The ECS AMD690GM-M2 has one PCI Express x16 slot for videocards, one PCI Express x1 slot for high bandwidth devices and two PCI slots. At the bottom under the PCI slots we find the audio jacks, COM port and a couple yellow USB headers.

Four 3.0GB/s SATA channels enable RAID 0/1/10 if you need it. The ECS AMD690GM-M2 relies on totally passive chipset heatsinks, which are of course totally silent. The AMD690GM-M2 is not the easiest motherboard to work on so don't put that User's Manual away just yet.

The 24 pin ATX, single IDE and single Floppy connectors are positioned to the right of the DDR2 DIMM slots on the ECS AMD690GM-M2 motherboard. There are only two DDR2 DIMM slots on the ECS motherboard so install all the memory you think you'll need right from the beginning!

The AMD 690G chipset is located right next to the socket AM2 AMD processor socket, and there is a good deal of space for larger after market cooling solutions. The memory slots are up close against the CPU socket, so room on this side is a bit tight. A 4-pin PWM fan header is positioned near to the CPU socket for the CPU heatsink and fan, it is backwards compatible with 3-pin fan plugs.

The PCI Express x16 videocard lock is quite difficult to use with the ECS AMD690GM-M2. Even though the Northbridge chipset has a medium sized heatsink on it, you'll be happy to know that the AMD chipsets do not generate much heat. It's a nice change from the little inferno Intel and nVIDIA chipsets.