ECS K7S5A mboard questions....

[gordita]

FedEX just delivered my ECS K7S5A + 1Ghz duron setup.
but, after reading a few posts over here, i'm deliberating if I should open it up or just return it to newegg.
after reading all the problems the folks over here have had, i think I should've spent those extra $20 and bought the MSi K7Turbo

the only reason i went with ECS was bcoz i've sold both my earlier systems and am in the process of assembling my next two.

i thought system #1 wud be an inexpensive duron system and sys #2 wud be a high end athlon xp with epox mboard system.

but i won't have $$$ to get to sys#2 for atleast another 4 mnths.

I also have tons of SDRAM but no DDR memory....

so, should i open it, make sure my 512mb SPectek modules work (then i can trade them for some DDR memory) and then return it to newegg or sell it here or shud i just send the unopened package back to newegg..

maan....i've never been so confused....ever.

and wot FSB and CPU multiplier settings shud i choose for the duron IF i do decide to install it... 10x100 ?

thank u all for taking the time to read my nonsense posts...

 

[tritium4ever]

I've had no problems with my K7S5A ever, and it runs very stably even at the highest memory settings. Keep the board unless you plan to overclock, since FSB adjustment is only available with a modified (read: unsupported) BIOS and multiplier adjustment is impossible on any BIOS with the K7S5A.

 

[tolbyn]

If you're on a tight budget, keep the board. I have one and it runs stable. Did have a few problems during the early stages of setting it up, but for the most part, its a decent board for its price. If you can spare some extra cash or if you're looking into doing some major OCing...try looking into a different board.

 

[DT4K]

I had that board and had lots of minor problems. Nothing major was wrong with it, but I got tired of troubleshooting all the little things.

About 30% of the time, my usb mouse would not work when I booted, and I would have to reboot to get it to work. I also had a problem with the MAC address for the onboard LAN disappearing and had to run a utility supplied by ECS to fix it.

I sent mine back and got an Epox 8kha+. I have had no trouble whatsoever with the Epox.

It's up to you though. If you don't mind spending the extra money, get an 8kha+, you'll probably have fewer headaches. If you don't want to spend extra, keep the ECS and see how it goes. Lots of people have been very happy with that board.

If you got it from newegg, you've got 30 days to decide to return it, so you might as well try it and see if you have any problems. I'm not sure about the RMA policy(if it makes a difference whether or not the box is open). I think they charge a restocking fee either way.

 

[bozo1]

I've built a couple of systems with that board and have had no problems.

However, you should probably return it unopened just for the simple fact that you are having doubts and any minor problems you ever have in the future you are probably going to blame on the board unless you are 100% comfortable with your purchase.

 

[gordita]

it's a known fact that you go 'soft' if u haven't attempted the things u normally would for sometime.

not building a setup for 3 yrs finally took its toll and had made me soft.
I kinda realised that while driving back home from work.

so, i came home.....tore open the package...put the damn duron inside the K7s5A...and booted up.
first message i get: CMOS battery LOW

so, i went into the setup.....tweaked around.....disabled onboard AUDIO and LAN among other things....and then I dont get that COMS mssg anymore.

as of right now, I'm re-installing win2000.....

so far so good....

just need to know what drivers I must install from that ECS cd.

should i install the VxD drivers BEFORE installing the AGP drivers or later?

thank u all

 

[SunnyD]

CMOS batter low comes every time you clear or flash your bios. It's just stupid, it goes away as soon as you go in and save settings in the bios.

As far as drivers... DOWNLOAD the lastest ones directly from SiS...

That's all.

 

[Copperpipe]

gordita,

I was going to recommend that you build the K7S5A since you already have it and also since newegg is very good about RMAs. So I hope your system works out fine for you.

There are many of us who have a similar situation as you as far as seeking economical upgrades with what SDRAM we have vs. spending more on expensive DDRAM chips and motherboards and being fearful of ECS's apparent inconsistent quality control.

Ever hear of Axiontech.com, an online reseller in TX? They give a one year warranty on everything they sell but their prices are higher than newegg (K7S5A is currently $62 vs $52 @ newegg). They also have an instant online messaging tech and sales support service. I asked them if the K7S5A has a higher RMA rate than other boards, and some tech guy named Roy replied that it's actually lower than other brands! He closed by recommending the K7S5A board very highly saying that "you will like this board." I don't know if he was BS'ing me or if they have a big surplus of these, but I had a hard time swallowing his sales pitch even if he wasn't in sales.

I also recently noticed a local computer shop is selling/assembling systems with this board, but I haven't contacted them yet about their warranty policy and defect rate experience with the board.

In any case, it seems to boil down to this: if you are lucky, the K7S5A will be a great buy. But if not, you will end up cursing the ECS brand as many others have done. It's just very difficult to pass up a board which is so cheap and which has the potential to perform so well if you get a good one.

Good luck.

 

[bowie71]

yes Gordita, you should return it to Newegg, once you have doubt in your mind, then there will be no effort if you have some problems with the mobo that actually the ones I think as chalenges. With some extra dollar, you can have Epox 8KHA+ or Shuttle board that I recognize have less problems than ECS K7S5A, but it's up to your decision though. Anyway if you decide to keep it, it has no multiplier setting, so just plug the Duron in your mobo, it will recognize it as Duron 1Ghz immediatelly.

 

[MrCraphead]

I'd recommend you stick with the ECS board and see what it can do for you. Granted, there will always be a few bad eggs in every batch of mobos, but chance is that your mobo works fine and you'll probably be really satisfied with it. So just try it out, and if it suxors, then you can return it or something.

 

[Dizway]

return it, not worth the hassle. seriously. I got fed up with mine long time ago. Yes I know some people have good luck with it... that's good for you.

 

[aircooled]

I've had my ECS for about 2 weeks now, and so far it's as stable as my previous abit/via mobo.

Plus I like the idea of the motherboard being a $50 component. Since the CPU manufactures always change something that requires a new mobo, it might as well be replaceable for $50 rather than $120.

 

[Brian48]

My ECS has been running solid for 5 months now. My brother's has been going for 7. I personally don't think it's that big of a gamble to just try it and see. The motherboard is priced at what you would normally pay for single video game. Unless it's busted for sure, I just don't think it's worth the time and effort to return via mail. Who knows, this may turn out to be the best motherboard you've ever used.

 

[lsman]

<< ...

and wot FSB and CPU multiplier settings shud i choose for the duron IF i do decide to install it... 10x100 ?

... >>



there is a overclock bios from ocworkbench.com's forum. allow you to set some options on fsb and ram speed.
as cpu 100 is right.

my guess is once you have it set up you are going to sell it (as your last 2 system), right? i think it is a nice stable system... at least for me

 

[gordita]

well....thank u all for posting and as u know......i setup the K7S5A with the duron and its been firing since yesterday.
i've had one freeze only under win2000.

so far...so good.
however, I do have some questions.

i'll start off with wot i did as far as installation and then ask the questions:

after i fired up the machine the first time, i went into the BIOS and turned off onboard AUDIo and LAN.
also turned off the virusscan onboard and serial ports and power management.

then, i proceeded to install win200 afresh.

win2000 detected my agp v550 viper card and both my NIC's and my soundblaster live.

then I proceeded to install my other s/w

now, I haven't even opened the driver and s/w cd that came with the ECS board.....my question is:
do i need to install ANY driver?
audio is disabled....so i dont need drivers for that
same goes for LAN

but, how about the chipset driver?
and how about the AGP driver?

the only other driver i've installed is the AMD bug fix for athlons and durons.

so, am i missing something here?

I did not even try to find out wot BIOS rev. i'm at since everything is working fine.

on the mboard, there's a sticker saying i got ver3.1.......is this the latest, considering i got the board just yesterday?

i know these are lots of questions but.......3 years out of the game and i feel like a new born baby as far as all these new boards and technologies....

thank u all.....and yes, I've gone thru the K7S5A FAQ at ocworkbench.com

 

[Brian48]

Yes. Install the latest AGP drivers for max performance and stability, especially when running 3d apps. Don't bother with any other drivers unless you're actually using the on-board LAN or audio. In fact, disable the on-board audio, gameport, LAN, and serial ports in the BIOS unless you're actually using them. This goes a long way in saving you IRQ's and headaches from resource conflicts. If you're running PC133, you have the option in the BIOS to run your RAM at 133mhz (100/133), but I recommend you stick with a 100/100 setting as this board runs noticably faster in syncronis mode (weird, but it does).

Just FYI, here's the specs to my backup that's using this board:



<< Box #2:
WinXP Professional
Powerman FSP300-60BT 300w
850mhz Duron/ECS K7S5A
Taisol CGK742002 (w/Evercool 50x50x25)
512mb PC133 Crucial CL2
Visiontek GeForce3
SB Audigy X-Gamer/Altec Lansing ACS56
WD 7200rpm ATA100 30g
WD 5400rpm ATA100 10g
Acer 52x CDROM
Sony CDRW Spressa 8x4x32x
USB devices:
MS Sidewinder game pad
MSIntellimouse Optical
Epson 480SXU printer >>

 

[gordita]

shud I install the SiS AGP drivers after my agp viper drivers are already installed as they are right now or shud i uninstall my agp card drivers and first install the SiS agp drivers.

so far, the video's working great.........i dont play games so dont really care about 3d stuff...

 

[bowie71]

you don't have to gordita,.. there would be only slight different in videocard performance bentween old AGP driver and the new one, especially you don't play 3D games at all. Glad to hear that your mobo works flawlessly...

 

[TheModemWizard]

I installed the same combo for my brother.....was a smooth install. Great (and stable) board for the price.

 

[Yum]

i got my K7S5A fairly recently, had no problems installing and getting it sorted, and yes it did display the message "cmos battery low", but that went after saving cmos settings.

i've only had one problem with it and i still can't solve it Its nothing too major, but can be a right royal pain in the arse ! coz i have to keep re setting cmos settings and then boot again. Other than that this mobo been great, seeing as im on a low budget, plus i got the option to use my sdram untill i can afford to buy ddr So if your really restricted with budget, i would stick with the K7S5A, if u got a enough money for the Epox, get that !

As far as my problem goes, could anyone give me a have ?

Sometimes when i boot (not all the time), it stops after detecting IDE devices and i get the message about checksum something to do with Cmos, i don't quite understand it all (not that much of a computer wiz) but to solve it i have to go into bios and reset to optimal or best performance, then reset the clock (which is beginning to piss me off) and save n exit, and it works fine. Someone suggested replacing the cmos battery as most of the K7S5As cmos batteries were DOA. I did this and it hasn't had an effect, suggestions plz, before im tempted to rip this motherboard out and put my old one back in