There is always a way to save money when buying computer components. It often comes down to what you are willing to sacrifice to save that money. Ideally the difference in performance is small or the lost feature is replaced by a less expensive feature that is just as useful. In our GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H review for example, you’ll see that they’ve lowered costs by omitting the UEFI graphical BIOS, in favour of providing superior overclocking. Today we are looking at the ECS A75F-M2 which has an MSRP of $72.99. Hopefully we’ll see more replacement of features with better or more useful ones too.
Features and Specifications
You will find all the feature of AMD’s APU and Hudson A75 FCH which include six 6 GB/s SATA ports, CrossFireX dual graphics support, four USB 3.0 ports (two on the back panel and a header to support 2 more), FIS-based switching, 10 USB 2.0, and RAID support. Beyond this you also find the ECS EZ Charger which boost USB power to charge USB devices faster such as smart phones and digital cameras. This is very similar to GIGABYTE’s On/Off Charge and other variations called by different names.
The audio is powered by a Realtek ALC662 codec for up to 6-channel audio output. The video connections are limited here with only 1 VGA port and 1 HDMI port. I would have liked to have seen a DVI port here as well and would have preferred it over the HDMI port. On the downside, it would take up more space and would also increase the price. The back panel also has a PS/2 port, Gigabit Ethernet, and 6 USB 2.0 ports. A diverse selection for the back panel that is pretty standard for most AMD FM1 boards.
On the motherboard itself you will find one PCIe x16 slot, two PCIe x1 slots, and 1 legacy PCI slot all at their respective full speeds. It has 2 USB 2.0 headers along the right side of the USB 3.0 header mentioned earlier. Along the left of the USB headers you will find a LPT and COM header. There is also only 2 DIMM slots for RAM. The ECS A75F-M2 is an interesting mix of legacy and current tech support.
What’s in the Box?
The ECS A75F-M2 is a bare minimum product. You receive the motherboard, driver DVD, IO Plate, 2 SATA 2.0 cables, user manual, and a large brochure with an install guide. The SATA 2.0 cables should work with SATA 3.0 with no issue, but I like the metal clips that hold the cables in place on SATA 3.0 cables and provide a more secure connection. It would be good to pair SATA 3.0 cables with a board, especially when there are no SATA 2.0 ports to speak of.
Test System and Installation Notes
The ECS A75F-M2 does not have a backplate, but instead uses plastic, locking push-pins. They are surprising strong, but I personally feel better using a backplate with a heavy aftermarket cooler. Just remember when you are shopping for an aftermarket cooler to buy one with a backplate, or use a backplate from an another AMD board. I used the stock one from my MSI 790GX-G65 to support the Noctua NH-D14 I use for testing since this Noctua cooler does not come with a backplate for AMD.
The testing itself will directly compare the ECS A75F-M2 to the GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H since these boards are in the same market competing for your dollar. I would have included a higher end motherboard, but my review of the GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H shows this only makes a difference in audio testing.
I would also like to point out that I really like the user manual. ECS placed all the diagrams and front panel header information on the first 3 or 4 pages. If you are experienced with building PCs, there is no need to go beyond this point since all the information you need is there. If you want more information or are new to building PCs, the rest of the manual is detailed, easy to read, and has the most important information first. Having well written documentation helps reduce support costs which are passed directly to the product.
APU Test System
- CPU: AMD A6-3650
- Motherboard: ECS A75F-M2
- GPU: Gigabyte HD 6670 OC 1GB
- RAM: Patriot Patriot Viper Xtreme @ 1600 MHz 9-9-9-24 T1 2x2GB
- HDD: Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
- PSU: Antec HCP 850W
- Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC662
- OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
- USB 2.0 Test: Corsair Flash Voyager 16 GB
- USB 3.0 Test: Rosewill 3.5″ SATA to USB 3.0 & eSATA Enclosure with Samsung F3 1TB
GIGABYTE Test System
- CPU: AMD A6-3650
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H
- GPU: GIGABYTE HD 6670 OC 1GB
- RAM: Kingston HyperX @ 1600 MHz 9-9-9-24 T1 2x2GB
- HDD: Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB
- PSU: Antec HCP 850W
- Sound: Onboard Realtek ALC889
- OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
- USB 2.0 Test: Corsair Flash Voyager 16 GB
- USB 3.0 Test: Rosewill 3.5″ SATA to USB 3.0 & eSATA Enclosure with Samsung F3 1TB
Software
- 3DMark11
- PCMark07
- Alien Vs. Predator DX11 benchmark
- Resident Evil 5 DX10 benchmark
- CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1
- RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.2.3
Once again we are using 3DMark11, Alien Vs. Predator, and Resident Evil 5 to test gaming performance. These should give a good idea of what to expect in most gaming scenarios. CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 is going to be used to test the USB 2.0/3.0 and SATA throughput for these respective systems. Finally, RMAA 6.2.3 will be used to test the quality of the audio output. You may notice I did not list the stress testing software OCCT and FurMark I used before. I will explain why before the testing begins.
BIOS and Overclocking Notes
The BIOS implemented by ECS for the A75F-M2 has been taken from another motherboard and altered slightly to work with an APU. This is clearly the case when there are sections on the BIOS for Northbridge and Southbridge. The Northbridge BIOS area is empty and the Southbridge area has some of the FCH options.
I do like the boot section of the BIOS as it clearly shows you what drive will be booted and in what order. In cases where booting from a device is not possible, it is simply not listed. This removes any confusion such as when a BIOS will simply list the interface and not the individual drives. A few BIOS control panels I have used will list the interface for the boot order and list the individual drives in a separate menu which can be misleading.
The most disappointing issue with the ECS A75F-M2 is the complete lack of any overclocking options. While this is an issue for consumers like myself, I am not their target audience. On their site, ECS states this board targets commercial business and family use. I still have to hold this against them since it is sold in public market places like Newegg.com and Amazon.com for general consumers and many of them do want these options onboard, regardless of pricepoint.
PCMark07 – Total System Performance
PCMark07 is a good way to gauge your computer’s overall abilities and capabilities. While the provided scores by themselves mean little, they are a base for comparison to other system configurations on Futuremark’s site. PCMark07 is rather new and the database of scores is not nearly as large as PCMark06, but should still give you a good idea of where your system stands.
As you can see the performance at stock is the same as the GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H. As all of the core components of both boards are provided by AMD, I expect this outcome. When comparing it to other systems online you quickly find it is better than any desktop with no dedicated GPU. Even systems with more powerful Intel Sandy Bridge chips can’t make up for the GPU tests in PCMark07.
Overclocking was a different story. As I stated before, the ECS A75F-M2 offers no overclocking options. While a simple bus speed change provides a 335 point boost for the UD2H, the M2 simply can’t do the same.
3DMark11 – Synthetic Graphical Performance
The synthetic graphics test by 3DMark11 should give a good idea of the difference in performance between these two motherboards for current generation games. This should give those looking to save some money on a entry level gaming system an idea of how much performance they may lose.
The ECS A75F-M2 performs exactly the same at stock settings. Unlike high-end motherboards, there just isn’t enough difference in the APU motherboard designs to alter performance.
Alien Vs. Predator and Resident Evil 5 – Real World Graphical Performance
Now that we have an idea of how close we can expect performance to be, lets put it to the test. This time we will test the graphics across two games and DX9 through DX11. All test done with the resolution of 1920 x 1080 and default settings for each test. The only exception being Alien Vs. Predator DX10 in which I simply disabled the DX11 features such as Tessellation and Advanced Shadowing.
I run each gaming test three times to ensure consistence and use the best score for comparison. As with the Synthetic benchmarks, the ECS falls 1.76% behind in the worst case. This doesn’t even translate to 1 FPS slower, resulting in no real difference here either.
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 – Mechanical HDD SATA Performance
Now we will look and SATA throughput which should follow the trend of there being little to no difference in performance. This test is good for those looking to build an AMD APU based media server or HTPC since data throughput for hard drives will be important in those cases. Also being able to save a little on the motherboard can help work toward more hard drive space.
The ECS board does not perform well in the sequential SATA test; however, this is not the fault of the motherboard. The 1.2.1.296 AMD AHCI drivers being provided by ECS on their site are dated 3/14/11. The 1.2.1.269 AMD AHCI drivers on GIGABYTE’s site are dated 6/1/11. Once I installed the drivers from GIGABYTE on the ECS board, its performance in sequential reads and writes matched that of the GIGABYTE A75M. While the motherboard ultimately proved to have the same performance, I have to hold ECS accountable for providing outdated drivers to their customers.
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 – USB 2.0 Performance
Next up is the USB 2.0 testing using the same software as the SATA tests. Since neither of these boards use additional control chips or use USB lanes to connect integrate components like bluetooth, I expect these test will be nothing special.
Regardless of which drivers, the ECS A75F-M2 USB 2.0 performance is always within the same range. There are spikes up and down using the GIGABYTE A75M as a baseline. The only standout result was the Sequential write speed test where the A75F-M2 holds a 4 MB/s lead or 56.4% faster.
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 – USB 3.0 Performance
In this test I will be using a mechanical HDD in a Rosewill USB 3.0 enclosure. If this is working as it should, the HDD should be the limiting factor and performance should be similar to the SATA performance.
As you can see the performance of the 7200 RPM Samsung F3 drive is working at full speed. The inclusion of the USB 3.0 ports a welcome addition to the 6 USB 2.0 ports on the back panel. The results were within 1 or 2MB/s of the GIGABYTE in our original review but the GIGABYTE adds over 9MB/s in the 512K write tests and slightly better performance in 4K tests. This is again due in part to the lack of up to date drivers on the ECS site in support of this board.
RightMark Audio Analyzer 6.2.3 – Audio Performance
This test will compare the on-board audio codecs of each system. Here the ECS A75F-M2 is using a 6-channel audio solution compared to the A75M-UD2H 8-channel solution. The M2 is almost a full 2 inches shorter in size. The form factor can affect how many audio capacitors you can put on the motherboard, and this could affect it further.
I am surprised to see the audio quality is better on the ECS board. The Realtek ALC662 on the A75F-M2 is designed to run 6 channels, but runs only 4 channels (2 fronts and 2 side speakers) by default. If you have no need for a microphone, you can use the Realtek software to re-purpose the mic jack to run those last 2 channels and get your full 6-channels or change the purpose of the side speaker jack to center/sub for 3.1 surround sound.
While the audio options are limited, I do like the flexibility the Realtek software provides. This also makes the ECS a slightly better option for non multi-channel applications.
Power Consumption
The slightly lower power consumption when compared to the GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H is not because this board is more efficient. It is because there are less components. Two less RAM slots, thee fewer capacitors for audio, fewer MOSFETS, etc. I think the difference in power use for these two boards would vary more if I used 4 RAM sticks in the UD2H. Either way, the difference is negligible. As the power use is very close to the GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H, you can find more power consumption results in my A8-3850/A6-3650 APU review.
Final Thoughts
The primary issues I have with the ECS A75F-M2 are the complete lack of overclocking, no DVI output, and lack of features beyond what AMDs APU and Hudson FCH provide. The board would be great for a business who buys in bulk (since their engineers have very few ways to mess up).
The A75F-M2 has an MSRP $72.99 and I wish I could say it was the cheapest A75 based APU motherboard, but its not the case. The ASRock A75M-HVS is cheaper, has 3 fan headers, one less PCI x1 slot, but a few more features such as a UEFI graphical BIOS. But the A75F-M2 does bring good sound quality to the table for those using up to a 3.1 speaker configurations. There is also some clear thought in the design and layout of this board. I was glad to see they took the time to clear the area behind the CPU if you buy an aftermarket cooler to ensure shorts are impossible with a metal backplates. On that note, it was disappointing to see the use of plastic pins in lieu of a backplate. Especially since the area directly above it is so well configured to house something sturdier.
There is nothing truly bad about this board. But the real disappointment is the lack of proper overclocking options. Practically every other A75 based motherboard offers more features and overclocking support. The $10 difference in price between this board and more feature rich options is negated by having to spend more on the APU since the latter is missing. I can’t recommend this board as every other A75 FM1 socket motherboard including ones from ECS like the A75F-A are just a better value for individual consumers. However, the A75F-M2 is a solid, well designed product. It’s a shame it adds nothing special to its name.
Pros
- Shorter design easier to work with in Small Micro ATX Cases
- Good on-board sound quality
- Great User Manual
Cons
- Re-purposed, outdated BIOS
- No overclocking Options
- Outdated drivers on ECS site
- Lack of ECS brand features
Overall Rating: 7.0 / 10.0
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