bad. Buy it for mom, for your entertaiment system for yourself, for budget gaming add a video card and get that much more WOW either in hybrid or with the latest Nvidia VGCard chipset its totally worth every penny. My Manual & setup guide had pics easy to read, disc worked fine had downloaded newest drivers & bios from ECS for immediate update.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/15/2009 4:24:07 PM

Rating + 3 OK for the price


Pros: Onboard graphics aren't too shabby. Has VDPAU support (for decoding HD in hardware) which is great for media center applications.
4 ram slots, decent array of PCI(-e) slots, supports AM2 and AM2+, bunch of SATA ports.

Cons: Documentation in the manual is horrid. Descriptions of what different settings in the BIOS do are basically non-existent. Had to upgrade bios due to stability concerns running DDR2-1066. Ram wants to be in slots 3 and 4 if you're only putting in 2 sticks (which seems odd compared to other setups) and causes RAM with big heatsinks to not fit.
Their website is still in the 1990s, horrible to navigate. BIOS updating didn't seem easy to understand how to do without a CD-ROM drive or floppy (or installing a 300MB Windows only utility). Finally got a USB key to boot with some version of Win 98 and updated the bios. Trying to grab a copy of the current bios in case I messed things up didn't work, it read the bios, saved it to a file, but then promptly crashed, reset all my bios settings, and rebooted. Fun times were had thinking I'd just bricked my bios (it wasn't, but I was stressed).
BIOS adjustment methods aren't that fine grained (for being a "Black Series" I expected more).

Other Thoughts: For the money, you get what you paid for. It's got onboard GeForce 8200 which is what I wanted.
I had purchased an ECS board about 8 years ago for my brother, it was a nightmare (in the same way I've explained in cons). This will be my last ECS board.
ECS has the cost where I wanted, but the quality just isn't there with regards to setup, website, and bios.
I'll stick to other vendors in the future.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

oldglenn440
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/14/2009 1:52:38 PM

Rating + 4 wont but this brand again


Pros: It is now working as it's supposed to.

Cons: The documentation is horrable this board will not run an am2+ without flashing the bios first this is not mentioned anywhere in the setup guide also be sure that it works before you mailin for a rebate because you cant returnit afterward.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Tech Since 1980
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/14/2009 8:26:22 AM

Rating + 5 Tech Since 1980


Pros: Been a good Board Runs great so far

Cons: ESC's Rebate and Web site NEED work. They are NO help

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/10/2009 12:55:48 PM

Rating + 5 Good Mobo


Pros: I have this mobo for about a year now, it runs 24/7 and have no any issue. System is running on Vista home edition and now running Windows 7 ultimate. The sound is good and the video is so clear. I am using it as HTPC.

Cons: none.

Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

Blank
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/9/2009 9:00:01 PM

Rating + 5 Good Job


Pros: I bought this mobo thought it was doa because i got no video with the first one i got rma'ed it got a new one within a week or so fired it up no video again so i looked online found out i had to unplug every thing just have a procesor and one stick of ram in (plus power) fired it up now it works great installed vista love it every thing runs smooth even with just the onboard graphics.

Cons: none

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/9/2009 1:17:10 PM

Rating + 4 Not bad


Pros: Seems to work well so far. The bios is straight forward, and easy to navigate. It hasnt crashed yet.

Cons: The provided driver CD is not compatible with vista 64bit, and the site to download the drivers is SLOW. 5kbps is just sad.

Other Thoughts: Good board for the price. Not really on par with a lot of the high end boards, but a lot nicer than a lot of the cheap boards.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Pcdude
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/9/2009 11:34:21 AM

Rating + 1 First Mobo Died Got Rma Cant Install XP


Pros: IT worked great for six months

Cons: My first one died after six months. First it was the USB devices not being not being Recognized. Then Boom dead. Debated with them for a week got My RMA Back its been like 3 weeks Without My computer. I boot it Up it seems to all be Good windows Doesn't Load I get a blue screen. Ok Guess I have to reinstall. I try to and Bam Blue Screen. I remove My hard drives but 1, my video card, sound card, and get 1 totally different piece of memory. And it is a no go. ECS Re Call this mother board it's garbage!

Manufacturer Response:If you are using SATA hard drives please verify whether or not they are set to SATA, AHCI or RAID. If it is set to AHCI or RAID you will need to load drivers during the XP installation. Failing to do so can result in a blue screen.

If you still require assistance with this issue, please contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09101310021

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

MrDooBee
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/8/2009 3:47:58 PM

Rating + 2 Got my RMA Back


Pros: It's cheaper than most other boards. Runs the 1066 memory depending on the cpu you use.

Cons: Many people are mentioning that this board has issues. There must be something wrong with the way this board was built. I for one had the USB ports stop being recognized. They came Back to life one day and 3 days later it died.

Also I wasn't using a cheap power supply. PCP&C 610 Silencer. I never Overclock. I still went ahead and bought a new Power Supply. We will see if it happens again. If so someone has an epic fail on how this motherboard was made.

Other Thoughts: I would appreciate if ECS was faster in responding to emails, and if they could post what is causing so many of these mother boards to fail.

Also if when they send us back a new one, or refurbished one if they have fixed the problem or just fixed it for 6 more months till we are out of warranty so that we are not their problem anymore.
Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may look into your previous RMA and issues, so we may address your concerns.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09101310027

Thank you,
ECS

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Scoran
Tech Level: average
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/6/2009 5:54:59 PM

Rating + 3 Works, but slightly unnerving


Pros: First build, works well. Bios didn't post at first but was a noob mistake by yours truly. Used with 7850, running vista 64.

Cons: WHen using any sort of monitoring software, it shows that the voltage to the cpu is at 1.550v. I have it in the BIOS at 1.225. Slightly disconcerting, being that I set it at something and stays at the maximum voltage in the BIOS no matter what I do.

Other Thoughts: It works, and as a first build I learned a lot of what this board can and cannot do.
Manufacturer Response:Please contact us so we may look into your issues and find out what monitoring software you are using.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09101310031
Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

N/A
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/3/2009 10:15:16 AM

Rating + 4 Pretty Solid Board


Pros: On the whole, this is a pretty solid board. The integrated graphics are alright, not great, but I don't game much anyway. There's a pretty decent amount of USB ports, and everything works without any issues what-so-ever.

Cons: The front audio kinda sucks, but it might also be the case I'm using. I can definitely notice pops in the audio when there's hard drive activity. Either way, I just stick with my speaker system, it sounds absolutely fine.

Other Thoughts: One reviewer mentioned needing to flash his BIOS to be able to use a new processor.

I'm using a Phenom II 905e and it worked out-of-the-box.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Prompt
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/3/2009 5:22:24 AM

Rating + 1 Horrible


Pros: New Egg was great about my RMA

Cons: Can not get the board to Boot a Sata Hardrive,
Can not get the board to Boot an OS

Other Thoughts: Tried 3 of these boards. Only one of them was in somewhat working condition. First one i had to run off an IDE hard drive just to get it to work. The second, and third board would not work no matter what i did. Always froze on formatting windows. Even when i took the hard drive out and put an OS on it via another computer when hooked back up to the machine it would always freeze at the loading windows screen.
Manufacturer Response:The odds of 3 motherboards not being able to install or boot to an OS are quite low.

For any type of installation issue please do not hesitate to contact us, so we may look into your issue and provide possible solutions.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09100610023

Thank you,
ECS

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

dbrown3800
Tech Level: somewhat high
Ownership: more than 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/2/2009 9:47:25 AM

Rating + 5 Very Satisfied


Pros: low cost, zero problems
Purchased 9/29/08

Cons: no problems at this time

Other Thoughts: This has been one of the most trouble free systems I have built over the last 20 years. No issues in the past 12 months. I use this as a budget gaming machine with 2 gb G.Skill PC2 8500, 1 gb WD Black, Galaxy GeForce 9500GT 512 mb, Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1 ghz.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

silver
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/1/2009 6:54:47 PM

Rating + 4 Good value board


Pros: Good amount of room to work with, has plenty of USB ports, eSata, supports AM3 (including new X4 630 Propus model 2.8Ghz straight from Newegg without flashing bios) and plenty of extra 3 pin fan connectors.

Cons: No onboard speaker (nor connector for one), only 1 IDE connector, and no parallel port so not able to hook up bios programmer with this board.. A bummer for me, but then most boards they make now are lacking both the parallel connector and only have 1 IDE channel.

Other Thoughts: For those that like to bench test/burn in a CPU/board on a table setup before mounting everything in a case and get this board, please be aware that the Nvidia chipset gets HOT in a HURRY, like within 30 seconds is way to hot to even think of touching by accident. The stories on the Internet do not lie regarding this chipset/heatsink combo. Be careful.
Manufacturer Response:For reference on the onboard speaker; it is true that there is no onboard buzzer (speaker) but there is a connection for a system speaker. You can find it next to the IDE connector. Refer to page 4 and 5 of your manual for its location. It is item 6 on these pages.

If you have any other questions regarding this motherboard feel free to contact us.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

Thank you,
ECS

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Bryan
Tech Level: high
Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/1/2009 9:53:03 AM

Rating + 1 Waste of moeny


Pros: Received on time and at low price with free shipping.

Cons: I have received three DOAs and finally was able to get a refund on my "non refundable" motherboard. I will never buy from ECS again. Nothing but a hassel.

Other Thoughts: I thank newegg support for making the return and refund process easy. I will continue to shop at newegg but I will never agian buy an ECS product.
Manufacturer Response:We would like for you to contact us so we may find out what components were being used in your build and what the exact issue was. Receiving 3 motherboards with issues would be very hard to do.

We can be reached at newegg.support@ecsusa.com or 510-771-0284. Our hours are Mon-Fri 9am-6pm PST.

When contacting us, you can refer to case #ECD09100210026.

Thank you,
ECS

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

BrianX
Tech Level: high
Ownership: less than 1 day
This user purchased this item from Newegg
10/1/2009 5:29:23 AM

Rating + 4 Nice Linux Server Motherboard


Pros: Good Price to Performance Ratio.
Using this as a Linux/NAS Server. Might switch to FreeNAS.

Cons: Would have preferred 6 SATA II ports instead of 5.
No DVI.

Other Thoughts: I installed windows and upgraded the bios easy enough. Then isntalled Debian 5.03. Working on getting RAID setup tonight.

AMD Athlon II Regor 245
4gb OCZ RAM (2 x 2gb)
2 - 250gb SATA II Hard Drives
6 - 1.5tb SATA II Drives
Debian 5.03

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

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