SilverStone ECWA1 and ECW02 Module Review

Testing & Methodology

Hardware

• Supermicro C7Z97-OCE
• Intel Xeon E3-1230Lv3
• Corsair Vengeance 16GB 1866MHz
• Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD
• Sapphire R7 240 2GB
• be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W
• Thermaltake Water 3.0 Performer

Network

• TP-Link Archer C9 AC1900 Dual-Band Router

Software

• Passmark PerformanceTest 8: Advanced Network Test

My usual access point is no good here as it doesn’t support the full speed that this device has to offer, so I’ve switched it up a bit and used the TP-Link AC1900 router instead. It is a great router with great coverage and it should provide a great testing environment.

I will be doing performance tests with both static and variable package sizes and also adjust the distance between the WiFi adapter and the access point it is connected to in order to give a full view of the adapter, including coverage abilities.

While it’s easy to test and give you comparable view on the wired connections, we need to keep in mind that environmental factors can’t be avoided with the wireless signals and that there might be variations to other scenarios and tests.

The mini PCI-E WiFi module doesn’t require any software besides drivers. Depending on your Windows settings, it might download them automatically from Microsoft’s update system or you can find them on SilverStone’s product page. Once the drivers are installed, Windows’ own settings and configuration features will let you connect to your wireless network as you’re used to from any other network connection.