ECS X79R-AX Black Series Motherboard Review

ECS X79R-AX Intel X79 LGA2011 Motherboard

ECS doesn’t have the greatest reputation when it comes to high end computer components. Today we have the latest attempt at breaking free from the entry level motherboards from ECS. The ECS X79R-AX is part of the Black Extreme series of products. First impressions it looks like it has the potential to be a great board. If you haven’t guessed from the name or title of the article the ECS X79R-AX is built around the Intel X79 chipset which uses the latest second generation Intel Core i7 processors in the LGA 2011 package. The ECS X79R-AX is currently available for $239.99 after MIR.

The Intel X79 platform is the highest end Intel consumer platform that you can buy right now. With that being said, the prices of the components are typically more expensive than that of the more mainstream Intel Z68 platform. The price tag of $239.99 after MIR is a pretty reasonable price given the feature set possessed by the ECS X79R-AX. Base features that we have come to expect in a high end motherboard like NVIDIA SLI support, AMD CrossFireX support, SATA III 6Gbps, and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 are all readily available on the ECS X79R-AX LGA 2011 motherboard. In addition to these features, the ECS X79R-AX boasts features like 15 Gold Contact, an all solid capacitor design, MIB X for overclocking, onboard on/off/reset buttongs, advanced dual display indicator (ADD Indicator), driver MOS, 4way GPU, and PCI Express 3.0.

ECS has a video that highlights some of the key features of the ECS X79R-AX. It’s only about 3 minutes long so go ahead and check it out. If you don’t feel like watching the ECS X79R-AX video, don’t worry we will be cover these details as we go over the ECS X79R-AX as well. For now take a look at the specifications of the ECS X79R-AX below and then we will move on to the retail packaging.

ECS X79R-AX Specifications

CPU	Supports 2nd Gen Intel Core i7 processor family for the LGA 2011 Socket DMI 5.0GT/s
CHIPSET	Intel X79 Express Chipset
MEMORY	Quad-channel DDR3 memory architecture 4 x 240-pin DDR3 DIMM socket support up to 64GB, per one DIMM support 16GB DDR3 2500(OC)/2400(OC)/2133(OC)/1800/1600
EXPANSION SLOT	4 x PCI Express x16 Gen3.0 slot (2 slots run at x8 bandwidth) 2 x PCI Express x1 slots
STORAGE	Support by Intel X79 2 x Serial ATA 6Gb/s devices 4 x Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s devices 4 x Serial ATA 6.0Gb/s devices(SAS6G1_2, SAS6G3_4) RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, RAID 10 configuration Support by ASMEDIA ASM1061 2 x Serial ATA 6.0Gb/s devices 2 x eSATA 6.0 Gb/s ports
AUDIO	Realtek ALC892 8-Ch High Definition audio CODEC Compliant with HD audio specification
LAN	Dual RealTek RTL 8111E Gigabit Lan
REAR PANEL I/O	4 x USB 3.0 ports 6 x USB 2.0 ports 2 x eSATA 6.0Gb/s ports 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port 2 x RJ45 LAN connectors 1 x Audio port (1x Line in, 4x Line out, 1x Optical SPDIF Out) 1 x Wireless LAN Dongle 1 x Bluetooth Dongle 1 x Clear_CMOS button
INTERNAL I/O CONNECTORS & HEADERS	1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector 1 x 8-pin ATX Power Supply Connector 1 x 4-pin power connector for VGA card 2 x 4-pin CPU_FAN connector (with smart fan) 1 x 3-pin SYS_FAN connector (with smart fan) 2 x 3-pin PWR_FAN connector 4 x Serial ATA 3Gb/s connectors(90 degree) 8 x Serial ATA 6Gb/s connectors(90 degree) 2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB ports(One support EZ Charger) 1 x USB 3.0 header supports additional 2 USB 3.0 Ports 1 x COM header 1 x SPDIF out header 1 x Front panel switch/LED header 1 x Front panel audio header 1 x Clear CMOS header 1 x Buzzer 6 x Voltage measure points 1 x Power on button 1 x Reset button 1 x 7S-LED Display
SYSTEM BIOS	AMI BIOS with 64Mb SPI Flash ROM Supports Plug and Play, STR (S3) / STD (S4) , Hardware monitor, Multi Boot Supports ACPI & DMI Audio, LAN, can be disabled in BIOS Support ECS M.I.B X Utility Support EZ Charger Support eBLU Support eOC Support eDLU Support eSF