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

[vick]

Thanks for the welcomes and the great links.

Digger44, that 9600 looks like a great deal, especially considering it is fanless.

Thetxstang, that 5500 also looks great. My best current card is only 16mb [and I run photoshop on it] so 256mb seems an incredible amount, though I see they come much higher.

Triggerhappy007, I've done ebay before but don't want to spend the time this time.

Furballi, that Ti4200 made its way into my cart, along with a replacement fanless heatsink. Thanks! This will be for my next build, to upgrade my main rig which in on 24/7 and needs to be relatively quiet. I think 64mb will do and this one had some appealing features.

Zap, that 9200 for $12.50 will be perfect for the kids' machine. This will be one very low cost rig that should do everything they need for a few years. I'll reuse a case and ps for them but be watching for a quiet upgrade for my next build.

Now I have to get back to real work 'till all the parts arrive.

 

[MOUKIE007]

Since u guys are talking about memory, my comp shows 333DDR with 2 sticks of 512k Corsair Value and I am running the comp at 250mhz. Is that right or should i make some adjustment to the memory? I am using the ECS board.

 

[BaNzaiDags]

Originally posted by: furballi
More buyers. Less sellers.

no wonder my XP 2600 socket A cost more now... i paid $80 for it.....

also fry's in washington is selling the sempron 2800+ with ecs board ... looks like retail processor

oh yea.. i did end up getting the 3100 79.99 after tax and shipping it was 97.44

got this heat sink: here

 

[soflawill]

anyone know if frys is ever coming to south florida?

 

[ice2882]

It now says "Limit one per household" but only when purchased between 3/17 and 3/22. So I guess they will be changing something again after today, be it the price, the availability, or something else.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: MOUKIE007
my comp shows 333DDR with 2 sticks of 512k Corsair Value and I am running the comp at 250mhz.

That's fine. DDR333 means the memory is running at a 5/6 divider. Here's the math...

250MHz * 5/6 = ~208MHz

208MHz * 2 (for DOUBLE Data Rate) = DDR416MHz

In fact your RAM is actually overclocked, running beyond DDR400 or PC3200 speeds by a hair.

Some people use a CPU core divider to do the math but basically I've got it figured down to roughly 5/6 for DDR333 setting and 2/3 for DDR266 setting.

 

[RBC]

My son is asking would this be a worthwhile upgrade (for gaming) - currently he has a:

XP 2400 on a Soyo K7VME. If yes, could he reuse his Spire Whisper Rock cooler or would that have to be replaced?

Thanks!

 

[furballi]

Not a huge speed boost over the XP2400.

 

[altonb1]

*** INSTALL FAILURE *** PLEASE HELP!

Okay, so it starts out like this:

I got home from work and got a "Please don't be mad at me...." from my wife. Turns out, the delivery was attempted about 1:50pm and my wife did not hear the door. Sooo....she offered to drive about 30 mins to the DHL office so she could pick it up when the driver returned from his daily run.

Wife gets home and I start the install. I unplug everything from my system and carry the PC and new component to my bedroom so I can watch TV while working on it. I carefully unpack everything, install the hardware and carry the tower back to my computer room. I plug in all cables and system POSTs. I set the system up in the BIOS and tried Optimal settings. Rebooted and system wouldn't POST. Crap...okay...reset the BIOS via jumper, then boot system and reconfigure BIOS with std settings (time/date, default settings for basically everything except boot order). Boot system again, optimistically hoping XP will realize there are major changes and attempt to install proper drivers to make this a quick and easy install. No such luck--system clears POST and then quickly blue sreens & reboots. okay...kinda expected this...no big deal...time for fresh install of XP Pro. Boot to CD, setup begins and tells me it found XP and wants to know what I want to do. I proceed through the menus until I get the option to remove everything in the Windows directory and install a fresh copy of XP. I begin the install, and everything is cruising fine. I get past the license info, setting default time zone, etc...even to the point of putting the PC in a workgroup and beginning to configure network. The system tells me it will reboot in 15 secs, or hit enter to restart. I hit enter, and the system continues through the install. I'm watching the sreen every few secs and the last I remember seeing is that setup will finish in 27 mins. (Or something like that) I'm staring at the wall, then talking to my wife, when suddenly the system shuts off. I'm like, "Hey...that's not right...." and wait for the system to restart, POST and start trying to recover the install. Here's where the problems really start:

System doesn't restart--It completely shut off. WTF???!? I hit the power button--nothing. I hit the power switch on the back of the PSU, then flip it again and hit the power button on the front. still nothing. So now I'm thinking...damn...I blew my PSU. (It's a 580w Demon PSU purchased from NewEgg a year or so ago...) and even though the red power light is illuminating on the PSU switch, no fans are spinning anywhere, including on the PSU. Okay...let's see if I can find my old PSU...found it...400w unit that was working fine when I replaced it just so I could buy a new PSU that glows with pretty red lights. I plug in the old PSU, outside of the case, and try to boot the system. Hey...I have fans spinning and lights are coming on the front of the case, I can hear my 2 hard drives spin up and the CD/DVD drives start to seek....cool....but then no video. No beep codes, either, but some boards don't beep very loudly so I guess I just didn't notice. Man...looks like the "surge" or whatever took out my video card. So I begin the quest to find an old video card...none to be found. (This is REALLY starting to suck!) I give up on that and decide to try to isolate the issue using other components. I grab my old board (socket A) and swap my 1GB of Corsair memory (512MB x2 sticks) in it. I add the supect video card and hook up IDE cables and short the pins to see if it will boot...I have a POST! Hmm...guess it isn't the video card...so now I decide to verify the PSU is bad. I switch the power cables back over to the PSU in my case, and short the pins again...the system begins to power up--I have glowing red lights on the PSU fans, everything begins to spin and...NO VIDEO. Okay...what's left? I've proven the video card works. I've gotten an accurate mem count, and the PSU is working again. I leave all ide cables and floppy cables unplugged and try to boot again--same result.

So...I reseat the CPU and memory yet again...and try to boot. Now I have PSU, video card & RAM trying to post with the new CPU/board. Still no video. and you know...I'm not getting any beeps, either. I removed memory and try to get beep codes...still none.

End result: Either the CPU, my board or both went south during the XP install. I know Outpost only has a 14 day return window, so...should I try to RMA the board, CPU and HSF not really knowing what is causing the isue? I know the HSF should be fin, but I'd prefer a replacement since the thermal patch melted and I have to completely remove it in order to reuse it again. I don't have another 754 board or CPU to determine which died, so I'm kinda stuck with RMA being my only option.

Question: Will Outpost cross-ship replacements? If the board died and I RMA both it and the CPU, but the CPU is fine, are they gonna hassle me for returning a good CPU (or vice-versa)?

Suggestions on how to approach Outpost would be appreciated, and any troublehooting step that I may have missed are welcome.

Thanks!

Al

P.S. I have attempted to clear CMOS multple times, so it is NOT a BIOS problem caused by aggessive settings.

 

[imported_Super]

Originally posted by: rvr2k3
What temps are you guys getting for the cpu. I installed my opteron heatsink fan, with the thermal pad (I know, was lazy and did not feel like smearing the AS5). Now I am getting temps in the low 40's.

I didn't get this deal, but i got a sempron 3100+ palermo running @ 2.02GHz and with the stock heatsink and fan it ran upper 30s low 40s. Probably highest temp it's seen is ~45°C under full load.
I used a 70mm to 80mm fan adapter and put one of my older fans on it and it's now running 29°C. Might be a little cooler ambient temp, but typically it's <35°C now. Just got some better ram so I'll oc a little more.

RBC.
I upgraded from an xp2400+ and I think there's a pretty big difference in performance. But i also had bad MSI board running it that wouldn't oc at all and the agp was all screwed up and would only run the PCI bus (AGP 0x). But, that's from my personal experience. ymmv

 

[furballi]

OK...you should have installed WXP in a CLEAN HDD. DO a low level format. Create a PRIMARY PARTITION and set it ACTIVE. Connect ONLY the mouse, keyboard, ONE optical drive (master), and ONE HDD (master if PATA) when you install windows. Reset CMOS then reboot PC. Add other devices to the MB AFTER you've successfully loaded XP.

I've just helped another member in the HARDWARE forum with nearly the same issue. Turned out it was WXP SP2. That's why I always use WXP SP1 with all new installations. SP2 can foul up the installation. I'm not clear as to the exact failure mode. However, a switch to a WXP SP1 CD resolved the installation issue. I discovered this problem when I try to migrate my old HP8670C from W98SE to WXP Pro SP2. SP2 also hosed my integrated sound/modem. No more SP2 for me. Also make sure that you have a clean CD!

Take the MB out of the case and put it on the ECS box when you troubleshoot/install WXP. Often, there will be an electrical short, causing these issues.

I've built four rigs based on this combo. Also have three friends with the same setup. The installation of the sound and LAN can be a little tricky, but the procedures are convered in this thread. All seven builds went silky smooth.

It is possible that you may have a bad combo, but I'd wager that you probably are not using WXP SP1 CD.

 

[rvr2k3]

Originally posted by: furballi
OK...you should have installed WXP in a CLEAN HDD. DO a low level format. Create a PRIMARY PARTITION and set it ACTIVE. Connect ONLY the mouse, keyboard, ONE optical drive (master), and ONE HDD (master if PATA) when you install windows. Reset CMOS then reboot PC. Add other devices to the MB AFTER you've successfully loaded XP.

I've just helped another member in the HARDWARE forum with nearly the same issue. Turned out it was WXP SP2. That's why I always use WXP SP1 with all new installations. SP2 can foul up the installation. I'm not clear as to the exact failure mode. However, a switch to a WXP SP1 CD resolved the installation issue. I discovered this problem when I try to migrate my old HP8670C from W98SE to WXP Pro SP2. SP2 also hosed my integrated sound/modem. No more SP2 for me. Also make sure that you have a clean CD!

Take the MB out of the case and put it on the ECS box when you troubleshoot/install WXP. Often, there will be an electrical short, causing these issues.

I've built four rigs based on this combo. Also have three friends with the same setup. The installation of the sound and LAN can be a little tricky, but the procedures are convered in this thread. All seven builds went silky smooth.

It is possible that you may have a bad combo, but I'd wager that you probably are not using WXP SP1 CD.

I have built over two dozen machines and rebuilt a dozen more. I never heard of SP2 causing an inoperative machine. I've seen bad memory, shorts from the MB hitting the case, weak power supplies, but never b/c XP SP2 was used.

I would install just the cpu, memory and power and see if the machine posts. If still no activity, take the MB out of the case and run it off the ECS box. Lastly I would reseat the CPU and make sure I placed a thin layer of Artic Silver or whatever other TIM being used.

Also, try a Linux live CD to see if the equipment is all recognized. I would avoid starting with SP1 and then piggybacking everything on top of it with updates.

That's just my opinion.

 

[furballi]

SP2 is behind the lockup issue with some rigs. Check out today's shutdown thread in the HARDWARE forum. WXP will reboot with WXP SP2 near the end of the installation. A switch to WXP SP1 fixed the problem.

FYI, most IT Pros are still using SP1.

 

[rvr2k3]

Most of the IT Pros in my hospital, I would not trust with my Pentium 2 that's not been turned on since the 90s. Seriously, how do they patch the security holes in SP1? I personally have had a much easier time using SP2 than SP1. The only time I had an issue was when I upgraded my Toshiba Celeron laptop a couple of years ago to SP2 and the whole thing kept locking up. I ended up slipstreaming SP2 onto a disc and doing a fresh reinstall.

 

[Flatpicker]

ATTN: altonb1

DO NOT attempt to "low-level format" your drive. You can't do it, you never need to do it and Furball is full of it!!
Just do a regular or quick format on your partition.. and reinstall.

 

[yukit]

It seems most people are getting the new $80 deal from Outpost, but it is now available at Fry's in Bay area:
http://newspaperads.mercurynews.com/ROP...2664&adid=2741129&subid=10991435&type=

 

[Triggerhappy007]

Originally posted by: yukit
It seems most people are getting the new $80 deal from Outpost, but it is now available at Fry's in Bay area:
http://newspaperads.mercurynews.com/ROP...2664&adid=2741129&subid=10991435&type=

No, it's a different CPU and also retail box, the 2800.

 

[furballi]

Quick format does not clean out any baddies in the HDD. Download the Zero Fill tool at the Seagate website. It takes about 24 hour to wipe a 300GB HDD. That's the best method to SANITIZE the HDD.

I tend to misuse the term Low Level Format. It should be zero fill....

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/geom/formatUtilities-c.html

 

[altonb1]

Okay, let me summarize my novel and let you know where I stand at this point:

I have the ECS board and CPU sitting OUTSIDE of the case. The only components are the RAM and video card, plus the case cables for reset switch, power, etc. (I unplugged the USB cables from the headers, etc, so I am completely bare bones. I power obn the system, everything seems to fire up, but I still don't get video. I don't know if the AGP port is flaking because I can't find any of my old PCI video cards. I guess theoretically, it COULD be the AGP port, but that stills mean the issue is on the board or the CPU because I got video when I put it back in my old board.

I have used low-level format on drives in the past and salvaged a drive that seemed to be dead, but the drives are not affecting the system at this point because I do not even have the IDE cables attached on the system.

So...should I RMA both the board and the CPU?

 

[Zap]

altonb1, you have CPU inserted and HSF properly installed? Have you tried reseating the CPU? Also, clearing BIOS?

 

[lsimpson50]

Memory question - which will be better for gaming?

1GB of Corsair Value Series DDR400 (2 x 512) 2.5-3-3-6, which will only run at DDR330 unless you overclock to a maximum DDR400 ($55 I have this now),

or, 1GB of OCZ Value Series DDR400 (1 x 1024) 3-4-4-8, which will run full 400-speed and X more with overclocking? ($55 - yesterdays outpost price)

 

[duhh]

At the risk of sounding stupid, has anyone that is haivng winxp sp2 problems tried turning off NX in the bios? I don't have my board yet, but any CPU/MB that supports NX should be able to turn it off as well.

The reason I ask is that NX was introduced in WINXP SP2, and it's purpose is to prevent code from execution. There are tons of cases where NX blocks things it is not supposed to.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NX_Bit

 

[duhh]

Originally posted by: lsimpson50
Memory question - which will be better for gaming?

1GB of Corsair Value Series DDR400 (2 x 512) 2.5-3-3-6, which will only run at DDR330 unless you overclock to a maximum DDR400 ($55 I have this now),

or, 1GB of OCZ Value Series DDR400 (1 x 1024) 3-4-4-8, which will run full 400-speed and X more with overclocking? ($55 - yesterdays outpost price)

Out of curiousity, how did you determine the Corsaid will not run at DDR400 ? I oredered that RAM, so I am curious

 

[furballi]

More memory if the game requires more than 1GB of physical memory.

 

[furballi]

My Corsair VS will run at DDR400 up to 243MHz at 2.5-3-3-6-1T (Prime95 and Memtest stable). I have four 512MB sticks and the worst one runs at 236MHz.