Now despite the fact that the AM2+ based (A790GXM-A) predecessor looks very much like the AM3 version, the new ECS 790GXM-AD3 definitely has a different PCB design. Much cleaner and a few more features... let's have a look. We'll start off with the box and bundle.

The bundle and packaging. ECS makes sure you'll receive everything you need to get started. Not a rather excessive bundle though. Drivers, cables, manual and motherboard. The extra gadgets and gizmos are left out to save on the pricing model.

The ECS A790GXM-AD3 motherboard comes with 2 PCI, 2 PCIe x16 (either 1 x PCIe x16 or 2 x PCIe x 8 for CrossFireX), 2 PCIe x1 slots. The board incorporates Realtek Ethernet (RTL 8111C) and Realtek ALC 888S 8-channel HD audio. First impression, pretty decent design. Everything is located nicely. Good color-coding.

Opposed to the DDR2 model, ECS dropped one Ethernet connector. There's plenty more to be found on the board though. Let's take a closer look.

Definitely worth a mention is a plethora of connectivity. A passive copper cooler sits on the ECS Elitegroup A790GXM-AD3 north-bridge and also nice big heatspreaders on its power circuitry (MOSFETS). Located there is a 128 MB memory module of DDR3-1333 memory. This is side-port cache used to improve integrated graphics performance. But let's zoom in and have a peek.

The mainboard's back panel shows off standard PS/2 ports. The little red switch is a CMOS CLEAR switch. Quite handy really. Then VGA and HDMI, unfortunately it's lacking a DVI output. Also a serial port, a luxurious six USB 2.0 ports, 1x eSATA, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, and then jacks for 8.1-channel connectivity.

What I just really like is the optical connector (TOSLINK), especially with HTPCs in mind. You've got everything from 2D/3D, Ethernet, and sound all integrated into one mainboard.

Insert a Phenom AM3 processor and some memory... and you're almost there, not to mention the silent passive design.