Computex 2015 - Day 2

Computex 2015 - ECS

ECS is focussing on two main consumer product lines this year; motherboards and the Liva mini PCs (see our LIVA X review). Intel NDAs are stopping companies revealing too much about the upcoming 100-series motherboards (with the LGA1151 socket and support for Skylake CPUs and DDR4), but ECS did have a few prototype designs on display. Of note for enthusiasts is the Z170 Express chipset touting Z170IU-C43 mini-ITX board with onboard HDMI 2.0 (enabling 60Hz 4K). Other features will include onboard USB 3.1 support, PCI-E switches for multi-GPU users and a Realtek DRAGON LAN solution.


We did not spot any SFF-8639 connectors, but support for M.2 and SATA Express was listed on a number of boards. A poster listed these as supporting speeds of up to 16Gbps. Current M.2/SATA Express solutions on Z97 typically run at 10Gbps (via two of the chipset's PCI-E 2.0 lanes), so the upgrade to 16Gbps means Z170 Express will almost certainly be upgrading to PCI-E 3.0 lanes (8Gbps each), as has been widely rumoured.


The LIVA mini-PCs are suitable for those who want a simple but well-featured plug and play solution. We're already reviewed the LIVA X ourselves, but at Computex ECS is launching the LIVA X2 and LIVA Core models. The former will be based on Bay Trail's successor, Braswell, with an M.2 SSD, HDMI and USB 3, while the latter is the new flagship and uses a more powerful Intel Core SoC – the first in the world with a 14nm Intel Core M processor. It will have dual HDMI outputs, four USB 3.0 ports and a micro SD reader, as well as a quick charge USB port. It's passively cooled, with an aluminium exterior and a top, see-through lid. Finally, it also has built-in microphones, making it perfect for use with Windows 10's Cortana voice recognition feature. Both of these models of the LIVA are due for availability in July.


Finally, a LIVA One prototype was on display. This uses yet more powerful Core processors and introduces support for DisplayPort and USB 3.1.