1800+ TBred and ECS combo $89.99 at BA Fry's

[nahcyrag]

i just got myself one of these combo. i put everything together, nothing comes on...not even the bios screen. I have built #s computer before, this is the only one i have problem with. any suggestion.
Antec case, antec 350 PSU, Nvidia MX440, 2x512MB Pc133 Memory.

i have read on online forum, alot of people are having problem with this board.

thanx for any help

BTW, most of these borads are Refurbs. so that could be my problem

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: nahcyrag
i just got myself one of these combo. i put everything together, nothing comes on...not even the bios screen. I have built #s computer before, this is the only one i have problem with. any suggestion.
Antec case, antec 350 PSU, Nvidia MX440, 2x512MB Pc133 Memory.

i have read on online forum, alot of people are having problem with this board.

thanx for any help

BTW, most of these borads are Refurbs. so that could be my problem

The bastards at fry's hide the new ones on top of the shelves. Tell the sales guy you want one that's new. He'll get one for you.

 

[PoPPeR]

yeah. I went for the 2000xp/ECS 99$ combo a couple weeks ago. They had 0 new ones but about 100 used ones. Mine didn't work, so I drove an hour to fry's the next day. All they had now were the new ones again, but of course the deal was over. Snagged a new one, but the board is still crappy. Horrible stability for me, I very much regret buying it

 

[fongpee]

what's the ecs board? it's not the k7s5a still is it?

 

[UCDznutz]

my first and only ecs k7s5a combo (board and 2000+) has been running rock solid for the past 3 weeks i've had it. i'd do it again in a heartbeat and am very satisfied.

 

[Ecliptic]

quote

Originally posted by: jclose

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: nerdherd
Anyone that got this combo, can you please post what the part number is on the cpu. TIA

da nerd
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I just picked one of these up yesterday (at Fry's in Wilsonville, OR, for the person who was asking about that), and here are the numbers from the CPU:

AXDA1800DUT3C 929142620016
J1UCB0251TPQW

Anyone else who purchased this combo care to list the part number? If these are in fact t-bred b, I am interested in the second line. Does anyone have one that starts with an "A" or are they all the crappy "J" ones? For those interested in the difference between "a" and "j" read Here

 

[0roo0roo]

tbreds are great for overclocking, ecs isn't though. retail?

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: nahcyrag
i just got myself one of these combo. i put everything together, nothing comes on...not even the bios screen. I have built #s computer before, this is the only one i have problem with. any suggestion.
Antec case, antec 350 PSU, Nvidia MX440, 2x512MB Pc133 Memory.

i have read on online forum, alot of people are having problem with this board.

thanx for any help

BTW, most of these borads are Refurbs. so that could be my problem

if zero sign of life exchange, i've had that happen to me before with ecs. just make sure your plugging in the on switch connectors right. and that all cables are tight and correctly orientated. if still dead, its dead.

 

[nerdherd]

JClose, thanks for the update. Me on my way to Fry's to grab a couple.

da nerd

 

[deeznuts]

i've built at least 30 machines with these mobos in the last year or so. 10 over christmas break alone. never ever ever had a problem. used crappy PSU's too. don't know why, guess i'm lucky or something. of course i never walk out of Frys with a returned one, but in San Diego, they have never tried to give me a returned one, only new ones.

 

[chizow]

I've built 100 systems with these boards in the last month, and not a single problem with any of them. Then I returned them all to Fry's. That's why Fry's has so many returned ones. They all work perfect. This is a great board. Why I ever have the need to build multiples of systems with these boards for personal use, I have no idea. Great board!

Chiz

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: chizow
I've built 100 systems with these boards in the last month, and not a single problem with any of them. Then I returned them all to Fry's. That's why Fry's has so many returned ones. They all work perfect. This is a great board. Why I ever have the need to build multiples of systems with these boards for personal use, I have no idea. Great board!

Chiz

You don't have to be mad just because we know how to use the board and you don't.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: ObiDon

Originally posted by: chizow
I've built 100 systems with these boards in the last month, and not a single problem with any of them. Then I returned them all to Fry's. That's why Fry's has so many returned ones. They all work perfect. This is a great board. Why I ever have the need to build multiples of systems with these boards for personal use, I have no idea. Great board!

Chiz

You don't have to be mad just because we know how to use the board and you don't.

LoL! I've never bought one, and I wouldn't buy one of these boards with YOUR money. I do research on my buys, and when this board first came out, the forums were flooded with problems with it. In fact, they still are. Anyways, I heard this is a really good board if you want to UNDERCLOCK , good luck.

Chiz

 

[Cat13]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: ObiDon

Originally posted by: chizow
I've built 100 systems with these boards in the last month, and not a single problem with any of them. Then I returned them all to Fry's. That's why Fry's has so many returned ones. They all work perfect. This is a great board. Why I ever have the need to build multiples of systems with these boards for personal use, I have no idea. Great board!

Chiz

You don't have to be mad just because we know how to use the board and you don't.

LoL! I've never bought one, and I wouldn't buy one of these boards with YOUR money. I do research on my buys, and when this board first came out, the forums were flooded with problems with it. In fact, they still are. Anyways, I heard this is a really good board if you want to UNDERCLOCK , good luck.

Chiz

Hmmm, underclocked huh? Running 2 boards at home with both overclocked. No problems for over a year with both running 24/7. If your research skills are as good as your computer skills no wonder you don't like this board

 

[doinmybestatlast]

My $.02 - I've built 6 computers with this board. The only time I had a problem was when I used a totally crappy P/S. I switched in a crappy P/S and all was fine.

 

[Granorense]

Originally posted by: doinmybestatlast
My $.02 - I've built 6 computers with this board. The only time I had a problem was when I used a totally crappy P/S. I switched in a crappy P/S and all was fine.

What kind of problems did you have, would you mention some please? Just for my own education

Thank you!

Grano

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: ObiDon

Originally posted by: chizow
I've built 100 systems with these boards in the last month, and not a single problem with any of them. Then I returned them all to Fry's. That's why Fry's has so many returned ones. They all work perfect. This is a great board. Why I ever have the need to build multiples of systems with these boards for personal use, I have no idea. Great board!

Chiz

You don't have to be mad just because we know how to use the board and you don't.

LoL! I've never bought one, and I wouldn't buy one of these boards with YOUR money. I do research on my buys, and when this board first came out, the forums were flooded with problems with it. In fact, they still are. Anyways, I heard this is a really good board if you want to UNDERCLOCK , good luck.

Chiz

I'll give you that one.

I've never tried to OC on any of the K7S5A boards that I've used. The systems have always been secondary systems for me or primary systems for people that have no need for an overclocked system. Since I'm not into distributed computing anymore I'm actually thinking of underclocking my two K7S5A systems (currently at stock speeds) because I'm tired of listening to all those frickin' fans!

I think the only problem I ever had with one of these boards was that it seemed to be a little unstable until I moved the ram to the other available slot...then it was perfect.

At least now I know I'm safe underclocking.

 

[PapaSurf]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: ObiDon

Originally posted by: chizow
I've built 100 systems with these boards in the last month, and not a single problem with any of them. Then I returned them all to Fry's. That's why Fry's has so many returned ones. They all work perfect. This is a great board. Why I ever have the need to build multiples of systems with these boards for personal use, I have no idea. Great board!

Chiz

You don't have to be mad just because we know how to use the board and you don't.

LoL! I've never bought one, and I wouldn't buy one of these boards with YOUR money. I do research on "my buys, and when this board first came out, the forums were flooded with problems with it. In fact, they still are. Anyways, I heard this is a really good board if you want to UNDERCLOCK , good luck.

Chiz

"No thread crapping. If the subject matter of a deal does not interest you, do not post negative comments about it, or about other members, in the thread."

Seems reasonable.....

 

[cownipples]

The SIS 735 chipset that the ecs uses is more stable and reliable then any via chip based board for amd, via chipsets are terrible. This ecs is rock solid mb for $89.00 you cannot beat this deal. I built many probabley 100 or more for clients who wanted perfomance but low cost systems. With maybe 2-3 bad MB's. Most errors are user errors, or lack of knowledge. Quit complaining about your lack of knowledge!

 

[alluu]

Picked one up at the Fremont Fry's and it is a B version. Running at 2 ghz right now. Just like the 1700+ from Newegg. Mine was a JIUCB 0250.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: PapaSurf
"No thread crapping. If the subject matter of a deal does not interest you, do not post negative comments about it, or about other members, in the thread."

Seems reasonable.....

Papasmurf, I think its important to make a distinction with product feedback and deal crapping. Many people here don't know the history of the K7S5A, and may find the price as an incentive to purchase this combo based on the hunch it is an excellent bargain. I'm just bringing some insight to the thread. I think everyone else here would agree that a deal w/out feedback is only 1/2 the picture.

ObiDon, I agree with you that an experienced system builder that uses quality components should be able to get this board to work no problem; I'm sure I could build a perfectly functional system around this board. But I tend to buy only quality components, not to get my system working, but to get it working overtime . This board is known to be particularly picky about the PSU and RAM used with it. The problem lies in the fact that many people see this as a good platform to salvage old/existing computer components, particularly their RAM and PSU in a bridge between their current systems and a more powerful solution (they don't want to make the leap to DDR quite yet) or they want to use some 200-300W generic PSU that came with their old system.

As a result, these are the same people who spend hours or even weeks and undoubtedly more money replacing and troubleshooting various components in their rigs to get this board to work. There are other solutions out there that perform as well or better, including the MSI M7VIG, Shuttle AK32A, and even the new ASROCK board that accept both DDR and SDR. All of them are priced relative to this board other than the ASROCK, which offers newer chipset features such as USB 2.0 and firewire. When this board was priced about 1/2 as much as an equally performing board, it made more sense, but now that there are options that perform as well or better, with less headaches, is it such a good deal now?

Every time Fry's has one of these combo deals, the mobo forum is flooded with K7S5A problems, I expect this instance to be no different.

Chiz

 

[hhoffman]

I picked up the " combo" 2 weeks ago from Fry's , that was the K7S5A with Athlon XP 2000. I had a little trouble setting it up and thought I would pass on my efforts and eventual success. The board is ' pickey ' with IRQ's ... 1st problem was the bios setting reserving an IRQ for VGA .. Disable that if you can .. Next was Card placement .. Slot 1 shares with AGP, 2 shares with PCI 5, 3 with onboard sound [ couldnt get my SB Live to be seen on this slot, moved it to slot 4 and worked fine] 4 shares with usb ... My Nic card worked but kept losing Internet Connect .. Pulled it and went with onboard lan .. solved that. The Ram timings seem to be sensitive.. I am using PC 133 at this time , 2 sticks .. Eventually will add DDR . Heat was the last hurdle for me.. Old case , poor cooling . My CPU under load was going over 55c and my system would lock up. Read on another Forum about the Chipset heatsink being stuck on with Double Stick Tape .. Sure enough it was .. just twisted it off, cleaned off the tape, used arctic silver and a touch of super glue in the four corners . That small improvement was enough to keep me stable under any load.. I have 2 of these rigs running at the house now .. And am happy with the result .. Oh yeah forgot. There are also some 'hacked' Bios for this board .. Very cool . One by ' Honey X ' , the other by ' CheapoMan ' .. Add overclocking not present in stock and some other features .. Very cool .. Tried both , like em both .. but am currently using Honey X .. If you search either name you will get to the various forums that they hang in.. Lots of info on the board .. and of course links to the Bios's.

Just thought I would add .. My systems before this were P3's oc'd to 945 +- . For less than $100 we got double the performance .. We have GeForce 2 vid cards at this time.. Next we'll swap them out .. Then will come Ram .. and eventually when prices drop .. 'Faster CPU's and new Mobo' . Money is always an issue and this provides us with a very effective upgrade path .. allowing us to wait for prices to drop .. but not be ' crawling' on the way.

 

[nerdherd]

Chiz, dunno what pic your painting though. You say that to be able to run good, you need to underclock. What kind of statement is that?????
I honestly have used a cheap psu and crappy Frys pc133, and to top it off, I have used 2 sticks of pc133 of different sizes. I guess I am lucky. 10x over.
That is my take on the K7S5A, and it would be harder to find a quicker booting board than this.

da nerd

 

[corinthos]

The K7S5A... You either love it or you hate it...

 

[nerdherd]

I love it.