ECS HDC-I Motherboard Review - PAGE 12

The HDC-I differentiates itself from its siblings in that it did not end up performing like poop. Whereas the few past ECS AMD boards did not get any recommendation from Neoseeker, this board is going to get one.

Considering its $129 price tag, it is definitely awesome to get integrated Bluetooth and WiFi. The latter, if not used, leaves room for another mini-PCIe device, be it full-length or half-length. Supporting the new mSATA standard is also a plus. Furthermore, it has the ability to thermally control two fans, one of which is 3-pin and the other 4-pin. Having eight USB ports at the back, including two 3.0, is probably more than the average, too. These features altogether make the board ideal for an HTPC setup.

As for overclocking, there are no options to do it manually in the BIOS. Nonetheless, the Turbo Mode shoots for a nice 33% overclock, which proved to be rock solid stable. That's much more than what Gigabyte allowed on the E350N-USB3. At 2133 MHz, Brazos flies; it gets more than 50 FPS average in games that are not too demanding. The power usage is a tad better too, idling at 26W. What this reveals is that Bobcat can do much better than what was experienced in Neoseeker's first look at the platform, leaving the previous IGPs from AMD in the dust, and competing with the latest and greatest from Intel in terms of on-die graphics. The true limits of the architecture are still unknown though; only a completely unlocked board will reveal them, which is what Neoseeker is patiently waiting for.