Yes folks, lightsabers do actually exist, just not the kind that can slice open a Tauntaun for warm shelter in a pinch. Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has a line of Lightsaber motherboards, the newest of which is the Z370-Lightsaber supporting Intel’s 8th generation Core Coffee Lake processors.
Talk about a blast from the past. For those who might be relatively new to PC building, ECS was very much an active player in the DIY scene back in the day. It was also usually associated with cheap hardware and perhaps did not have the greatest reputation among enthusiasts, though it did (and still does) dabble with higher-end product offerings on occasion. It was also active in the OEM scene.
We don’t hear a whole lot about ECS products these days, though its newest offering looks to provide a performance foundation for LGA 1151 processors. It is a standard ATX form factor board with support for up to 64GB of dual-channel DDR memory at 3200MHz or higher (OC’d, of course). The Z370-Lightsaber also wields three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and three PCIe x1 slots.
For storage chores, users will find a pair of M.2 slots for fast NVMe SSDs (one of them also supports M.2 SATA SSDs), and six SATA 6Gbps ports with RAID support.
ECS is advertising high end components on this board, including durable chokes and MOSFETs for stable power deliver, especially when overclocking. And for audio chores, there is an onboard audio amplifier, Nichicon capacitors, and gold connectors.
Including the rear I/O and internal headers, this board offers a total of 15 USB ports (two USB 3.1, six USB 3.0, and seven USB 2.0).
There are two BIOSes on this board, just in case something goes wrong while overclocking. It also has buttons for easier overclocking, and of course LED illumination.
ECS did not say when this board will be available or for how much.