The power supply connector sits close to the right edge of the motherboard, perpendicular to the DIMM slots. This is an appropriatearrangement, since it means that the power supply cables would not run over the CPU. The connector is also further away from the DIMM slotscompared to the AOpen AK73 Pro (A), which is good since this facilitates a more convenient means of installing/removing DIMMs andunplugging the power supply cable. The front panel connectors are placed in the left side of the motherboard, ensuring that the connecting cables do not get in the way of the expansion slots. Unfortunately, this is offset by the IDE and floppy connectors, which are located too far toward the left and prevent the use of full-length cards. Cable clutter is potentially increased, since the connectors are further away from the storage devices. The mounted IDE cables would also obstruct the airflow from the lower front case fan/s. One way to overcome this design problem would be to use rounded cables, such as those sold by HighSpeed PC. Since most ATX casings do not have cutouts for 4 USB ports, ECS decided to integrate only 2 USB ports, including a header on the board which can be used in conjunction with an optional bracket with the other 2 USB ports. The second USB header is placed towards the bottom of the motherboard, an ideal location as some fancier casings include front USB ports. This should also keep case-modders happy, as front USB ports can be easily added.
Lastly, while the abundance of 2200uF capacitors is a good thing, 2 of them are positioned a little too close to the CPU socket. This makes heatsink installation / removal quite a chore, something we personally experienced when installing both the GlobalWin FOP-38 and the Thermosonic ThermoEngine.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
