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

[OhioState]

Originally posted by: avash
Thanks OP, I ordered one. Going to go to Staples and pick up a 512MB DDr400 chip later this week for $40 AR.

Still need a HS, think I'll order the one Zap suggested earlier
HS on Ebay

just ordered the combo and the hs/fan that zap recomended

thanks all

this means i can sell my xp 2800+ soon yeah

 

[TheRealDeal]

Page 30 of March's Maximum PC States:

Best AMD Processors for overclocking:

Sempron 3100+ : It ships at only 1.8 GHz, but enterprising overclockers have cranked this bad boy to 2.4 GHz and Beyond!

 

[mellowfellow0o0]

From everything I have seen this is a 64bit processor with the 64bit instructions disabled. Kinda back in the day with the math co-processor. It still can look like a 64 bit proc to the cpu id programs if they are not set to know better. Still looks like a heck of a deal. I have two friends who are looking to have me build computers for them, and are willing to let me make a little profit for the trouble. This looks like a great place to start. I love AMD and since post k6 2 they have been my proc of choice. I am just curious about this MB. I have been burned by crappy mobo's in the past. IWILL = I won't. Anyone have any long term experience with this board? Not looking to over clock or any of that, but looking for something that will run stable and solid. I don't want support calls

 

[yukit]

Originally posted by: TheRealDeal
Page 30 of March's Maximum PC States:

Best AMD Processors for overclocking:

Sempron 3100+ : It ships at only 1.8 GHz, but enterprising overclockers have cranked this bad boy to 2.4 GHz and Beyond!

I think Palermo version is known to be a better overclocker than Paris core.
Nevertheless, I did pick up the combo with the Paris CPU.

I now have to decide what to do about the HSF.

 

[Zap]

Yes, the Palermo version definately clocks better.

How about 2.7GHz?

Originally posted by: mellowfellow0o0
I am just curious about this MB. I have been burned by crappy mobo's in the past. IWILL = I won't. Anyone have any long term experience with this board? Not looking to over clock or any of that, but looking for something that will run stable and solid. I don't want support calls

I had one for a while and then gave it to my brother-in-law for Christmas and it's been working since just fine. When I had it I was running it at full BIOS FSB of 250MHz with no problems. It's a LOT better than ECS boards of the past. This board was stable and overclockable. Now, long term... I only had the board for about two months of messing with it and my BIL has had it for just over a month now, but so far so good.

Here's my mini review complete with instructions on an easy overclock in three simple steps.

 

[manno]

Originally posted by: stelleg151
Just as a side note, if you are willing to do some overclocking, and want PCIe upgrade I would recommend the Sempy 2500+ and a Biostar TForce6100 board. They are microatx, if thats a problem for you, but they OC like mad and have onboard video, which is always a welcome addition. Total for that combo comes out to about 125.

In the past overclocking an nvidia board with integrated video resulted in stability problems, becase to overclock the processor, you also had to overclock the integrated video card. Is that still the case with these newer nvidia boards?

 

[pharmd24]

I edited my previos post for correct multiplyer. It runns 250x9 not 11

as for the 64bit:

I was supprised too. As soon as I saw that it was a 130nm core I assumed it would be a 32bit only but, lo and behold, cpuz reported it as a 64bit and 64 bit linux runs perfectly. (I loaded winxp first before loading 64bbit kubuntu)

 

[OhioState]

Originally posted by: Zap
Yes, the Palermo version definately clocks better.

How about 2.7GHz?

Originally posted by: mellowfellow0o0
I am just curious about this MB. I have been burned by crappy mobo's in the past. IWILL = I won't. Anyone have any long term experience with this board? Not looking to over clock or any of that, but looking for something that will run stable and solid. I don't want support calls

I had one for a while and then gave it to my brother-in-law for Christmas and it's been working since just fine. When I had it I was running it at full BIOS FSB of 250MHz with no problems. It's a LOT better than ECS boards of the past. This board was stable and overclockable. Now, long term... I only had the board for about two months of messing with it and my BIL has had it for just over a month now, but so far so good.

Here's my mini review complete with instructions on an easy overclock in three simple steps.

thanks for the review *bookmarked*

 

[furballi]

Has anyone received a 90nm Palermo with this deal? What is the warranty period for the CPU and MB?

Is the Paris core also designed for 400MHz operation? Aren't Semprons limited to 333MHz FSB instead of 400MHz? What about cool and quiet? I suspect that Paris will not support SSE3.

 

[Zap]

I don't know about Outpost, but Fry's (who owns Outpost) gives you basically a 14 day return period on the CPU and motherboard with no warranty after that. If you want more of a warranty beyond 14 days you'll have to buy extended warranty.

AMD's warranty on retail box CPUs is 3 years for end user. OEM CPUs are 1 year for customers buying them directly from AMD in bulk. That means if Fry's is getting these OEM chips directly from AMD, Fry's has a 1 year warranty from when they bought them. You don't have any warranty through AMD.

The motherboard is at the discretion of the manufacturer. Some brands are good with end users. I've heard Asus is one such brand. Other brands do not want to deal with end users. Unless they've changed, ECS is such a brand. ECS gives customers buying directly from them (such as Fry's) a 1 year warranty. If you ask them for warranty support, they'll tell you to bring it back to where you bought it. If you press them, they'll say "okay, we can process it but there's a $25 handling fee." That's what happened to me early last year when I tried getting warranty.

Paris does not have SSE3. Palermo D0 cores do not have SSE3 but E3 and E6 do (typically the ones "advertised" on the retail box as 64 bit have SSE3, though I could be wrong). No matter the stepping of Palermo or if it's a Paris, the same "rating" CPU (ie 3100+) will be the same true MHz and cache amount, and same bus speeds.

ECS Motherboard RETURN (RMA) POLICY

ECS Warranty is offered to direct customers with valid ECS invoice only.

 

[furballi]

Thanks for your inputs. How's the quality of this particular ECS board? Is it equipped with Japanese capacitors? For those who have this motherboard...are you getting a new or refurbished board? Have you encountered problems with other ECS boards?

TIA

 

[yukit]

Originally posted by: furballi
Thanks for your inputs. How's the quality of this particular ECS board? Is it equipped with Japanese capacitors? For those who have this motherboard...are you getting a new or refurbished board? Have you encountered problems with other ECS boards?

TIA

Search for ECS in the Motherboard forum. Zap has been a major contributor for this MB & NF4-A939 (which I also own due to Fry's deal)

I have been using the A939 for over two months. Some people got DOA, but it has exceeded my expectation, ok I did not have a high hope to begin with, but working well enough for me to keep the board.

I am hoping the NF3 MB will be a stable one. I don't plan to overclock too much.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: furballi
How's the quality of this particular ECS board? Is it equipped with Japanese capacitors? For those who have this motherboard...are you getting a new or refurbished board?

Quality seems reasonable. Don't know about capacitors since I no longer own the board. You normally get a new one... possibility that you get a used one because Fry's tends to shelve customer returns - if so it will have a sticker on the front saying such. Also, customer returns are eligible for 5% off, however you essentially get a used item and I don't know how much testing they do with them.

BTW that reminds me with their retail box CPUs at least you know on sight if it is new. I've received an OEM CPU from Fry's that had heatsink compound on it. IIRC it worked fine, but I shouldn't have gotten a used one without being notified and given the chance to get a new one.

 

[thatguyant]

I've currently got a NF7-S2.0 w/ a Barton 2500+, Nvidia 6800 agp, and 1 GB (2x512) dual channel PC3200 ram...

is this worth an upgrade over the old system? My barton is running stable at 3200 right now and I was wondering if the performance gain is worth it?

Thanks!

 

[hans007]

it is definitely worth upgrading to this from a barton 2500.

this deal is $90 at frys or outpost.

if you have a nf2 with barton 2500...


barton 2500 goes for $75-80 on ebay alone. nf2 board especially one with soundstorm goes for a lot too (asus a7n8x-e deluxe goes for like $120 for some reason)


you can make money upgrading. crazy seeming, but true.

 

[furballi]

Just purchased this combo last night at Fry's for $97 out the door. This combo would normally run about $162 after this special. Processor is 130nm Paris

SDA3100AIP3AX
CBAEW 0522BPDW

The Fry's CPU tag said 32-bit Bare CPU with 256KB L2 cache; 1 year warranty. The board comes with one PATA cable, one floppy cable, one SATA cable, a back plate, and one manual. All the non-Japanese capacitors are rated at 105C. I'm not sure if it's possible to vary the output voltage at the two fan headers based on CPU or case temperature.

Is there a special procedure for flashing the BIOS? The manual doesn't say anything about a bios protection jumper. Can I create a boot floppy by checking FORMAT, or must I also check MS-DOS startup disk? Do I type AWDFLASH NF3916.BIN at the A:\> prompt?

TIA

 

[zettler]

I am so tempted by this.

WHY you ask?

Well, a couple of years ago I built four systems using AMD XP CPU's that were great overclockers - 1700, 2500 and 2400 mobile (Socket A?), and used EPOX 8RDA+ motherboards and an ABIT NF-7 for my family and myself. All of a sudden, at least two of them have crashed and the third looks bad too. I haven't taken the time to take them apart but from my first impressions they all appear to have had motherboard issues. On two I cannot even get them into the BIOS and the other freezes after the BIOS.

As it has been nearly two or so years since I built them, technology has advanced and now I need to decide to either get a replacement motherboard for these CPU's, or, go for a whole new arrangement.

And that presents my primary dilemma - I have a lot invested in Video cards (two each of a ATI 9800 PRO's and two ATI 9500/9700, several GB of DDR3200 RAM, good heatsinks, etc.

Now I am sure that at least two if not all three have toasted motherboards and I have a new ECS in a box just sitting there for at least one of them BUT I either have to replace the fried motherboards with something comparable or switch to something new - like this one.

Now, I bought the motherboards on the cheap from Newegg (refurbs) and they all worked great for less that $40 to $50 each BUT to replace any one of them looks like it will be more than that UNLESS someone has any suggestions, counsel or the like.

I have like two Mobile Bartons that are highly OC'able and two XP's that are too (1700) and really hate the thought of foresaking them when I know of one that is still sitting in its case and unused.

Anyone have some words of wisdom???

 

[cubeless]

with the price of a oc'able mobo for the xp's being right around what this combo costs, might as well sell the xp's and go for this...

 

[esquared]

Originally posted by: furballi
Just purchased this combo last night at Fry's for $97 out the door. This combo would normally run about $162 after this special. Processor is 130nm Paris

SDA3100AIP3AX
CBAEW 0522BPDW

The Fry's CPU tag said 32-bit Bare CPU with 256KB L2 cache; 1 year warranty. The board comes with one PATA cable, one floppy cable, one SATA cable, a back plate, and one manual. All the non-Japanese capacitors are rated at 105C. I'm not sure if it's possible to vary the output voltage at the two fan headers based on CPU or case temperature.

Is there a special procedure for flashing the BIOS? The manual doesn't say anything about a bios protection jumper. Can I create a boot floppy by checking FORMAT, or must I also check MS-DOS startup disk? Do I type AWDFLASH NF3916.BIN at the A:\> prompt?

TIA

Just use the Winflash utility here. Click on BIOS on the page and you will see the download for the flash utility and the newest BIOSECS Bios for NForce3A

Most newer boards just flash from a Windows based utility. Some people I suppose still like to flash from DOS but this is easy. I've used the ECS flash utility before, just not for this board. I flashed my 755-A2 a few months ago and it worked fine. I bought this board with the Sempron 2800+ a couple weeks ago, but haven't had the need to flash it since it already had the newest BIOS in it.

 

[jjmIII]

I sold off a Barton 2500 and A7N8X (non-d) and got this for just $30 more.

This combo (from op) is a great deal, but consider getting the Newegg combo for a little more. You KNOW your getting 90nm and 64bit, and a BAD A$$ mobo. You'll have decent onboard video, until you fill the pci-e slot.

The Newegg deal is ideal for the OC'r out there. Just my two pennies. -Jim

 

[zettler]

Originally posted by: jjmIII
I sold off a Barton 2500 and A7N8X (non-d) and got this for just $30 more.

This combo (from op) is a great deal, but consider getting the Newegg combo for a little more. You KNOW your getting 90nm and 64bit, and a BAD A$$ mobo. You'll have decent onboard video, until you fill the pci-e slot.

The Newegg deal is ideal for the OC'r out there. Just my two pennies. -Jim

Jim,

I am just trying to stay afloat, but since I have to spend some money (I just did get a reply in the Motherboard Forum that my MB(s) might be RMA applicable BUT I have to check that out), I feel I want to make sure my son get's what he can to BEST utilize for his massive gaming habit. As we have two ATI Radeon 9800 PRO's, I hate to also be thrown into looking for a new video card too...

I do some OC'ing and just checked my order history at Newegg: two ABIT NF7 MB's, Two EP-8RDA+ MB's, one AMD Athlon XP Thunderbird 1700+ (highly OC'able), one AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton CPU, and two AMD Mobile Athlon XP-M 2400+ Barton CPU's. SO I have a lot invested in Socket A, and since two are still working great, I hate to throw baby out with all the dishwater...

We only really "need" three PC's (and maybe one backup) but this is an unusual event for us. All of a sudden over the course of a month or so, we have three that are busted. Throw in to the mix that my daughter is in Chicago about 220 miles from me, and if her's breaks, I cannot just come over and repair her's if it goes down (which it did last week but I fixed it Sunday (Loose cable)). I would therefore, like to get all five up and running with a backup in both locations but it is my son's gaming PC that I need to concentrate on to ensure it is as good as we can aford right now - which ain't much!

Bottom line, I need to stick with AGP video for the immediate future but am open to suggestions as to how to replace/fix the three that are down right now...

The extra ECS MB I have sitting around hasn't been used but I know it works. I bought it at the Fry's Grand Opening in Downers Grove a while back and put the CPU in one of the PC's. It is a KT400 (???) I believe...and not a high end but does work.

 

[Zap]

zettler that ECS KT400 board probably won't overclock your CPUs much unless you're into doing "wire trick" mods. If you're pretty sure you'll have to get new/replacement motherboards anyways and since you know you have to stick with AGP for a while longer, then there's no reason not to get one of these combos. Better question would be whether to get the 3100+ or 2800+ combo. Both have 256k cache, the 3100+ has higher multiplier so easier to overclock higher using BIOS, though you can also use Clockgen to overcome BIOS limitation. The 2800+ guarantees you get a Palermo core and of course is retail box with 3 year warranty and a HSF that is decent enough (with such a cool running CPU) to keep it cool even overclocked. The 3100+, you'll have to spend at least $10 more each to get the cheapest HSF.

You mentioned economizing since your budget seems low. I can empathize with you since I'm an unemployed student at this moment. So, out of four systems, one works? Keep the working one, test the non-working (using the spare ECS board). Discard the faulty parts and see what you have left over. You'll still have the ECS board and likely at least one CPU is still good, so just combine those to get one system (using best CPU). Assuming other boards are bad, then just get two of these combos and sell off the remaining functioning CPUs to ease the cost of the new parts.

 

[doinmybestatlast]

In Thx op!

 

[jjmIII]

So, out of four systems, one works? Keep the working one, test the non-working (using the spare ECS board). Discard the faulty parts and see what you have left over. You'll still have the ECS board and likely at least one CPU is still good, so just combine those to get one system (using best CPU). Assuming other boards are bad, then just get two of these combos and sell off the remaining functioning CPUs to ease the cost of the new parts.

I agree completly.....except:
Get a 6100 Biostar combo and mix in selling off an agp card or two. Once you get some cash together, you'll be soo much further ahead already having pci-e (slot) and a better board (bios).

RMA what you can, and sell it new once it comes back. This will by far get you the most for those older parts.

A little secret: socket A is losing resale value QUICK! Just look at the 754 deals as proof. When "M2" lands, your sitting on near K6 level parts.

$0.02

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: jjmIII
Get a 6100 Biostar combo and mix in selling off an agp card or two.

That's actually a great idea! Ditch the lowest end card (9500?) and replace it with the Biostar with onboard video - may or may not be as good, but will be darn close. The Biostar board will also let you get a bit more out of your CPU. Speaking of CPU, Newegg has the older D0 stepping Palermo 3100+ for $80 right now (special deal, instant $5 off). That's retail box with HSF that is suitable for overclocking even. Even this older Palermo should clock higher and run cooler than the Paris core that most but not all people have been getting from Outpost/Fry's. Link to Newegg part. They list two 3100+, the D0 (which I linked) and the E3/E6 which is $16 more. The D0 is only $4.50 more than a 2800+!!!

HINT: If you're quick you can get this REFURBISHED Biostar 6100 for $37 shipped!!!

Outpost deal is $90 plus shipping plus at least $10 for a HSF, so that's probably about $110 shipped.

With the D0 stepping and refurbished board, $36 mobo +$1 shipping + 80 CPU +$4 shipping = $121, only $11 more!!!

I just saw this deal a few minutes ago.