Been a long time. k7S5a best cheapo??

[DaMenace]

ECS L7S7A2 SiS 746
or this....

 

[Macro2]

translate cheapo into dollars...

 

[Peter]

Coming soon, ECS 748-A. Same as L7S7A2, but with SiS 748 chipset (and no onboard FireWire option, apparently). These are best when you're using DDR RAM; ye olde K7S5A is only a good choice today if you have SDR RAM to recycle.

 

[bambam]

I didn't have a good experience with my K7S5A v3.1 which died after 9 months (threw it away because Fry's Outpost and ECS RMA hassles ) . I hope the other ECS boards are better . Since I would like to find a home for some SDRAM I have , I will most likely get a Biostar M7vig-PR0 or the MSI KM2M Combo-L .

 

[bambam]

I forgot the PCCHIPS SIS730 M810 aka ECS K7SEM . The local system builders sell lots of them . I wonder if they have fewer PS and memory issues than the K7S5A . Interestingly enough these boards cost slightly more than the K7S5A even though the have an older chipset .

 

[Peter]

They cost slightly more because they have the more expensive chipset (w/ integrated video).

Power supply and memory problems are the power supply's and memory DIMM's fault, not the board's. The symptoms differ from one board model to another, but a bad DIMM is a bad DIMM just as an underpowered PSU is an underpowered PSU.

 

[nan0bug]

I think the best cheapo board is the Asus Nforce microatx board. decent (can play quake3 and UT) onboard video and 5.1 sound, decent overclocking and its under $70