ECS A785GM-AD3 AM3 Black Series motherboard review

It has been a long time since AMD released it’s 785G chipset yet motherboard manufacturers continue to churn out motherboards based on this chipset with all kinds of configurations. This chipset is used in motherboards which can support DDR2 as well as DDR3 memory. The CPU support is equally expansive with the ability to configure for an AM2/AM2+/AM3 CPU. The 785G motherboards usually retail in the $60-$110 price range, so it provides a low cost alternative for a user looking to configure an inexpensive system for simple tasks. The included integrated graphics chipset HD 4200 can provide some low quality gaming performance and double up as a good performer for HTPC use. With the ability to provide hardware acceleration for Blu-Ray discs resulting in smooth playback, the 785G chipset packs an impressive amount of features into a small package.

In this review, I will be putting ECS’s A785GM-AD3 through its paces and publishing the results on the following pages. Let us take a look at ECS A785GM-AD3 before moving on:

About ECS

ECS, Elitegroup Computer Systems, was established in 1987. Over the last two decades, they have expanded their operation to not only motherboards, but also desktop and notebook computers, graphics cards and many mobile products. ECS was the first motherboard maker in Taiwan to be listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1994.

Headquartered in Taiwan with business partners and distributors in over 60 countries, ECS has ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 certified manufacturing facilities in China, capable of producing over 2.5 million motherboards and 200,000 notebook computers every month. The company currently has branch offices throughout the world in Americas, Europe and the Pacific Rim. To further extend its quality products and services, ECS plans to open additional branch offices in the new emerging markets including Brazil, India and Russia.