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ECS PN2 SLI2+

12 Dec 2006

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HWZ's Overall Rating: 8.0

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			<h2 class="header-green">ECS PN2 SLI2+ (NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI)</h2>
		<span class="byline">Reviewed by Zachary Chan on Tuesday, 12 Dec 2006</span>
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		 		<h2 class="page-title">Introduction</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">Introduction</h3>
<p>In an effort to improve their standing in the high-end motherboard market, ECS launched the newest member to its 'Extreme' motherboard line up - the ECS PN2 SLI2+. Based on NVIDIA's nForce 680i SLI, the PN2 SLI2+ aims to be the ultimate motherboard for the Intel Core 2 platforms, succeeding the short reign of the PN1 SLI2, which was based on the older nForce 590 SLI Intel Edition.</p>
<p class="rtecenter">&nbsp;<img height="410" width="500" alt="" title="The ECS PN2 SLI2+ motherboard (haven't we seen this one before?)." src="/files/images/ECS680i_top.jpg" /></p>
<p class="rteleft">What's more, the PN2 SLI2+ is another board that follows the stock NVIDIA OEM design, which doesn't really come as a surprise since it is no real secret who NVIDIA's contract manufacturers are. Instead of developing and qualifying a new product, ECS makes use of the existing design to their advantage, which not only includes the board, but NVIDIA's BIOS as well. Gone is the familiar purple PCB and gone is the 'Extreme' plaque. To all extents, the PN2 SLI2+ we received is the same board as the recently reviewed Biostar TF680i SLI Deluxe, down to the same BIOS revision. The difference? An Elitegroup brand sticker to differentiate it from others. So, the question that remains is whether the same board can be different. Let's find out shall we?</p>
<p>While the board inside the box might be of OEM design, it is still part of the ECS Extreme family and being that, the PN2 SLI2+ comes with a generous bundle of peripherals as listed below:</p>
<ul>
    <li>6 x SATA data cables</li>
    <li>3 x SATA power converter cables (dual plugs)</li>
    <li>1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable</li>
    <li>1 x floppy drive data cable</li>
    <li>1 x RJ-45 cable</li>
    <li>IEEE 1394a (2 ports) and USB 2.0 (2 ports) bracket</li>
    <li>External SATA (1 port) bracket</li>
    <li>Optional chipset cooler fan</li>
    <li>I/O shield</li>
    <li>Driver CD and diskettes</li>
    <li>User's manuals and guides</li>
</ul>
<p class="rtecenter"><img height="171" width="500" src="/files/images/ECS680i_rear.jpg" title="Plenty of connection options available out of the box." alt="" /></p>			</div>
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