Zap's Mini Review: ECS G31T-M

[Zap]

Zap's Mini Review: ECS G31T-M

(Newegg link)

The ECS G31T-M is a budget motherboard for socket LGA 775 based on the Intel G31 chipset for all Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors. I purchased mine from Fry's Electronics as part of a $149.99 combo deal with an OEM E8400 processor.

SPECIFICATIONS

ECS G31T-M
Intel G31 chipset with ICH7
Supports socket LGA 775 Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad
Supports FSB 800/1066/1333
Two DDR2 slots for dual channel operation, 4GB max
one PCI Express x16, one PCI Express x1, two PCI slots
four SATA 3Gb/s and one EIDE (two drives), plus one FDD
Realtek ALC662 HD audio with 6 channels
Realtek RTL8101E 10/100 network
Intel GMA 3100 onboard video with VGA output
Micro ATX form factor

BIOS

FSB up to 500MHz
memory auto/667/800MHz regardless of detected FSB
standard memory latency settings available
Smart Fan (start PWM value/start temp/CPU DeltaT/slope PWM value)

IMPRESSIONS

This is basically a free (with CPU) board as part of a Fry's combo. Newegg has it for $35 after rebate, plus shipping. Very inexpensive. Benefits over other super inexpensive/low end boards are that it supports higher FSB chips properly (unlike 945GC chipset) and it supports dual channel memory (unlike GeForce 7000 series chipset).

The features are typical of other G31 chipset boards, with two DIMM slots, one PCI Express x16, one PCI Express x1 and two PCI slots. There are two fan headers, one 4 pin for CPU and a 3 pin between the Northbridge and I/O area. Thus, this board one-ups the Asus P5KPL-AM/PS board in the number of fan headers, which wasn't very difficult to do I'm sure. Four capacitors at the CPU VRM area represent the only solid caps on the whole board. The 4 pin +12v plug is in the middle of the board, not the most optimal location.

The layout of the four SATA ports is terrible because a single slot video card longer than 7" will cover up one, and if the fansink is also long, will cover up two. A dual slot video card may cover up all four of the SATA ports. That's just wrong. Then again, I don't think anyone would be using a high-end video card with such a board... would they?

Besides the low cost, really the only things that impress me about this board is the speed at which it POSTs (starting to boot from disk in about 5 sec) and the extensive Smart Fan settings.

OVERCLOCKING

Terrible. Nothing much else to say. Raising FSB by a bit will result in no POST, even though it can be set up to 500MHz.

I tried a CPU with BSEL mod but it didn't do anything - I now suspect that the mod is done wrong since I've tried it on four boards with no success. Unfortunately my bottle of conductive ink broke so I'm not trying it again anytime soon.

CONCLUSIONS

This is not the board for enthusiasts. Not even close. There are some other cheap boards that are more suitable for the enthusiast on a budget, but this isn't one of them. I've also had other cheap ECS motherboards which overclocked quite well and were quite the budget-enthusiast value. This board isn't one of them.

Is this board completely useless?

No.

Not everyone is an enthusiast and even enthusiasts end up building systems for non-enthusiasts on occasion. This board would be perfectly fine for non-enthusiasts that won't use big video cards. The extensive Smart Fan controls will keep the setup nice and quiet while the super quick POST is great after dealing with some Core i7 motherboards that I swear takes around 40 seconds to POST. This would make a fine basis for a non-overclocked business machine. It would be great for my mother's computer.

Enthusiasts, look elsewhere.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Great work, man. Now, we know :beer:

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: Zap
OVERCLOCKING

Terrible. Nothing much else to say. Raising FSB by a bit will result in no POST, even though it can be set up to 500MHz.

You may have gotten a dud. I've used a couple of these G31T-M boards from Fry's combos and they overclocked quite well. On one, I took an E7200 from 2.53Ghz to 3.3Ghz. On the other, I took a Q9550 from 2.83Ghz to 3.6Ghz. I got slightly higher FSB with the G33T-M2 ($19.99 from Fry's and also part of some great CPU combos), but the G31T-M was no slouch for a budget board either.

Nevertheless, the only time I'd use these boards is when they're part of Fry's combos. When the CPU + board is cheaper than just the CPU itself online, it's an incredible value if it does any sort of overclocking.

On a side note, the days of budget ECS combos at Fry's is coming to an end. Fry's is dumping ECS for Biostar.

By the way, I enjoyed your review of all 3 G31 boards!

 

[n7]

Nice reviews Zap; very valuable for those interested in these boards you've tried out. :thumbsup:

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: jrichrds
You may have gotten a dud.

Maybe. I was suprised because that was totally unexpected. In any case, it was a brand new sealed product that I got from Fry's, so that's what I tested.

Originally posted by: jrichrds
On a side note, the days of budget ECS combos at Fry's is coming to an end. Fry's is dumping ECS for Biostar.

Heh, probably because of that embezzlement thingy with ECS paying off their VP.

Biostar isn't necessarily bad. They were probably the first company to put "enthusiast" features into micro ATX boards, starting with a micro ATX socket A board that had full overclocking including voltage control in BIOS. The Biostar TForce micro ATX boards were pretty decent overclockers back in the socket 754/939/early-AM2 days.

Originally posted by: jrichrds
By the way, I enjoyed your review of all 3 G31 boards!

Thanks!

 

[WT]

Cripes, $35 ?? Its such a shame that we can't find a nice Intel CPU in the same price range to pair up with it. The cheapest C2D I've bought in the last year was the TD e2180 for $50 AR, but I find that I am selling boatloads of old P4 2.4 rigs for $150 and simply cannot move the better stuff such as an AMD X2/ATI 1900 setup that I want to sell for $300.

When the economy tanks, it doesn't mean people stop buying used PCs, they just adjust their price point to the lowest of the low end.

Nice review Zap !! It goes without saying that I wish I had a Fry's nearby here in PA :frown:

 

[cvrefugee]

I've been using this mobo since July 2008 and I've noticed a couple of issues (one was already addressed in the review). First the SATA ports are in a horrible location, but I've somehow managed to use them all with a 4850 and 8600GTS. I can see how a larger/bulkier card would cause problems. The other issue is the onboard LAN. It sometimes would stop working, and the only way to fix it was to unplug the ethernet cable, reset the network adapter, then plug it back in. To remedy this I bought a cheap $5 D-Link NIC and installed it in one of the PCI slots. Other than that the board has been working perfectly fine.

 

[OBWan]

OVERCLOCKING

Terrible. Nothing much else to say. Raising FSB by a bit will result in no POST, even though it can be set up to 500MHz.

I tried a CPU with BSEL mod but it didn't do anything - I now suspect that the mod is done wrong since I've tried it on four boards with no success. Unfortunately my bottle of conductive ink broke so I'm not trying it again anytime soon.

Could you elaborate a bit about what CPU with what BSEL mod did you try to overclock with? If jrichrds could get a 1333 FSB Q9550 to run at 423MHz * 8.5 on this board, chances are, any BSEL mod to the 1333 FSB strap should get you a similar result (of course you'd also have a VID mod done in place). Also, have you tried using a "stock 1333 FSB" CPU (e.g. E8x00) on this board and got much better result than any 1066 or 800 FSB CPU? Thanks.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: OBWan
Could you elaborate a bit about what CPU with what BSEL mod did you try to overclock with? If jrichrds could get a 1333 FSB Q9550 to run at 423MHz * 8.5 on this board, chances are, any BSEL mod to the 1333 FSB strap should get you a similar result (of course you'd also have a VID mod done in place). Also, have you tried using a "stock 1333 FSB" CPU (e.g. E8x00) on this board and got much better result than any 1066 or 800 FSB CPU? Thanks.

BSEL mod on an E7200 for 1333MHz FSB, which didn't work for some reason. Otherwise I tried with an E5200, so 800MHz and 1066MHz FSB chips. No VID mods. It is possible that the BIOS is friendlier to higher FSB chips. I've actually encountered a few boards of various makes/chipsets that were lame at overclocking 800MHz FSB chips but turned out to be great overclockers with higher FSB straps.

It is also possible as jrichrds suggested that I "got a dud." Regardless, my board was purchased from retail and those were my experiences, while someone else experienced something else. This is contrary to, say, the various Gigabyte G31 chipset boards. I think it is pretty safe to say that nobody "got a dud" with any of the Gigabyte boards.

 

[OBWan]

Thanks for your reply and recommendation, OP. I've done some extensive online research today. Carefully wading through lots of user comments and several review sites, I've reached the following consensus:

- The ECS G31T-M board has a hard FSB wall around 340+ MHz, regardless the FSB straps & CPU (i.e. 1066 or 1333 doesn't matter; modded or original CPU doesn't matter either).

- The ECS G33T-M2, however, is a completely different beast. It adapts to both 1066 & 1333 straps very well (strap designated by CPU alone; there's no BIOS option for FSB strap). There are even reports of about 440MHz FSB reached on stock CPU voltage which is far beyond the reach of any G31T-M board.

Based on the consensus I don't think your board is a dud. And I think jrichrds might have confused his experience of Q9550 (a 1333 FSB CPU) on a different board. I guess it was the G33T-M2 board that he tested his Q9550 with, not the G31T-M. I'd like to be proven wrong, but he has to show a screen shot of his Q9550 at 3.6Ghz on the G31T-M board here.