AM2 Motherboards-Part 4: ATI Crossfire Xpress 3200
by Wesley Fink on August 21, 2006 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
ECS KA3 MVP Extreme: Board & Basic Features
ECS has made huge strides in improving performance in recent months. It was therefore a surprise to find how bad the KA3 is compared to the competition. The shipping board and all the BIOS versions we tested would only overclock to about 230 clock speed, while the MSI and ATI Reference Board reached well beyond 300.
That, however, was not the most glaring fault, since there is always room for a decent performing board at stock speed. The ECS is the only enthusiast board we have ever tested that has no provision at all for setting CAS latency in the BIOS. This yielded such interesting developments as Corsair DDR2-1066 memory being auto set to CAS 5 at DDR2-800, when every other AM2 board handled CAS 3 at this speed with ease. This persisted through several BIOS revisions and the shipping BIOS. That means you cannot even get the most from the ECS at stock speeds, let alone when overclocking.
In addition there was no means at all to adjust Command Rate to 1T or 2T. This is not really a major problem since, as we have reported in past reviews, the 1T Command Rate on current AM2 processors does not really improve performance. It will, however, likely make a performance difference in future AM2 on-chip memory controllers.
The lack of CAS adjustment is glaring enough that we told ECS we would not review the board if it did not provide a means to adjust CAS latency. A couple of days ago, ECS came back with a "demo2" BIOS that adds CAS latency and Command Rate adjustments. All benchmarks were rerun with the new CAS BIOS and those results are published in this review.
ECS has also promised AnandTech that they will provide this capability to adjust CAS and Command Rate in a future BIOS that will be available for download from their website. We do not have a time frame on exactly when this will be available at the ECS site, but our retesting indicates there is still work to do before this BIOS is released to the public.
Overclocking with the new beta BIOS is also improved, but it is still the worst we have tested on any AM2 board. In addition the board is plagued with the worst cold boot problems we have ever seen. Check out the next page on overclocking tests for a discussion of the cold boot issues that require two complete shut-downs just to change OC options. You should also take a look at the dismal overclocking results compared to other AM2 boards to see the issue. In addition, memory voltage only extends to 2.2V, which is certainly inadequate for an enthusiast AM2 board.
If it sounds as if we were disappointed in the ECS KA3 MVP, we can only say that we were. After ECS delivered a very competitive RD480 board, it was a surprise to see them move backwards with the KA3 MVP. The ATI Reference board showed RD580 for AM2 to be an incredible chipset for overclocking, and the manufacturer provides more options in the Reference board for memory and voltage tweaking than you will find anywhere else. With that kind of Reference start, we have to wonder how ECS could manage to produce such a mediocre motherboard.
Perhaps ECS will get these issues sorted out in future BIOS releases but the board right now is definitely one to avoid. Nothing about the current board is extreme except the cold boot problems, which are so severe that that you sometimes have to restart the system twice after shutdown just to set new BIOS options.
No one would ever accuse the ECS KA3 of being a dull-looking motherboard. It is purple like other ECS Extreme boards, with components using every color of the rainbow to complete the color scheme. Some will like it, and some will hate it, but most are not without an opinion.
Unlike the passively cooled ASUS M2N32-SLI and the MSI K9A, the ECS KA3 seems to find a way to use a fan even though the chipset doesn't need one. Like MSI, ECS found they could effectively cool the RD580/SB600 chipset with passive heatsinks. However, the decision was then made to actively cool the power mosfets instead of using heatsinks. In fairness the design is quiet and effective, but the fan is just one more thing that will eventually fail and require replacement. We prefer passive cooling where it can work - like on the cool-running Xpress 3200 chipset.
Layout of the ECS KA3 is generally very good. IDE1, floppy, and the ATX 24-pin connector are in the best locations. The 4-pin 12V connector is near board center, which is not the best location, but one that many board manufacturers use. IDE2 is not well located at the bottom of the board, but at least there is a second IDE connector and 2 more SATA2 ports thanks to an auxiliary JMicron chip. There are not enough usable slots with CrossFire. Two double width X1900 XT cards will leave you with no usable PCIe slots and one usable PCI slot.
As on the MSI, the 4-pin Molex beside the top PCIe X16 slot is the worst component location on the board. Thankfully you only need to use it with CrossFire. There is no room for water or better cooling if you run CrossFire since the double-width GPUs are tight in the double-width spacing of the two X16 slots.
Memory is the exact opposite of the MSI in color coding. On the ECS you install both DIMMs for dual channel next to each other in the same color DIMM slots. It won't matter if you plan on running four DIMMs, but for the majority that only use two DIMMs we prefer to have additional spacing when running dual-channel mode.
Rear I/O on the ECS includes 6 programmable mini-jacks for the HD audio, 4 USB, 10/100 PCI and Gigabit PCIe Ethernet ports, serial port, PS2 mouse/keyboard connectors, and both coaxial and optical S/PDIF out. The parallel port gives way to the lime green cooling duct for the power mosfets. Please notice that there are no Firewire connections on the back, but there are two 1394a port headers on the board itself if you need Firewire.
The ECS provides a lot more bells and whistles than you would expect from a board in its price range. However, the BIOS issues and poor overclocking performance make it a difficult board to recommend. Normally we could say something like "The KA3 is a great board if you never plan to overclock", but we can't even say that yet. With shipping boards not able to adjust CAS (and no date when CAS will officially be added to a BIOS you can actually download), it isn't possible to set the memory for best performance even at stock speeds. Stock performance with a CAS BIOS is OK, but not standout in any way. Lastly, the severe cold boot issues make this a board any overclocker will quickly learn to hate.
| ECS KA3 MVP Extreme | |
| CPU Interface | Socket AM2 |
| Chipset | ATI RD580 ATI SB600 |
| Bus Speeds | 200 to 500 in 1MHz Increments |
| Memory Speeds | DDR2 at Auto, 400, 533, 667, 800 |
| Core Voltage | Auto, 0.55v to 1.45v in 0.0125v increments (With 1.4V CPU 1.2v to 1.6v) |
| Chipset Voltage | Normal, +.05v, +.10v, +.15v |
| CPU Clock Multiplier | Auto, 4x-25x in 1X increments |
| DRAM Voltage | +.05v, +.10v, +.15v, +.20v, +.25v, +.30v. +.35v (1.8v to 2.15v) |
| HT Voltage | Normal, +.05v, +.10v, +.15v |
| 1T/2T Memory (Command Rate) |
Default, 1T, 2T |
| Memory Tuning | 20 Options (Latest BIOS finally includes CAS Latency) |
| Refresh Row Cycle (tRFC) |
75ns,105,127.5,195,327.5 (Separately Adjustable for 4 DIMMs) |
| HyperTransport Frequency | 1000MHz (1GHz) |
| HyperTransport Multiplier | Auto, 1X to 5X |
| HT Width | 8up/down, 16up/down |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR2 DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 4GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 2 PCIe x16 1 PCIe x1 2 PCI Slots |
| PCI Express | Link Width, Payload Size, Power Down Unused Port, Delay GFX Reset, GFX Slot Power, 10% Extra Current - ALL adjustable by Individual x16 slot |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 4 SATA2 Drives by SB600 (RAID 0,1,10) PLUS 2 SATA2 Drives by JMicron 383 (RAID 0,1,0+1,JBOD) |
| Onboard IDE/IDE RAID | One Standard ATA133/100/66 (2 drives) PLUS One IDE (2 drives) by JMicron 383 |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by SB460 2 IEEE1394a ports by VIA VT6308P |
| Onboard LAN | Dual: 10/100 PCI by Realtek RTL8100C PCIe Gigabit by Agere E13101 |
| Onboard Audio | Azalia HD Audio by Realtek ALC883 7.1 codec |
| BIOS Revision | Award "Demo2" - June 16, 2006 |
ECS has made huge strides in improving performance in recent months. It was therefore a surprise to find how bad the KA3 is compared to the competition. The shipping board and all the BIOS versions we tested would only overclock to about 230 clock speed, while the MSI and ATI Reference Board reached well beyond 300.
That, however, was not the most glaring fault, since there is always room for a decent performing board at stock speed. The ECS is the only enthusiast board we have ever tested that has no provision at all for setting CAS latency in the BIOS. This yielded such interesting developments as Corsair DDR2-1066 memory being auto set to CAS 5 at DDR2-800, when every other AM2 board handled CAS 3 at this speed with ease. This persisted through several BIOS revisions and the shipping BIOS. That means you cannot even get the most from the ECS at stock speeds, let alone when overclocking.
In addition there was no means at all to adjust Command Rate to 1T or 2T. This is not really a major problem since, as we have reported in past reviews, the 1T Command Rate on current AM2 processors does not really improve performance. It will, however, likely make a performance difference in future AM2 on-chip memory controllers.
The lack of CAS adjustment is glaring enough that we told ECS we would not review the board if it did not provide a means to adjust CAS latency. A couple of days ago, ECS came back with a "demo2" BIOS that adds CAS latency and Command Rate adjustments. All benchmarks were rerun with the new CAS BIOS and those results are published in this review.
ECS has also promised AnandTech that they will provide this capability to adjust CAS and Command Rate in a future BIOS that will be available for download from their website. We do not have a time frame on exactly when this will be available at the ECS site, but our retesting indicates there is still work to do before this BIOS is released to the public.
Overclocking with the new beta BIOS is also improved, but it is still the worst we have tested on any AM2 board. In addition the board is plagued with the worst cold boot problems we have ever seen. Check out the next page on overclocking tests for a discussion of the cold boot issues that require two complete shut-downs just to change OC options. You should also take a look at the dismal overclocking results compared to other AM2 boards to see the issue. In addition, memory voltage only extends to 2.2V, which is certainly inadequate for an enthusiast AM2 board.
If it sounds as if we were disappointed in the ECS KA3 MVP, we can only say that we were. After ECS delivered a very competitive RD480 board, it was a surprise to see them move backwards with the KA3 MVP. The ATI Reference board showed RD580 for AM2 to be an incredible chipset for overclocking, and the manufacturer provides more options in the Reference board for memory and voltage tweaking than you will find anywhere else. With that kind of Reference start, we have to wonder how ECS could manage to produce such a mediocre motherboard.
Perhaps ECS will get these issues sorted out in future BIOS releases but the board right now is definitely one to avoid. Nothing about the current board is extreme except the cold boot problems, which are so severe that that you sometimes have to restart the system twice after shutdown just to set new BIOS options.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
No one would ever accuse the ECS KA3 of being a dull-looking motherboard. It is purple like other ECS Extreme boards, with components using every color of the rainbow to complete the color scheme. Some will like it, and some will hate it, but most are not without an opinion.
Unlike the passively cooled ASUS M2N32-SLI and the MSI K9A, the ECS KA3 seems to find a way to use a fan even though the chipset doesn't need one. Like MSI, ECS found they could effectively cool the RD580/SB600 chipset with passive heatsinks. However, the decision was then made to actively cool the power mosfets instead of using heatsinks. In fairness the design is quiet and effective, but the fan is just one more thing that will eventually fail and require replacement. We prefer passive cooling where it can work - like on the cool-running Xpress 3200 chipset.
Layout of the ECS KA3 is generally very good. IDE1, floppy, and the ATX 24-pin connector are in the best locations. The 4-pin 12V connector is near board center, which is not the best location, but one that many board manufacturers use. IDE2 is not well located at the bottom of the board, but at least there is a second IDE connector and 2 more SATA2 ports thanks to an auxiliary JMicron chip. There are not enough usable slots with CrossFire. Two double width X1900 XT cards will leave you with no usable PCIe slots and one usable PCI slot.
As on the MSI, the 4-pin Molex beside the top PCIe X16 slot is the worst component location on the board. Thankfully you only need to use it with CrossFire. There is no room for water or better cooling if you run CrossFire since the double-width GPUs are tight in the double-width spacing of the two X16 slots.
Memory is the exact opposite of the MSI in color coding. On the ECS you install both DIMMs for dual channel next to each other in the same color DIMM slots. It won't matter if you plan on running four DIMMs, but for the majority that only use two DIMMs we prefer to have additional spacing when running dual-channel mode.
Rear I/O on the ECS includes 6 programmable mini-jacks for the HD audio, 4 USB, 10/100 PCI and Gigabit PCIe Ethernet ports, serial port, PS2 mouse/keyboard connectors, and both coaxial and optical S/PDIF out. The parallel port gives way to the lime green cooling duct for the power mosfets. Please notice that there are no Firewire connections on the back, but there are two 1394a port headers on the board itself if you need Firewire.
The ECS provides a lot more bells and whistles than you would expect from a board in its price range. However, the BIOS issues and poor overclocking performance make it a difficult board to recommend. Normally we could say something like "The KA3 is a great board if you never plan to overclock", but we can't even say that yet. With shipping boards not able to adjust CAS (and no date when CAS will officially be added to a BIOS you can actually download), it isn't possible to set the memory for best performance even at stock speeds. Stock performance with a CAS BIOS is OK, but not standout in any way. Lastly, the severe cold boot issues make this a board any overclocker will quickly learn to hate.
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mike6099 - Thursday, September 21, 2006 - link
The review does not list the ASUS M2N32-SLI as having raid 5. however, at newegg it lists that it does. does the ASUS M2N32-SLI indeed have raid 5 capability?dougcook - Friday, September 8, 2006 - link
Be careful with the MSI K9A. If you get one, you'll probably want to get a better chipset cooler for it.I bought an MSI K9A board (after reading this review). The 570 chipset seemed about right for me. Everything seemed ok (some things seemed a bit cheap, but nothing really unusual). There were reports about it being incompatible with some memory, so I was careful there and got the good stuff. I got it all installed and it looked like it was running fine...
For one day (until I actually tried to use it).
The first real thing I did was burn a few CDs. In the middle of the 3rd CD, the Northbridge overheated and the machine turned itself off. This happened 2 more times, and then the machine failed to boot at all (even after giving it time to cool off). I wasn't overclocking, and the box had decent ventilation. The CPU's temperature was fine, the GPU's temperature was fine, the case temperature was fine, but the chipset temperature was through the roof. I had to return the motherboard.
This may not happen for everybody, but looking on NewEgg, it seems that this has happened to many other people. The MSI northbridge does not have an adequate heatsink and is likely to burn up. Save the time and get something better. I got the equivalent ABit 570 SLI motherboard, and I've been very happy so far. I hear good things about the ASUS 570 as well.
Stele - Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - link
Great article! If only there were more Xpress 3200 boards on the market now... perhaps Anandtech would do a further roundup when that is the case?Good to see that most motherboard manufacturers are keeping that 24-pin ATX connector well at the edge. So far the only outstanding exception to this practice seems to be EpoX...
As for the 4-pin 12V connector, well, it may not be the best place to be for airflow and cable routing reasons, but that location is actually part of the ATX form factor specifications, which clearly states that the 12V connector should be "next to Voltage Regulator" (ATX Specification v2.2, pg 8). Motherboard designers likely just followed that to make life easier. Specifications aside, it also makes much engineering sense as it keeps traces short - crucial to maintain the quality of power supplied to something as important as the CPU VRM. Besides, airflow considerations are less of an issue with respect to four strands of wire.
IMHO perhaps the one improvement the designers could do while keeping with the spirit of the specifications would be to put the connector on the other side of the VRM, nearer the motherboard edge, though still at the I/O side of the motherboard instead of at the edges nearer the 24-pin ATX connector.
lopri - Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - link
Boy, do I love this article! Thanks to Wesley for this great review. Usually in previous AT motherboard reviews, many difficulties/bugs that end-users experience were often overlooked. (Warm-boot, Cold-boot, Vdroop(?), etc.) I sort of understood it as a result of working with motherboard manufacturers (It's been mentioned that they get BIOS updates on a daily basis), but I used to think AT's motherboard reviews were somewhat different from end-users' experience of retail products.This review feels much realer and it sounded almost like what I went through with a couple of the boards that I bought after reading AT reviews. I'm very glad and grateful, and hope AT keeps this critical viewpoints for future reviews, especially for motherboards.
lop
Le Québécois - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
When you are talking about the SB600 featuresShouldn't it be: Athlon 64, Athlon 64 X2, Athlon FX, Sempron... To my knowledge Amd have Athlon 64 X2 ;) and even if the FX-60 (939) and the FX-62(AM2) have 2 core AMD still call them simply by FX and not FX X2.
JarredWalton - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
Edited. Basically, SB600+RD580 supports all current 939/AM2 AMD CPUs. Not sure about SB460, as Wes specifically didn't list dual core and Opteron parts there. I would guess it does, but I will leave that edit to him just to be safe.Furen - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
=)He just meant that FX X2 doesn't exist. There are A64s X2s and A64 FXes but even the dual-core parts are plain FXes.
mendocinosummit - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
So, awards were handed out despite the fact that ASUS and other top mobo manus don't have ATI boards yet? Am I to assume that this is the end of the mobo lineup? I would really like to see at least two more boards featuring a ATI chipset; especially since the ECS board will basically be a flop at launch.Gary Key - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
We also have a few mATX AM2 boards along with a couple of value solutions that we will be reviewing shortly. There is still the upcoming DFI 590SLI AM2 board to review also. :)yyrkoon - Monday, August 21, 2006 - link
Will you guys be testing any of the ABIT boards ? For me personaly, so far, my choice is the ABIT AN9 32x (non fata1ity). I like this board because it offers the SIL 3132 controller, and has an eSATA socket in the I/O section. This is, I'm hoping to use this board with a SATA port multiplier, for some external RAID 5 goodness :)