14 DAY TRIAL // Central processing unit sockets form Intel and Advanced Micro Devices both have their own types of mounting mechanisms for coolers, which is why it's such a big deal when a cooler is “universal.” ECS has decided to make a universal motherboard this time though.
At least in a manner of speaking. The motherboard doesn't support all CPUs, that would be absurd. It only has FM2+ socket chip support.
It does have an unusual cooler mount hole design though, no unlike the one used by Intel LGA115x CPUs, instead of the AMD APUs meant to be installed on the thing.
Speaking of which, the “thing” is a mini-ITX motherboard called A78F2-TI, based on the AMD A78 FCH chipset.
Its square, spaced out mounting holes, which may not support all heatsinks (the IHS of APUs is thick, and so is the FM2 socket, so certain Intel socket coolers might not be compatible) but should still allow you to use some coolers not normally possible for AMD mainboards.
The A78F2-TI also has a 2-pin power brick, a 3+1 phase VRM (voltage regulation module) and a pair of DDR3 SO-DIMM memory slots wired to the APU (accelerated processing unit).
A pair of SATA 6.0 Gbps connectors are included in the spec sheet, as are two HDMI outputs, a DisplayPort connector, LVDS, and a mini PCI Express slot.
Add to that a pair of USB 3.0 ports and twice the number of USB 2.0 (so six USB 2.0 / 2.2 backwards compatible ports) and you have all bases covered.
Obviously, LAN is supported as well (Gigabit Ethernet), as is audio (6-channel, quite good for the HTPCs that mini-ITX motherboards are meant to power).
All in all, one might find it surprising that the A78F2-TI uses an FM2+ socket instead of the AM1 intended for Ahtlon/Sempron chips.
Then again, with A-Series and E-Series APUs, you don't need a low-profile add-in card, and while that does suggest that the mini PCIe slot will be wasted, it does allow for more compact and lower-power home-theater personal computer configs.
On that note, the newcomer is also intended for all-in-one desktop PCs, or business PCs as the case may be. All in all, it is common-looking enough for the retailer-browsing layman, but will catch the attention of system builders/designers and tech savvy people once the peculiarity of the socket and cooling design catches their eye. Sadly, no price is known at this time for the ECS A78F2-TI.