The ECS 945GTY-M is ECS's first entry product to the MoDT market. The growing trend of HTPC has proven that notebook processors like Yonah and Merom are suitable replacements of desktop CPUs which runs hot and require more power.

In our tests, we paired up the board with a  Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2300 65 nm 2MB L2 1.66 GHz 667 MHz 31W. This processor is the lowest clock speed of the Yonah series of processor. Although it is meant for notebooks, the performance is pretty good, comparable to a AM2 4000+ in some benchmarks. With the packaged heatsink/fan mounted, I can hardly hear a noise from the system. Furthermore, the CPU temperature is also lower compared to desktop CPUs. VISTA RC1 installed flawlessly on the system.

In terms of performance, the integrated graphics is still weak for 3D games. As for viewing of video contents, it would be good to pair it up with a fanless design graphics card like what we did. We installed a Gigabyte 7600GT SilentPipe II edition on the board. With it, it can decode high resolution videos for playback. If you are using a LCD with HDMI, it might be worth looking at the HDMI edition.

Features wise, this board has GbE, 8 Ch Audio, RAID 0/1, 4 USB (+4 external), VGA out. There is no S/PDIF out. The board has no overclocking options at all. There are some basic adjustments for ram timings (it didn't work, it defaults to CAS 5). There are no adjustments for CLK, voltage etc. The BIOS only provided very basic options and a PC Temperature infomration and adjustable fan speed function. You can check the gallery for more details.

Overall, if you are looking for a mATX board to take over the functions of your home entertainment centre. This might be a board that can be considered.

*Pricing in other parts of the world might be different.