HL Tours ECS' China Facilities

[Capper]

For the past two years I've touted ECS as a company to watch. From a humble past that saw them as mostly a supplier of OEM motherboards and VERY basic budget consumer boards, ECS is almost the Phoenix of motherboard makers, rising from the ashes and reborn as a market power.
Power may be a bit strong, but consider that ECS is the #3 motherboard maker in the world. Then consider they have expanded their product line to include enthusiast motherboards, notebooks, desktops, and even a full line of graphics cards, and you'll understand my enthusiasm when I look at their progression..
The problem is, once you are pigeon holed, or stereo-typed, it's extremely hard to change your public image in this industry, and for all their efforts, and successes, ECS is still battling the image of a company that produces the most budget minded products. I've watched ECS progress dramatically, to the point where I readily recommend their motherboards to all but the most hardcore overclockers, and without exception, each person I've recommended an ECS product to has given me the same feedback....extremely easy to set up, great bundle, easy to work with, stable, modest overclocking ability, and maybe most importantly....a great value. This isn't to say that ECS has reached the pinnacle of their trade. I still think there is room for improvement when it comes to driver support, their BIOS options could offer more for the enthusiast, and they could improve small things that people notice, things like their chipset cooling and board aestetics.

Birth Of A Motherboard: HL Tours ECS' China Facilities

[Beetle Bailey]

Very cool process indeed. I envy you in the fact you got to actually see it from start to end. I have been interested in the inner workings for a while. Now I have a more expanded view of what a mobo is. Thanks for the pics, Cap. And thanks for sharing your trip with us, Bailey.

[Jokerswild]

Great write-up Rich. It looked as though the motherboard drilling machines were hydraulic which would explain their speed. Quite a plant they have there.

[gvblake22]

WOW, that was amazing! I had no idea they boards start as a solid sheet of copper! No wonder they are so expensive...
Thanks for all the great pictures Rich, I can only imagine what it was like to get home after a 30 hour plane ride and a 12 hour time change to resize that many images!

[halutzparilla]

i read from start to finish rich, your a very good journalist...
yeah, i wish you got more time to explore the whole tour...
anyway, i love the article...

[garetjax]

An absolutely astounding and incredible account of how a motherboard is made. One of the first things that struck me was how clean everything was. The floors, the walls, everything was spotless. Looking at the pictures from the tour where the mobo's were having their individual components installed by hand was a trip. I always thought that was done by machine, but seeing that looooong line of girls working at a table doing the same repetitous work over and over again... that just makes my fingers and hands ache.

Rich, great write-up. You mentioned several times in the article that you felt a bit rushed through the tour, but I never had that feeling while reading your article. Great job! =)

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

That was an impressive procedure... I had no idea it went through that much...

Well, I know its not the "Happy Ending' you were all expecting, but it was a happy ending for me.

... That's awesome!

Haha, did you get any complimentary products Rich?

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by garetjax

An absolutely astounding and incredible account of how a motherboard is made. One of the first things that struck me was how clean everything was. The floors, the walls, everything was spotless. Looking at the pictures from the tour where the mobo's were having their individual components installed by hand was a trip. I always thought that was done by machine, but seeing that looooong line of girls working at a table doing the same repetitous work over and over again... that just makes my fingers and hands ache.

Rich, great write-up. You mentioned several times in the article that you felt a bit rushed through the tour, but I never had that feeling while reading your article. Great job! =)

well said! Nice article Rich. I may not look at a motherboard the same again :O

I was also surprised when I saw that ECS made 1 out of ever 5 motherboards sold world wide, I didn't know that they were that big. I hope that's what they were saying anyways, because like their manuals, it would seem that this was fed through an automated translator.

[qazwsx]

nice artical. thats some test bench on page 15

[Jokerswild]

Do you have any idea what the tops of the benches are made from Rich? I noticed their all green and was wondering if it was G10 fiberglass since it's non conductive.