Board Software

The software suite included with the ECS X79R-AX is quite lean, with just a few utilities included on the disc included with the X79R-AX, but we find a tool for tweaking board settings from within the OS, "eOC". "eOC" is a combination of a monitoring tool as well as being capable of adjusting voltages via the I2C interface that the VRM controller supports. Starting up showing thermal information for the CPU and something labeled as "System Temperature". The second tab leads to a section that lists voltages, and allows bus clock adjustment, while moving over to the advanced tab also allows the voltages to be set as well. On the settings tab we find a setting to enable the eOC overclock settings on boot-up, as well as a start at the bottom left that allows us to retrieve software updates.


The two utilities provided by ECS themselves are “eBLU”, and “eDLU”; two utilities whose sole purpose is keeping your system up to date. “eBLU” is responsible for BIOS updates, while “eDLU” is used to download drivers and utility updates. We’ve used this software in the past, and it works quite well, making visiting the ECS website to search for newer drivers and software completely unnecessary. There is also a bevy of CyberLink software on the CD for those that wish to give the software a try.


The last tool isn't listed in the auto-installer or in the software installation menus of the software DVD, but if you explore the disc, you'll find a folder labeled "XTU". Inside that folder is Intel's own "Xtreme Tuning Utility", that allows for overclocking via an relatively easy to use software interface as well as offering some stability testing and monitoring functionality. Thankfully, ECS closely follows Intel designs on all of their Intel products, so the Intel software works really well on the ECS X79R-AX, but as all the same options are available in BIOS, we much prefer to clock from the BIOS instead. The "XTU" software does pop up a warning before allowing you into the manual adjustment screen, as seen in the second image above, while the third and fourth pictures above show the manual options as well as the monitoring panel and its options page. Sadly, this iteration of Intel's "XTU" doesn't offer an automatic overclock section as it did with the P67 and Z68 platforms from Intel, which we found really handy for binning CPUs on those platforms, but as this is an Intel-specific option, and not directly from ECS, it hardly detracts from what the ECS X79R-AX offers.