Test System

Initial Setup

Getting the ECS X79R-Ax fired up and the OS installed took very little time, and proved quite easy. We did have to go into the BIOS to adjust time and date settings, but everything else was good to go from the start, including having the SATA controllers in AHCI mode. We did test with the several kits we have on-hand, and each booted at default JEDEC timings without any issues.

PWM Power Consumption

Since one of our first tasks was to truly verify system stability, while doing so we measure CPU power consumption. We isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, as well as total wattage passed through it. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency and effective VRM design.


Our first result with our new i7 3960X CPU proved to show much higher results than any other product tested to date, but as this is a new high-end platform, we did expect as much. In all honesty, we expected about double the power consumption seen in the SKT1155 platform, and when compared to the ECS P67H2-A2 (B3) that we tested, it was exactly so. At load, we saw a precise 130 watts drawn via the 8-pin EPS connector, right where Intel says it should be.