Traditionally there is almost no performance difference between motherboards targeted to Athlon 64 CPUs, since processor based on AMD64 architecture have an embedded memory controller, so the chipset doesn’t play any drastic role on performance. Because of this the decision on what socket AM2 motherboard one should buy must be based on extra features, price and overclocking capability.
The main advantage of ECS KN2 SLI2 Extreme over competing nForce 590 SLI motherboards is its price. Even though this motherboard from ECS provides a truck loaded of extra features, you should be aware on what ECS saved some bucks to provide this price.
But first let’s talk about the great features this board provides: two x16 PCI Express slots truly running at x16, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, eight SATA-300 ports including two external ports with Port Multiplier, two FireWire ports, backup BIOS, active cooling duct and 7.1 audio.
Where ECS saved money: the audio codec used is really bad today’s standards (only 85 dB signal-to-noise ratio for its input, making this motherboard a bad choice if you want to capture and edit audio; the output with 95 dB SNR is ok), only some of the capacitors are Japanese (for an ECS motherboard this is a great start, though), the motherboard doesn’t come with a SPDIF bracket, so you will need to buy one if you plan to connect your PC to your home theater system and really bad overclocking.
We also would like to add all the constructive criticism we made on the first page of this review: we thing ECS must start paying attention to the motherboard looks on what concerns the choice of colors. They are trying to enter the high-end market but making their motherboards to look like a carnival isn’t the answer.
Is this a good motherboard? For the average user, yes. If you are looking for a cheap high-end socket AM2 motherboard and are not going to use your PC to professionally edit audio and aren’t addicted to overclocking, this motherboard provides one of the best cost/benefit ratios of the market today.
However, if you like overclocking and/or are going to capture audio, we recommend you to buy a different model.
