The physical layout of the ECS P6IWT-A+ V2.0 features five PCI slots, two DIMM sockets and the standard floppy and dual IDE connectors. The five PCI slots ensure lots of upgrade room, but since the i810E features on-board video, there is no AGP slot present for future 3D card upgrades. Having only two DIMM slots is problematic, especially since it severely limits memory upgrades. As a business user, I know that system memory is one area that is upgraded on a regular basis, and two DIMMs just don't offer the expandability most businesses require. Using 256 MB DIMMs, the effective motherboard limit is 528 MBs.

For soundcard chores, the ECS P6IWT-A+ V2.0 features both the i810E's AC97 software CODEC and an Elite PCI Audio CMI8738 chipset. The CMI8738 provides SoundBlaster 16 compatibility, full duplex operations, plus support for Microsoft's Direct 3D and Aureal's A3D 1.0. Included on the motherboard's back-panel are jacks for speakers, microphone, stereo in, and a game/MIDI port. The audio subsystem also supports 4-speaker output and through an optional add-in card, SPDIF 24-bit digital sound input and output. The on-board PCI C3DX 56K modem caused me some initial problems, until I realized that the fax/modem card is an option and must be installed to use the built-in fax/modem. Unfortunately, this card was not included with the review motherboard, so no testing could be performed.

Since ease of installation and lower integration time are two of the oft-quoted benefits to an integrated motherboard, I paid special attention to this aspect of the review. The ECS manual is well designed and features many diagrams detailing the installation process. After perusing the manual for a few minutes, I installed the ECS P6IWT-A+ V2.0 into the test case and hooked up the various IDE and power cables. After installing the CPU and SDRAM, I couldn't believe that I was already finished. Not having to install a 3D card, modem or soundcard saved me about half the usual system installation time. If there are problems initializing the system, the ECS P6IWT-A+ V2.0 has a Debug Master feature that shows the system status using an LED readout. Loading the driver CD and having it install all the necessary chipset, video, sound and modem files demonstrated another time-saving aspect to integration. There are also none of the driver or hardware incompatibilities you sometimes find when setting up different hardware. ECS has designed the integrated motherboard components and this helps ensure the drivers and hardware all work together.