ASUS A7V266-E Question

[ezdriver]

I'm thinking of having a system built for me with the following:

ASUS A7V266-E Mobo
Athlon XP 1900+
ASUS GF3 'Original' Video Card
Micron 512MB PC-2100 Memory
Win XP Home

The tech told me that they had encountered some stability issues with that mobo and they recommended that I use ECC memory to improve stability. First off, what is ECC? Second, are there stability issues with this board? I know that VIA in itself is the source of some stability issues with their chipset. Thanks for your input.

 

[Swanny]

That board is actually one of the most stable on the market. I have it and have had no problems that are the board's fault. ECC is Error Checking and Correction. If you're using a home system I would not recommend it since it slows down system performance. It is used mainly in servers where it is vital that all information is right.

 

[UsandThem]

I have the board as well, and I have no complaints. It is a very nicely laid out board with perfect stability.

Like Swanny said, you do not need ECC ram for a home rig. Just make sure you get some good quality name brand DDR ram such as Crucial.

 

[Bucksnort]

Same here, this board is rock steady

 

[EtOH]

My A7V266-E is rock stable using standard Crucial DDR. Very good board in my opinion, way better than the MSI K7T266 Pro2 that it replaced. Talk about p.o.s. that MSI board lasted 12 hours before it freaked out and wouldn't boot.

EtOH

 

[tazdevl]

Zero problems with mine. I just wish I could say the same for ATI's crappy 8500 drivers (yes, I'm using the latest ones from ATI). Damn things give me BSODs occasionally in XP Pro. That is not good.

Regarding ECC... it's a waste of money if you use it in your rig. ECC is primarily used in situations where (you either bought it first... LOL) there are data intensive, mission critical apps running... like a server or hosting a database. If you are just going to use the comp for everyday stuff.... save your money and don't bother. There is also a slight performance decrease when you use ECC memory.

I have 768MB of Crucial PC2100 in my A7V266E RAID (3X256MB). Works great.

 

[pillage2001]

<< I'm thinking of having a system built for me with the following:

ASUS A7V266-E Mobo
Athlon XP 1900+
ASUS GF3 'Original' Video Card
Micron 512MB PC-2100 Memory
Win XP Home

The tech told me that they had encountered some stability issues with that mobo and they recommended that I use ECC memory to improve stability. First off, what is ECC? Second, are there stability issues with this board? I know that VIA in itself is the source of some stability issues with their chipset. Thanks for your input. >>



He's just trying to squeze some extra cash from you. Don't fall for it. If Asus boards aren't stable, ask him to recommend one which is better if not on par with Asus.

 

[AA0]

Mine is quite stable too. If I had ECC memory, I'd use it, but I'm not going to pay extra for it, or order it separately from where I get my RAM. Any stability issues come from microsoft, not your hardware.

The only problem with it is the thermal diode is broken.

 

[ezdriver]

 

[Paladin]

Extremely stable here. Using a XP 1800, 512 (2 x 256) Crucial at 2,2,2, and MS XP Home. Haven't had any lockups, or BSODs yet. Currently at 1.62 GHz (141 MHz fsb).