First off like normal, we take a look at the extras you’re supplied in the packaging. If you’re spending a fortune on a board, you are going to want something for your dollar apart from a board but if you’re spending very little, expect the basics.
The ECS 650i SLI board is aimed at the mid-range user who doesn’t want to spend a lot on their systems but still get the performance they strive for, so the board is priced accordingly and the package reflects this. The box itself from the front is rather plain, with just the model number and the brand logo.
The back of the box has a great deal of information on the board’s features as well as a full color photo of the board, so there are no surprises on what you get.
ECS has a good amount of documentation included with the board. You get one user manual that gives full information on the board’s features, setup processes and BIOS settings. The other two manuals that are included are simple pamphlets for quick install of the board as well as BIOS setup. The software CD included gives drivers for XP, XP64 and Windows Vista. It’s now a requirement to include Vista drivers with the boards in order to be considered a universal board for all the Windows operating systems.
Lastly we come down to the extras such as the cables. ECS only provides a couple of SATA data cables out of a total of four SATA ports, a single IDE parallel cable, a single PCB SLI bridge and an I/O shield. In all, very little is included, if you want to use all four SATA ports, you will need to purchases extra SATA data cables. If your PSU doesn’t have any SATA HDD power plugs, you’re going to need to buy all four separately, a bit of a disappointment as cables aren’t really that expensive but clearly ECS are trying to keep the cost of the product as low as possible.
