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Hot? Duron 950MHz Boxed CPU w/ECS Motherboard for $99

A

abitaz

Member
I never built a system yet and I am trying to learn. I don't kow if this a good deal, great deal, decent deal, or no deal. It just sounded good so I figured I'll see what you people think about it.

Outpost #: 3211101



Motherboard and CPU Combo features:

AMD Duron 950 MHz Boxed CPU
ECS K7S5A motherboard featuring:

SIS 735 Chipset with Socket A Interface
1 (4x) AGP: 5 PCI : 1 AMR Slots
4 DIMM Slots (2DDR for PC2100 & 2 SDRAM for PC133) for up to 1GB USE DURON LOGO
UDMA/100 Hard Drive Support
On Board 10/100 NIC (Network Interface Card)
 
Do a search next time. There are tons of posts on this deal or similar, including references to issues with this motherboard and issues with Outpost's return policy. This is a decent deal, but do a little legwork next time.
 


<< Can you put an ATX board in an AT box? With AT power supply? >>



99% sure that's a negatory...

Someone will clear this up 100% in a second, though. Brilliant minds in these forums.

CK
 
Great price but he problem here is the Outpost return policy - your are stuck if it is defective . It's better to buy from a place that will let you return it -
like Fry's B&M, New Egg, Multiwave or your local shop .
 
Royboy81
Correct on everything except the issues with the mobo. 99% of the issues boil down to either user error, or getting a bad board. EVERY manufacturer has a few that slip through, so that's not a major problem (though I know we'd all like that number to go to ZERO). I've setup a couple systems around this board, and it's SOLID!
 
Can you put an ATX board in an AT box? With AT power supply?

Nope. The power connectors on AT and ATX boards are different. Also the size and shape of the board are different. I have a great AT case at home but can't find an updated mb to fit it. You can find some cheap ATX cases with decent power supplies, then canabalize the rest of the parts from your AT case, or buy all new and sell the AT as a working unit.

Hope this helps,

RCraig
 
Ditto this!



<< Great price but he problem here is the Outpost return policy - your are stuck if it is defective . It's better to buy from a place that will let you return it - like Fry's B&M, New Egg, Multiwave or your local shop . >>



Bob
 
Can't use an AT power supply, but if you invest some flow in the right tools, you can mod an AT case to fit an ATX board. Not the prettiest, but it works.
 
With all the brains here, can anybody please link me to the best book, preferably ebook, to building and upgrading PCs. Please. As for the advice of doing legwork, I actually searched b4 I posted, but I'm new here and I'm not sure if I searched correctly. Sorry!!
 
yeah, the outpost return policy blow chumks... I emailed them and they gave me this line about manufacturers not accepting returns accept from the end user.. then i was like ECS WILL NOT TAKE END USER RETURNS... and they will not respond to that e-mail
 
Jeez... that return policy is rediculous. If that happened to me I'd be fighting it all the way with the credit card company... I mean how do they think they can get away w/ sticking people w/ defective products if there is no "out"... Gimme a break.
 
I don't feel like researching, and a bunch of you guys already have it, So does anyone know if and how much you can overclock this? thinking of building a cheapo linux box.
 
WT-
I didn't necessarily mean problems with the board, just issues that have been discussed concerning the board and Outpost. You are right, it is usually the user...

Unhuman-
I still think this is just a decent deal, since the 1Ghz Duron has been offered with this mb for the same price or less. Now that is smokin...
 


<< WT-
I didn't necessarily mean problems with the board, just issues that have been discussed concerning the board and Outpost. You are right, it is usually the user...
 >>



IC....that's different then... 😉
 


<< I don't feel like researching, and a bunch of you guys already have it, So does anyone know if and how much you can overclock this? thinking of building a cheapo linux box. >>

I believe this mobo can't adjust multiplier settings, so you're stuck with FSB OC'ing only.
 
I found the following "How to Build Your Own PC" website helpful:

Build Your Own PC Instructions

And I also used the Building a PC for Dummies book.

Finally, I got excellent advice on the folowing forum:

amdmb.com ECS Forum

I just built my first PC using the K7S5A and a 950 MHz Duron and it seems to be working great. I bought this combo from Fry's a few weeks ago for $99 although it just came with the bare CPU.

Regarding possible issues with this board, there are experienced builders who have had trouble with the K7S5A. I've been reading the above forums for several months and there definitely are K7S5As with problems. Some of these problems include cold/warm boot difficulties, lost CMOS and data corruption. Whether or not these problems are worse than for any other motherboard is difficult to determine. Is it only 1% of K7S5A boards that have a problem? I don't know.

One possible reason for so many K7S5A complaints on these forums is that there are so many K7S5As out there. And another reason might be that the K7S5A is so inexpensive that it attracts a disproportionate number of buyers that might cut corners on other parts of their system.

Some people strongly recommend a high quality power supply for the K7S5A since it seems to be picky about this.

Some CPUs are apparently more likely to have problems than others. The 1.4 GHz T-Bird, for example, appears to cause problems with some K7S5A boards.

And some people have built systems with the K7S5A that have run fine for months but have then developed problems.

I decided to give the K7S5A a shot because, if I got a good board, it's a great deal. But I also bought from a local seller with a good return policy in case I ran into problems.

Good Luck!

Bob



<< With all the brains here, can anybody please link me to the best book, preferably ebook, to building and upgrading PCs. Please. As for the advice of doing legwork, I actually searched b4 I posted, but I'm new here and I'm not sure if I searched correctly. Sorry!! >>

 


<< Jeez... that return policy is rediculous. If that happened to me I'd be fighting it all the way with the credit card company... I mean how do they think they can get away w/ sticking people w/ defective products if there is no "out"... Gimme a break. >>


Actually, this happens every day with computer components and people don't realize it until it happens to them. Standard return policy at most stores is 30 days, and after that it's manufacturer's warranty only. The problem comes in where a lot of companies won't deal with end users (Outpost has it backwards), and the store won't return it for the end user after 30 days typically, so the end user is stuck with a product that technically has a warranty but it can't be used. Motherboards are a common problem area, as lots of manufacturers won't deal with end users on them... for obvious reasons... they want to sell boards, not walk customers that have no clue what they are doing, through the whole installation process.

Newegg is raved about on here, but they have the same 30 day policy. I was looking for a Soltek board and Newegg is the only place I found that carries it, but then I found the US distributor for Soltek selling boards on E*ay (no link allowed, search for item#1321500317), with this warning:

"It has come to our attention that a non-authorized Soltek reseller is selling Soltek motherboards for a few dollars less. It is important that you are aware of their policy, as stated on their website: "N____.com assigns and passes through to the Customer any warranty of the manufacturer, and Customer acknowledges that it shall have recourse only under such warranties and only as against the manufacturer of the products. .. N____.com does not provide tech support." Therefore, you will get NO warranty and NO technical support if you purchase from them."

 
It sucks that Outpost would not take the defective motherboard, however, if you use AMEX to buy the product, AMEX Blue would refund your money (up to 90 days?). Can anybody confirm this?
 
I just called about this combo because it's on backorder.

288 orders are waiting for the ECS motherboards, but the CSR said they were expecting 600 coming in on Thursday.

I still think it's a good enough deal to take a chance on.

 


<< I found the following "How to Build Your Own PC" website helpful:

Build Your Own PC Instructions

And I also used the Building a PC for Dummies book.

Finally, I got excellent advice on the folowing forums:

OCWorkbench ECS Forum

amdmb.com ECS Forum


Good Luck!

Bob



<< With all the brains here, can anybody please link me to the best book, preferably ebook, to building and upgrading PCs. Please. As for the advice of doing legwork, I actually searched b4 I posted, but I'm new here and I'm not sure if I searched correctly. Sorry!! >>

 >>



Tahnks alot, Bob. I appreciate your help.
 
Glad to help! The beauty of forums like this is that we can share our buying experiences, both positive and negative.

Bob



<< Thanks alot, Bob. I appreciate your help. >>

 
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