One of the more esoteric showcasing at Computex was from ECS.  In recent chipset and processor launches more and more motherboard companies are jumping on the bandwagon for a range of gming oriented motherboards (either part of the main motherboard stack or separate).  ECS has sought the services of a branding agency and developed their Z87 range under the heading of GANK.

The word GANK, which I had no idea what it meant, is from the realm of MMORPGs, meaning ‘gang kill’.  Under this range ECS will launch a few motherboards building on the Golden and Extreme ranges of the last generation. 

The top board of the range will be the Z87H4-A3X Extreme, which offers an x8/x4/x4 + x4 PCIe layout for up to two-way SLI and four-way CrossfireX.  Rather oddly it does not have an onboard VGA power connector, suggesting that ECS are attempting to draw 300W through the main 24-pin ATX power connector.

It is interesting to note that the Machine and Domination motherboards (for Extreme and Golden respectively) both contain Thunderbolt controllers.

The other ranges are for different segments – AGGRO for AMD and KILLSTEAL for the next Intel enthusiast range (Ivy Bridge-E) launched later this year.

For the main range of motherboards, ECS are styling them clear broad colors and listing them under the Essentials, Deluxe or Pro branding:

Also on the ECS stand we had the entrants for ECS’ ‘MODMEN’ competition, encouraging case modders from around the world to compete for a cash prize.  They were certainly impressive!

 

 

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  • creed3020 - Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - link

    This launch comes across very much as a "me too!" effort.

    Case mods are interesting, I'd love to see them in person to learn from them.
  • twtech - Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - link

    Yes, they are technically gaming terms... usually accompanied by shouting, curse words, and insults.

    Did ECS figure out what those words meant before deciding to use them in product branding?
  • geekman1024 - Wednesday, June 12, 2013 - link

    While ECS customers are getting AGGRO'ed, somone at ECS is going to get GANK'ed and KS'ed.
  • Solidstate89 - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link

    Killsteal? Gank? Who the hell signed off on these horrible names?
  • lever_age - Thursday, June 13, 2013 - link

    No, they're not trying to target the gaming market, but rather a subset that is proud of its poor manners and taste.

    Actually, I want to know which branding agency was responsible, as it should rightly go bankrupt immediately.

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