AMD Sempron Processor 3100+ & ECS NFORCE3-A Motherboard for $80 at Outpost.com

[OhioState]

Not a problem at all......not bad for an old gal, was it?

And as for the "$5 for the hs and $12 for shipping" comment, I think someone got it when he said what if the prices were reversed? $17 for a very good heatpipe heatsink is a great price, no matter how the hs is and the shipping breaks out.

Only an idiot would pay almost twice the price for an inferior hs/fan because of "free" shipping vs. paying a total of $17 for a superior product, $12 shipping charges be damned.[/quote]


hey ive used 3 of these so far there wonderfull
nice temps
easy install
low price

well worth 17$

Yep good sight *even for an old gal*. I looked for another one of these on ebay like 3 days ago and found NONE i even checked this guy nada.

 

[avash]

Originally posted by: Hummin

I found this on ebay...seems to be an AMD heatpipe hs/fan, but 80mm fan, not 70mm.

I bought my AMD retail HSF from the same guy on Ebay, had the quad heatpipes, not sure about fan size though.

 

[Zap]

Fan is somewhere around 80x20mm. I bought two for $30 shipped (additional units cost only $8 shipping).

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Lowboy
Used to be fun putting together these lil budget wonders but since opperating systems reached $100 its hard to justify building when the big boys sell em so cheap.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product...asp?&ref=cj&pfp=cj&product_code=335963

QFT. Those retail deals and Dell deals just kills off budget builds. IMO a BYO is still better in my mind, but to an average user who just wants to be able to go online and such, it doesn't make a whit of difference.

BTW, Fry's/Outpost sometimes have $250 computers with Windows XP (no monitor). That's without rebate even, just the "GQ" house brand.

Here's a scan of Sunday's Fry's ad showing a cheap system:

$249.99 no rebates
Sempron 2800+ (likely socket A but not sure)
256MB RAM
40GB HDD
CDRW/DVD combo
Windows XP Home

Free all in one Canon printer after rebate, when purchased with system.

Toss in the $159.99AR 17" LCD monitor and you have a $410 computer, monitor, printer with Windows XP.

 

[ice2882]

Damn, looks like I missed out on this one. I already have all the other parts I need to build a new computer, just need a mobo and processor. Any chance anyone knows of any other deals like this? (I'd go for the one above but with all the extra stuff I don't really need it, and it's a bit pricey for me)

 

[Jester666]

Originally posted by: Hummin

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: pixelnate
Will this hsf fan this mobo?
hsf from ebay

That HSF will work, but note that it IS NOT the quad heatpipe unit that everyone likes. The description doesn't mention heatpipes and the picture doesn't show any heatpipes. $12 shipped isn't too bad, but I'd still rather pay about that much shipped for a CoolerMaster with copper base and 80mm fan from SVC. $7.95 plus shipping If anything, it will cool the same or better, plus will be quieter.

Now, if someone was selling the retail box quad heatpipe with 80mm fan for under $20 shipped (not quad heatpipe with 70mm fan or dual heatpipe with 70mm fan) I'd go for that in a heartbeat.

I found this on ebay...seems to be an AMD heatpipe hs/fan, but 80mm fan, not 70mm.

Thanks Hummin. I've been looking for these; just bought 3 for $43.

 

[Triggerhappy007]

Originally posted by: ice2882
Damn, looks like I missed out on this one. I already have all the other parts I need to build a new computer, just need a mobo and processor. Any chance anyone knows of any other deals like this? (I'd go for the one above but with all the extra stuff I don't really need it, and it's a bit pricey for me)

Do you have a Frys nearby, they have the same combo with a 2800+ for $79.99.

 

[ice2882]

Originally posted by: Triggerhappy007

Do you have a Frys nearby, they have the same combo with a 2800+ for $79.99.

Unfortunately no since I live on the east coast.

 

[Hummin]

quote:



Originally posted by: furballi
$5 for the CPU cooler and $12 to ship an 8 oz item!

I'd rather pay $29 for the Zalman 7000Cu at AMABOMB (free shipping).



Well, it seems many others besides furballi liked the price of the $17 AMD heatpipe heatsink/fan combo, even though it's got a $12 shipping charge as part of the $17 cost.

When I linked it yesterday, there were 41. At 1:45PM today, there are 3 left.

Seemed like a better deal than a $30 Zalman 7000.........guess quite a few others felt the same, too.

 

[Melectricus]

I picked up a thermalright xp90 from here for $24 I think shipping was about $5 or so on my order with another small part. I already had 92mm fans laying around and wanted to use something in the 20db range and I'm partial to thermalright.

This isn't really a deal compared to the others I've read here.

 

[fitzov]

This deal is dead.

 

[leigh6]

"Originally posted by: furballi
$5 for the CPU cooler and $12 to ship an 8 oz item!"

Would it make you feel better if it was $17.00 with free shipping?

 

[Clold]

Is anyone else having their new NFORCE3 combo make high-pitched chirps? My motherboard occasionally makes a series of rapid, high-pitched chirps that are definetely coming from the chipset. The heatsink and chip are firm, and pressing on them does not affect the noise. When I'm trying to watch a DVB satellite stream, with takes 22-44% CPU, these random chirps are timed with freezes in the video feed. These noises are coming from the motherboard, not the drives, and not the external tuner. Any thoughts?

 

[trevor0323]

Hey I dont understand why you wouldnt want to set the HT to 4x if you are only running the chip at 250Mhz. It was my understanding that HT should not exceed 1000Mhz or you could run into problems booting and such. With chip at 250 though and HT a 4x that gives you 1000Mhz for HT. Anyways I was just wondering because I set this up for a buddy and put HT to 4x. At 3x you would be running HT at 750Mhz.

 

[thetxstang]

Originally posted by: trevor0323
Hey I dont understand why you wouldnt want to set the HT to 4x if you are only running the chip at 250Mhz. It was my understanding that HT should not exceed 1000Mhz or you could run into problems booting and such. With chip at 250 though and HT a 4x that gives you 1000Mhz for HT. Anyways I was just wondering because I set this up for a buddy and put HT to 4x. At 3x you would be running HT at 750Mhz.

I've been wondering the same thing, but like you said, many insist that HTT be set to 3x when bumping the FSB to 250MHz. At any rate, I've left mine at the 4x at the 250MHz setting since I'm experiencing no problems whatsoever.

 

[trevor0323]

I know I dont quite get it either. Although the bump from 750 to 1000 ht has very little noticable performance increase I still would like to run it at 1000 if I can without a problem.

 

[furballi]

Paying $17 for a $10 CPU cooler? I get those for free, just like that person on Fleabay. One man's junk is another's treasure. That tiny 80mm fan doesn't adequately cool the RAMs and power components on the MB. The smallest fan that I will use for a CPU cooler is a 92mm unit (XP90 or Zalman 7000). More air flow and lower acoustic at the same rpm. A good CPU cooler will also lower the temperature of other components on the MB. It's silly for people to gawk over a few degree Celsius when the room temperature's delta is +/- 5C a day.

The noise on that ECS board is probably coming from a coil between the CPU and the rear connector panel. Take the MB out of the case and reboot to confirm the location of the noise. If it is coming from the coil, then you can apply RTV silicone or epoxy glue to the coil to prevent future oscillation.

Are you having the video feed issue with another PC?

That ECS board is designed for 800MHz HT. If your system is Prime95 and and Memtest stable at 1000, then I see no issue. However, I personally would use the 3x HT because I see no performance increase at 4x HT.

 

[jumpr]

Originally posted by: Clold
Is anyone else having their new NFORCE3 combo make high-pitched chirps? My motherboard occasionally makes a series of rapid, high-pitched chirps that are definetely coming from the chipset. The heatsink and chip are firm, and pressing on them does not affect the noise. When I'm trying to watch a DVB satellite stream, with takes 22-44% CPU, these random chirps are timed with freezes in the video feed. These noises are coming from the motherboard, not the drives, and not the external tuner. Any thoughts?

I noticed that my MB makes a high-pitched chirping noise when I connect my flash-based MP3 player to the rear USB ports. It's probably still a coil on the MB, but it drove me nuts until I figured it out. Do you have any flash drives connected to the system?

 

[Triggerhappy007]

Originally posted by: furballi
Paying $17 for a $10 CPU cooler? I get those for free, just like that person on Fleabay. One man's junk is another's treasure. That tiny 80mm fan doesn't adequately cool the RAMs and power components on the MB. The smallest fan that I will use for a CPU cooler is a 92mm unit (XP90 or Zalman 7000). More air flow and lower acoustic at the same rpm. A good CPU cooler will also lower the temperature of other components on the MB. It's silly for people to gawk over a few degree Celsius when the room temperature's delta is +/- 5C a day.

The noise on that ECS board is probably coming from a coil between the CPU and the rear connector panel. Take the MB out of the case and reboot to confirm the location of the noise. If it is coming from the coil, then you can apply RTV silicone or epoxy glue to the coil to prevent future oscillation.

Are you having the video feed issue with another PC?

That ECS board is designed for 800MHz HT. If your system is Prime95 and and Memtest stable at 1000, then I see no issue. However, I personally would use the 3x HT because I see no performance increase at 4x HT.

Since it's a $10 cooler, where can we get one for $10?

 

[furballi]

Most custom PC builders should have a bunch of these coolers on their shelves. I have a few of these units for a quick n dirty setup, but it's not worth my time to package and send them out.

 

[Zap]

Haven't tested the motherboard yet, but the CPU has been tested in my excellent Biostar Tforce6100 board. Testing in 5MHz HTT increments, will not POST at 275, stable at 260 using 1.55v (1.52 detected). At 250, stable at 1.425v setting. As long as the ECS board works, will probably have to use the 1.7% vcore boost for stability at full BIOS allowed HTT. This Paris core is indeed much better than my original one, besting it (from memory) by almost 300MHz for POST speed and maybe half that for stable speed. My Palermo D0 does a bit better than this with lower temperatures (this Paris gets pretty warm during Prime). My E3 Palermo does a lot better. I've never had an E6 Palermo.

Anyways, gonna go test the ECS motherboard and then use it in a build.

 

[Zap]

I'm testing away at the motherboard and behold, the CPU is stable at default vcore at 250MHz HTT - better than the Biostar Tforce. I think the Biostar is hampered by too much undervolting while the ECS overvolts, haha. At "default" vcore I'm seeing 1.40-1.42v in PC Health Status while the Biostar was seeing 1.36v or so. Don't know if either are accurate, but it does explain some things.

Shall we proclaim the ECS NFORCE3-A board as best value for the money?

 

[furballi]

1.41 is indeed what I'm seeing with my default Vcore (ECS board). The nominal Vcore should be 1.4. Bump Vcore up to +3.4% (1.52-1.54) and see how far you can push using Clockgen. Mine is stable up to 270MHz FSB. You may have to downshift from 166 RAM speed at the higher FSB.

It appears that the ECS board can match the oveclock capability of the Biostar. Unfortunately, we will never know without a BIOS upgrade that will unlock the 250MHz FSB limitation.

 

[Zap]

Well, doubtful that it can match the Tforce in overclocking. The "problem" is that the Biostar board undervolts severely while the ECS board overvolts. The Biostar board however will let you set up to around 1.80V for a true 1.76V thereabouts, way more than enough vcore for anyone.

As for this system. it's going into a build that I'm selling so clocking it up to max BIOS HTT is already pushing it. Also, even with a lot of voltage it doesn't like going over about 260HTT or so on the Tforce, which I've tested stable at 315HTT (perhaps CPU limited as it will POST higher).

I purchased the following HSF for this combo from Directron. It was a buck more than SVC but I was ordering other stuff from them so saved in shipping.
Cooler Master CPU Cooler DK8-8ID2A-0L $6.99 @Directron
Cooler Master CPU Cooler DK8-8ID2A-0L $5.99 @SVC

It seems to cool as well if not better than the stock AMD retail box HSF with both of them running full speed, plus it is quieter. For anyone who wants something cheaper than the $17 HSF from eBay, I think SVC can do around $11 shipped using their cheapest method. There's also a slightly better one with a copper core for a couple bucks more.

 

[Clold]

I noticed that my MB makes a high-pitched chirping noise when I connect my flash-based MP3 player to the rear USB ports. It's probably still a coil on the MB, but it drove me nuts until I figured it out. Do you have any flash drives connected to the system?

Well I didn't, but tried it out with some, and can confrim that the sounds from the motherboard start when a USB device is connected, and stop when it's removed. My USB chipset likes to whistle, apparently