fry's sempron 2800+ and ecs 755-A2 $69

[hans007]

saw this in the LA times today.

ecs 755-a2 board and sempron 2800+ . not sure if its retail box, but it has a retail box picture that, and says "cool and quiet" which only the newer 64bit semprons support.

who knows.

still not too bad a price though it would be hotter with a pci-e board.

 

[foofoo]

here's a link for those interested...
link
pretty good deal, like most fry's combos, it's like getting the mb for free or nearly so.

i personally think that the a64 300 and micro atx mb is a better deal at 129
link
i got this one

 

[Twingo]

Damn, wish they had that a64 3000 deal on outpost, I'd snap one up. Both look like good deals for economy boxes.

 

[C'DaleRider]

They had this same combo on sale at the Atlanta, GA Fry's last week......retail boxed cpu and mb. While I do NOT like ECS boards, this one fired right up and is working without a hitch. The cpu, though, is NOT a 64-bit cpu....just a plain-Jane Socket 754 Sempron.

It is a good deal for a cheapie box, though.

 

[Screech]

I got the athlon 64 3000+ sckt 754 witht he micro atx ECS mobo and the motherboard was bad, so be careful if you buy that......

 

[manly]

Do "high-end" 32-bit Semprons make sense for budget gaming rigs? Was thinking about getting one of the nVidia 6800LE's from newegg & unlocking pipes.

But then I read these Semprons are roughly as good as old, reliable Bartons. Is A64 3000+ that much better?

I'm referring to the Sempron 3100+ which includes 256K L2 cache. Thanks.

 

[goofy4ever]

I got in on the same deal. I've never built a rig using AMD processors before.

Can someone tell me if I need a thermal compound for the retail kit (w/ fan) CPU? I see a small silver cloth-like patch (maybe thermal interface) but not so sure.

tia.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: goofy4ever
I got in on the same deal. I've never built a rig using AMD processors before.

Can someone tell me if I need a thermal compound for the retail kit (w/ fan) CPU? I see a small silver cloth-like patch (maybe thermal interface) but not so sure.

tia.

that silver patch is thermal compound.


as for the person who asked if its much better or not. sempron 3100 is 1.8 ghz and 256k cache (the newer ones have 64bits, not sure if these have cool and quiet, i know the 3300 and 3400 newer ones do). 3000+ 939 is 1.8 ghz, and the 754 is 2ghz with 512k cache.

so on most tasks the sempron will be barely slower.


i have seen sempron 2800s on ebay for about $60 shipped, and for a 1.6 ghz 256k cache chip that is not bad at all. about half price of a 3000+ athlon 64.

 

[AkumaX]

Originally posted by: manly
Do "high-end" 32-bit Semprons make sense for budget gaming rigs? Was thinking about getting one of the nVidia 6800LE's from newegg & unlocking pipes.

But then I read these Semprons are roughly as good as old, reliable Bartons. Is A64 3000+ that much better?

I'm referring to the Sempron 3100+ which includes 256K L2 cache. Thanks.

i think they'd do fine as a budget gaming rig. they're not the same as bartons, considering that they have an IMC which is a good boost in performance over Socket A

 

[Avalon]

This is a sick price. Semprons are damn good performers for budget s754 chips. It would be even better if you could overclock the chip a little on that board, but I doubt they'd bundle you a board that could do that...or am I wrong?

Either way, outstanding price. I loved my 2800+ s754 Sempy while I had it.

 

[AkumaX]

Originally posted by: Avalon
This is a sick price. Semprons are damn good performers for budget s754 chips. It would be even better if you could overclock the chip a little on that board, but I doubt they'd bundle you a board that could do that...or am I wrong?

Either way, outstanding price. I loved my 2800+ s754 Sempy while I had it.

nah i had this board, did a little bios modding and found that it o/cs quite modestly

 

[mplogic]

I picked one up mostly just for the processor. Have a SFF system this will work well in. I've heard of some people getting 64bit models (or at least they claim to) but I got a SDA2800AIO3BA which is the older 32 bit version. Still a fair price on a 90nm chip with a freebie motherboard. I might try again tomorrow and see how many times I can send the check out guy back to try for a 64bit.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: AkumaX

Originally posted by: manly
Do "high-end" 32-bit Semprons make sense for budget gaming rigs? Was thinking about getting one of the nVidia 6800LE's from newegg & unlocking pipes.

But then I read these Semprons are roughly as good as old, reliable Bartons. Is A64 3000+ that much better?

I'm referring to the Sempron 3100+ which includes 256K L2 cache. Thanks.

i think they'd do fine as a budget gaming rig. they're not the same as bartons, considering that they have an IMC which is a good boost in performance over Socket A

I'll go ahead and give the Sempron 3100+ a shot. It's for my poor friend who only has an Athlon 900 MHz anyway!

 

[Avalon]

Originally posted by: AkumaX

Originally posted by: Avalon
This is a sick price. Semprons are damn good performers for budget s754 chips. It would be even better if you could overclock the chip a little on that board, but I doubt they'd bundle you a board that could do that...or am I wrong?

Either way, outstanding price. I loved my 2800+ s754 Sempy while I had it.

nah i had this board, did a little bios modding and found that it o/cs quite modestly

Good deal.
:thumbsup:

Just makes this combo even sweeter.

 

[fishhawk]

Does the 755-A2 support true S3 (suspend to ram, with fans off) under XP/MCE2005? Anyone get this to work on this mb? I found an epinions review that said it didn't, but I saw the review after I bought the combo last weekend (755-A2 with 2600+ Sempron $69 Austin). I have a budget htpc whose mb doesn't support S3, and I was wanting to fix this problem as cheaply as possible.

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: fishhawk
Does the 755-A2 support true S3 (suspend to ram, with fans off) under XP/MCE2005? Anyone get this to work on this mb? I found an epinions review that said it didn't, but I saw the review after I bought the combo last weekend (755-A2 with 2600+ Sempron $69 Austin). I have a budget htpc whose mb doesn't support S3, and I was wanting to fix this problem as cheaply as possible.

Yes it does. By now, shouldn't virtually all motherboards from the last 20 months do STR/S3?

 

[fishhawk]

Thanks, manly. Are you actually using this mb, and S3 works correctly (fans off)?

The reason I ask is because of this link here, and the fact that I have a Foxconn 747K7AA that I just got from newegg where the bios allows S3, but the fans never shut off (set bios before installing OS, applied USBBIOSx hack, used dumppo, nothing connected to mb except 9550 video and ps2 kb/mouse).

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: fishhawk
Thanks, manly. Are you actually using this mb, and S3 works correctly (fans off)?

The reason I ask is because of this link here, and the fact that I have a Foxconn 747K7AA that I just got from newegg where the bios allows S3, but the fans never shut off (set bios before installing OS, applied USBBIOSx hack, used dumppo, nothing connected to mb except 9550 video and ps2 kb/mouse).

Tested it today. Like my old ECS K7S5A, it only does S1. :| But my friend doesn't care.

 

[fishhawk]

Originally posted by: manly

Originally posted by: fishhawk
Thanks, manly. Are you actually using this mb, and S3 works correctly (fans off)?

The reason I ask is because of this link here, and the fact that I have a Foxconn 747K7AA that I just got from newegg where the bios allows S3, but the fans never shut off (set bios before installing OS, applied USBBIOSx hack, used dumppo, nothing connected to mb except 9550 video and ps2 kb/mouse).

Tested it today. Like my old ECS K7S5A, it only does S1. :| But my friend doesn't care.

I read somewhere (don't remember where) that ECS boards typically don't do S3, but many PCChips boards do. The PCChips W32 mb is basically the same thing as the 755-A2, but it's description on PCChip's web site says it does S3. I started my quest for S3 with a low end PCChips board (don't remember the model), but it didn't do S3 (had it in the bios fixed at S1). So, it seems unless you find someone that actually has S3 working, you can't believe what the manual or manufacturer says. I suppose I'll need to bite the bullet and spend more money to get something like the ASUS A7N8X, which seems to do S3 based on what I have read from people actually using it. I've wasted more time than the $$ difference anyway.

I wish the motherboard reviews would include a test to see if S3 really works. The reviews typically cover packaging, overclocking, board layout, and performance. But with the growing popularity of HTPCs, it seems S3 should be a feature that is reviewed as well.

EDIT: The deal 755-A2 with 2800+ Sempron is back in today's flyer, at least in Austin TX.

 

[mrrman]

ECS is having a bad rep putting out crappy mobo's...bought one last time they had a sale and the secondary IDE channel did not work. Why do you think they always have a stack of ECS mobo's at Fry's....they are returns or crap

 

[0roo0roo]

not entirely. people return tons o f things at frys. half the time its cuz they just choose something else or becuz they are incompetent and can't get it to work... i've built a decent number of ecs systems..only one was doa..

 

[ourfpshero]

i've had several of the fry's cpu/mobo combos- all ecs mobo's. never had any problems

 

[Kaieye]

nm

 

[fishhawk]

Actually, I returned my 755-A2 combo after I opened the mb box when I read that S3 didn't work. I never installed anything, didn't even take the mb out of the bag. They slapped the "return" stickers on both the CPU and the mb boxes. On the other hand, I see boxes at Fry's all the time with items missing; those I would be wary of.

 

[manly]

Yes, my two-year old A7N8X Deluxe happily does STR/S3. I use it all the time. Even includes the best onboard audio of all-time.

ECS quality isn't necessarily better or worse than the next guy, but their RMA policy is pathetic.