The real golden mainboard can’t just have a
golden box. The ECS Z77H2-A2X (v1.0) has fans, capacitors, key chokes, processor
socket and even an entire back panel made of “gold”. They used “Gold 4ever” structure
to design their mainboard:
The
golden mainboard
Of course, everyone thinks that golden
mainboards use yellow as the main color just for aesthetical purposes, but it
also has some values in reality. All “Black” series mainboards, not only those
“golden” ones, have 15 micron gold coated on connector contacts, which ensures
excellent connection, high reliability and prolonged life of the connectors.
In our previous review, we were talking about
the MSI Z77 MPOWER mainboard. The only thing about this board is that it goes
through a hard 24-hour test in an overclocked system using Prime95 utility
before being brought to the store. However, the unique feature of all
contemporary Elitegroup mainboards from the “Black” series is the “ECS Nonstop
Technology” – a severe 72-hour test at 50°C. This technology also includes the
use of high-quality solid state capacitors and anti-static protection. So, if
we only consider expanding the testing before seling them, we will be able to
conclude that in this respect all Elitegroup mainboards from the “Black” series
are three times better than the only mainboard from Micro-Star.
However, let’s get back to ECS Z77H2-A2X
(v1.0). The golden fans on the processor voltage regulator circuitry components
are remarkable not only for their color, but also for their reliable retention
and a connecting heatpipe. The symbols on the chipset fans serve not only as
decorations, but are also capable of changing colors under higher temperatures,
thus it can tolerate overheating. However, Intel Z77 Express chipset doesn’t get
too hot, so we have not seen any fan color changes during our test session.
The
golden mainboard
There are two PCI Express 3.0/2.0 x16
graphics card slots, with which you can share the bandwidth and it also allows
building ATI CrossFire or Nvidia SLI multi-card configurations. There are also
two PCI Express 2.0 x1 and two PCI slots. It is such a pity that Elitegroup
mainboards do not use color-coding structures for their connectors, as it would
make it much easier to distinguish between different SATA ports. Two additional
SATA 6 Gbps ports are added via ASMedia ASM1061 controller. Another two SATA 6
Gbps ports are supported by the Intel Z77 Express chipset. But among four SATA
3 Gbps ports provided by the chipset, we see only two. One of the missing ports
provides power for the common Mini SATA or Mini PCI Express slot, while the
second is mounted as an eSATA port on the mainboard’s back panel.
It's
such a pity that Elitegroup mainboards do not use color-coding structures for
the connector.
The full list of ports and connectors on
the back of the ECS Z77H2-A2X (v1.0) looks as below:
·
Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR (Atheros AR3011) and Wi-Fi
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n (Atheros AR9271) wireless modules
·
Four USB 2.0 ports, two ports are installed as a
pin-connector
·
D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI video outputs
·
eSATA 3Gbps port
·
Four USB 3.0 ports (blue connectors) are provided
by the Intel Z77 Express chipset. The ASMedia ASM1042 controller provides an
additional pin-connector for two more USB 3.0 ports
·
A local network port (the network adapter is
built on the Realtek RTL8111E Gigabit controller)
·
An optical S/PDIF and five analogue audio-jacks are
provided by an eight-channel Realtek ALC892 codec
The
components layout chart
The components layout chart shows the Power
On and Reset buttons, and a POST-code indicator. There are control points for controlling
manual voltage above the memory DIMM slots although on the layout chart you
won’t see them. Unfortunately, there are only three fan connectors onboard.
There should be more for a small microATX platform, but not for a leading
mainboard of the family. Moreover, the internal USB 3.0 pin-connector is not in
the best position. It is at the bottom of the PCB, which makes it easier to
bring these additional ports to the back, not to the front panel, however. A
longer cable of the common USB 3.0 port that is bundled with the ECS Z77H2-A2X
(v1.0) mainboard is not complete due to this inconvenience.
