Among all the announced AMD 690 series motherboards, ECS was the first to have their board reach out labs for an early evaluation. The ECS AMD690GM-M2 is a micro-ATX board that shares a nearly identical PCB design and layout as its predecessor, the ECS RS485M-M. Based on the AMD 690G/SB600 combination, the AMD690GM-M2 will feature DVI and VGA output, but sadly no HDMI (or HDCP), which limits the 690G’s usefulness and lessens its appeal as a HD capable motherboard. The board does have a PCIe x16 slot though, so you can still add an external graphics card. It also features one PCIe x1 and two PCI slots for upgrades.
..It is of course up to motherboard manufacturers to come up with a board that utilizes its full potential. The ECS AMD690GM-M2 may not be such a board, but AMD has a very strong line-up for the 690G with Albatron, ASUS, Biostar, EpoX, Foxconn, Gigabyte, MSI and Shuttle all jumping onboard.
