ThePCEnthusiast.com: "Nowadays, there are lots of Z97 motherboards to choose from. They come in different design, colors scheme, set of features and varying prices. Today we are going to review one of ECS’ gaming motherboard – the ECS Z97-Machine that falls under their L337 Gaming category and from their GANK Machine series. The Z97-Machine is basically a simple gaming motherboard that comes with a decent set of features, enough to get you started. This is actually the first ECS motherboard that went into my test bench and this will be my first experience using an ECS motherboard. I was supposed to publish this review a couple of months ago, but I decided to test the motherboard further just to make sure that it won’t suddenly die during normal day to day operation. This motherboard is basically geared towards budget PC gamers or system builders who are looking for a cost-effective solution."
Maximum PC: Don't go bidding farewell to ECS in the branded DIY motherboard business just yet. After catching wind of yesterday's rumor claiming that ECS decided to stop pushing its own brand mobos in favor of building solutions for ODM and OEM partners, company president Sunny Yang sent a letter to the press calling the rumor "untrue."
Maximum PC: Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has announced that it will no longer actively market own-brand DIY motherboards but will undertake ODM/OEM production if clients have demand, and this is the equivalent of a gradual withdrawal from the global own-brand DIY motherboard market, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
Digitimes: Facing fierce competition from the top-two players, Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology, small motherboard players such as ASRock, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) and Micro-Star International (MSI) have all been adjusting their business strategies, looking to maintain their profits.
looks pretty bad ass, might get this one