HardwareLogic: Reviews - ECS G45T-M2 Motherboard

ECS G45T-M2 Motherboard

Author: The HL Staff

Editor: Aron Schatz

Posted: November 23, 2008

Views: 1011

A few months ago we reviewed the ECS GF7100PVT-M motherboard and found it to be a nice little budget board for HTPC users. Today we're taking a close look at the ECS G45T-M2 motherboard. It's the latest mATX offering from ECS with several notable upgrades from the GF7100PVT-M. ECS made a dramatic attempt at stepping up by including several next generation components on the G45T-M2. There are some very nice options that come with this little plank including a DX10 compatible onboard graphics accelerator with the G45 Express chipset. So come with us as we take a closer look to see if the overall package includes enough to make our hearts skip a beat.

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A few months ago we reviewed the ECS GF7100PVT-M motherboard and found it to be a nice little budget board for HTPC users. Today we're taking a close look at the ECS G45T-M2 motherboard. It's the latest mATX offering from ECS with several notable upgrades from the GF7100PVT-M. ECS made a dramatic attempt at stepping up by including several next generation components on the G45T-M2. There are some very nice options that come with this little plank including a DX10-compatible onboard graphics accelerator with the G45 (P45-like) Express chipset. So come with us as we take a closer look to see if the overall package includes enough to make our hearts skip a beat.

PRODUCT	ECS G45T-M2
CPU SUPPORT	Socket LGA775 Intel 95W CPUs from Celeron to Core 2 Quad FSB 1333/1066/800 MHz
CHIPSET	North Bridge: Intel^® Eaglelake G45 South Bridge: Intel^® ICH10
MEMORY	4 x 240-pin DDR2 DIMM sockets (up to 16GB) Supports DDR2 800/667 MHz Voltages (1.8/1.85/1.9/1.95/2.0)
EXPANSION SLOTS	1 PCI Express X16 slot 1 PCI Express X1 slot 2 PCI slot
STORAGE	Support by Intel^® ICH10 - 6 x Serial ATAII 3.0Gb/s devices
AUDIO	Realtek ALC888 8-channel HD Audio codec Compliant with HD audio specification
LAN	Realtek 8111C GigaLAN Controller
REAR I/O PANEL	4 x USB 2.0 ports 1 x parallel port (lpt1) 1 x VGA port 1 x DVI port 1 x Audio port / 8CH / 6 jacks 1 x LAN RJ45 connector PS/2 Keyboard PS/2 Mouse
INTERNAL I/O HEADERS	1 x 24-pin + 4-pin ATX power connectors 1 x FDD connector 6 x Serial ATA II connectors 4 x USB 2.0 headers (supports additional 8 USB ports) 1 x front panel switch/LED header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x SPDIF out header 1 x CD-in header CPUfan/PWRfan connectors 1 x Clear CMOS header 1 x Com 1 header
SYSTEM BIOS	AMI Bios with 8Mb SPI ROM Supports Plug and Play, ACPI, DMI, STR(S3), & STD(S4)
FORM FACTOR	Micro ATX, 244mm x 244mm
WARRANTY/SUPPORT	ECS support page
CURRENT PRICING	Current Price at Newegg.com

Bundle

ACCESSORIES	I/O shield DVI-to-HDMI adapter
CABLES	Two SATA data cables
APPLICATION DISK	ECS Motherboard Auto-Installation & Support CD
DOCUMENTATION	ECS G45T-M User's Guide & Manual Hardware Installation Sheet

As with the previous ECS mATX board we reviewed, the DVI-to-HDMI adapter is nice little eye-catcher to remind us that this little board does have something special. The rest of the bundled items are fairly basic and don't really give us much to be excited about. Let's take a closer look at this board to see what sets it apart.