ecs k7s5a problems.... should i replace with epox 8kha+ ?

[nuttervm]

i'm having instability under non-overclocked conditions in my current ecs system. the problem is that (usually not under any load) the monitor blanks out to a black screen or freezes and the computer stops responding. i've run seti and rc5 so heat or load isn't an issue, i think its the motherboard not being stable. i have the latest drivers from ati for the all in wonder radeon video card, good cooling on the cpu, and excellent case cooling.

i'm pretty convinced its the motherboard, so i was thinking that the epox board would be a good replacement, given its reputation for performance and more importantly stability.

anyone have any advice or previous experience on this?

 

[pay]

If you dont want to RMA it, get the Epox or Shuttle

 

[nuttervm]

i was thining of rma-ing it and then selling the new board in the for sale forums

 

[nuttervm]

^

 

[Workin']

I just recently escaped the scourge of the ECS boards. Had 6 of them, 3 failed after a few weeks. Didn't bother RMA'ing, just threw them in the trash! Replaced them all with Shuttle AK31A's and haven't had a problem since. Built 7 additional Shuttle-based systems with no problems, too.

 

[nuttervm]

yeah i've been thinking of getting that shuttle board as well. my main concern here is stability. overclocking and an extra pci slot aren't really on my list of needs. chances are good that 95% of the time i won't care whether my machine is working at 1.4 ghz or 1.6, and i don't think i'll need 6 pci slots anyways....

 

[nuttervm]

can i use crucial 2100 ddr with the shuttle mobo? they have a bunch of reccomended memory on the shuttle homepage, and crucial isn't on it. do the extra memory slots pose any stability problems? IIRC most of recent amd motherboards only have 2 memory slots because of issues with getting the memory timings to work with more than 2 ram chips. voltage and timings and such...

 

[HappyPuppy]

The problems you are having don't necessarily point to the motheboard, but please get rid of it anyway. Some people had problems with this board early on because it did have several bugs. The more recent revisions are proving to be extremely stable. You will no doubt be much happier with a mobo that you don't have doubts about.

By the way, what are your system stats and what have you done to troubleshoot the problem?

 

[nuttervm]

this computer is listed as drizzt under my rigs in my profile. a quick rundown :
2x256 crucial pc 21000 ram
retail 1.4 thunderbird
good hsf (better than retail, i dont remember what, thermalright something)
ati AIW radeon

for a while i thought it was bad ati drivers, because they have a history of crappy drivers. now i dont think thats it because most other people are happy with them, added to the fact that i recently discovered that the machine will freeze even under a non windows environment (while in DOS ghosting the drive it blanked out on me). the computer is not overclocked, with default ram timings. i flashed the latest bios as well. all other components in this computer except for the cpu, ram and mobo were in my previous setup with no issues whatsoever. i know it's not a heat issue because the cpu runs pretty cool at 47 degrees celcius no load, 53 under load. (it usually dies on me when i'm running a non-intesive task like browsing the web.) i've tried it under win2k pro and server and (i think) millenium. same problems in all OSes. for a while i thought it was IE, but i've found that it freezes in ie 5, 5.5 and 6 with equal frequency.

i can't think of much else.... when i first got it i had problems with the screen blanking out, then after a while they vanished for about a month or so, and now they've come back with a vengence.

 

[Workin']

<< can i use crucial 2100 ddr with the shuttle mobo? >>

That's the only kind I've ever used. My personal AK31A has 4 sticks of Crucial 256MB unbuffered DDR2100 in it and runs great. Others have hinted at problems using all 4 DIMM slots but I haven't had any problems. The 9 other machines I built around this mobo have used either 1 or 2 sticks of that same Crucial RAM.

BTW, my machine is not overclocked (1.4 tbird). I couldn't tell a difference with it running at 1520 compared to 1400, so I just run it stock hoping to keep it as stable as possible. My graphics card is overclocked, however - I could tell the difference there.

AFAIK, all KT266A boards have at least 3 DIMM slots; the Shuttle and one or two others have 4.

<< i don't think i'll need 6 pci slots anyways.... >>

Famous last words?

You can never have too big of a hard drive, too fast of a CPU, too much RAM, or too many slots.

 

[ABErickson]

I just replaced my ECS K7s5a with the epox 8kha+. I am much happier (knock on wood).

 

[Pabster]

Big Al:

Just FWIW, what are you "much happier" about with the 8KHA+ versus the K7S5A? I'm not looking for a flame shoot here, just wondering exactly what you're so pleased with on the 8KHA+ over the K7S5A. A few points in benchmarks? Easier overclocking?