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

[xkenny013]

FWIW, I just put together a new system with the ECS K7S5A and an Athlon XP1600 (1.4ghz) CPU ... and while I can't say I've seriously put it through it's paces yet, it's been humming along for about a week now without any hiccups whatsoever.

The Thunderbird 1.4ghz may indeed have problems, but if you are putting together a new system, I'd spend the extra $10 (if that) and get the XP1600 instead.

PS: I'm not a gamer, and this isn't built as a gaming computer ... if it matters.

 

[TBC]

<< 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 called American Express Blue a couple weeks ago and asked if they would refund me my money if the board is defective since Outpost won't. They told me they won't either because the product has to be in like new and working condition. (I assume they resell this stuff or something).

Although supposedly Amex Blue has a 90 satisfaction guarantee.

I'm glad I didn't buy this motherboard from Outpost.com though, as I purchased it from Newegg, and already had to send it back. I am getting a different brand instead. If I had bought it from Outpost I would be out my money with a defective board.

 

[Nomans]

Everything is possible, but...

I agree with rCraig. I've tried once but gave up pretty quickly. The problem was not the power supply unit or connector. All PS units are sort of standardized so you can replace a PS unit from a AT case with an ATX PS unit. The problem was how to mount the mobo in the case. The pre-fabricated screw holes in the AT case won't match the ones from the ATX mobo, at least my AT case didn't. And then the openings reserved for attaching mouse and keyboard are also different. Most of AT cases will have only one big hole for the keyboard, not 2 separate holes for the PS/2 keyboard and mouse. Of course, you can solve this issue by drilling all holes in the case yourself...

 

[Krugger]

I don't understand what you guys have been saying. The deal is still on till thursday, as an FYI, but i spoke to someone at Outpost and they assured me i would have 30 days to exchange the combo if either were defective. I looked long and hard at their terms, and don't see where they say you're stuck if you get a defective board.
-----Krugger
PS i'm prolly gonna pick this up by tomorrow, the price cant be beat.

 

[jaylee11]

You had better read there return policy a little better. They exclude motherboards from their return policy and tell you that you have to go straight to the manufacturer. The ecs board is $58 at newegg and thechip is around $43, add a $6 fan and you only spent about $8 more and get it from someone who will take it back. I know, because I have sent one back. NO Problem. They exchanged it. I have the ecs board with xp1600, for about 3 months and she runs great and fast. I have about 10 systems with this motherboard under my belt and only the one that was bad. For the money, I'll buy it again and again, but only from newegg.

I've just went to oupost to look for their return policy, it seems that it no longer mentions the limitations of the return on the motherboards. I still would rather buy the peice of mind that comes from newegg.

 

[Krugger]

Gotcha, they must have changed it because of all the bad feedback. I trust the csr, but i guess i'll check out newegg, and maybe try and get some kinda guarantee before buying. thanks for the info though.
-----Krugger

 

[Lanyap]

Never trust a CSR. They usually don't have a clue about things like this (i.e. returns). That said, I checked the outpost.com returns help page and did not see the reference to excluding motherboards from being returned to them. They caught a lot of heat and bad customer reviews over that one so I guess they listened and removed the no motherboard return policy.

 

[maninthebox]

Their return policy was the reason that I wouldn't even consider buying this combo from them before. Now that they finally changed it, this is definately a deal worth looking at and makes some of their barebones deals better as well.

 

[EliteForces]

linked

 

[Krugger]

Exactly what i was thinking, i was ready to get it from outpost, then i heard the horror stories, then i was ready to hit newegg, but now i'm leanin towards outpost again. $105 shipped vs. $119 (plus a fan/shipped). do i need anything else, like some artic silver or a better fan or somethin?
I'll probably get it tomorrow since it's only good till thursday.
-----Krugger
(can't believe it went so long without being linked, good call)

 

[JerkyChew]

FYI, the K7S5A is a GREAT motherboard for the price. I built a batch of 7 computers based on this board (6 had Tbird 1GHZ in them, one had a 1500+), and I had zero issues. Tom's hardware had a review a while back, and if you pair this board with DDR ram, its memory subsystem is almost on par with KT266-based motherboards.

 

[ObviousMan]

I got the combo, still did not get a chance to put it together. The fan that comes with the boxed Duron is a standard issue, low noise. It does not look promising for OC. I ordered a bigger fan from Heatsinkstore.com (there was a thread before) with all the rounded cables and some Arctic silver (excellent serivce). I used that fan on Celeron machine which I'm building in parallel. I hope AMD labelled fan will not freak the Celeron out
This should make a pretty good low cost machine:
This combo $106
2x256/133 from OD after rebates $40
ATI Rage Fury Pro VIVO $20 after rebate from OD
$35 CompUsa case
$50 60GB HD from BB black Friday
$30 for cables and FDD
low end CD/RW and DVD-Rom - free from deals past summer and fall.
Just over $230 for all, thanks to all the deal hunters

 

[cmv]

<< I got the combo, still did not get a chance to put it together. The fan that comes with the boxed Duron is a standard issue, low noise. It does not look promising for OC. I ordered a bigger fan from Heatsinkstore.com (there was a thread before) with all the rounded cables and some Arctic silver (excellent serivce). I used that fan on Celeron machine which I'm building in parallel. I hope AMD labelled fan will not freak the Celeron out
This should make a pretty good low cost machine:
This combo $106
2x256/133 from OD after rebates $40
ATI Rage Fury Pro VIVO $20 after rebate from OD
$35 CompUsa case
$50 60GB HD from BB black Friday
$30 for cables and FDD
low end CD/RW and DVD-Rom - free from deals past summer and fall.
Just over $230 for all, thanks to all the deal hunters >>


Wow! Congrats on getting all that for you money. You did good.

 

[TBC]

<< Never trust a CSR. They usually don't have a clue about things like this (i.e. returns). That said, I checked the outpost.com returns help page and did not see the reference to excluding motherboards from being returned to them. They caught a lot of heat and bad customer reviews over that one so I guess they listened and removed the no motherboard return policy. >>


Thats because either Outpost changed it, or is hiding it. This doesn't have to do with CSR people. As it was posted on their own web page, and any email to them about it, and they replied back with the quote about motherboards and cpu's not being returnable.

I called them voice twice even to ask this previously.

Personally I still would not trust them. As they wouldn't just remove the entire list of stuff they had listed as non-returnable.

I also see no where of it saying you can return it for a refund. In fact it says this about returns.

-----
"If you have merchandise that is malfunctioning or seems to be defective, we will do our best to help you obtain technical support from the manufacturer or make arrangements to repair the product"
-----

Any reputable company would offer to exchange a defective board, not make you go through the hassle of dealing with the manufacturer.

 

[maninthebox]

<< Personally I still would not trust them. As they wouldn't just remove the entire list of stuff they had listed as non-returnable. >>


It is possible that Outpost did not have the means to handle returns on these types of items until Fry's came into the picture. We don't have a Fry's around here, but I have seen posts before about refurb/returned motherboards at Fry's B&M so I assume they must take returns. If you look at the warranty section of Outpost, it now says that warranty information should be obtained from Fry's Main Office.

 

[taserT]

I'm wondering why the American Express Blue can't be used to make a return from a company if they don't accept returns. AE blue says they will. In this thread someone said they called AE and they said it had to be in like new condition and working. But why would you want to return something that was working? It seems to me that they should consider the return especially if you said all you wanted was an exchange for one that does work and not a credit to the charge. Does anyone know anymore about the AE blue policy? I think i will call them tomorrow and send an email to see what they tell me.

 

[psloan]

This is a quote from the amex site about the protection to my amex optima platinum. From the wording I am not sure it covers everything. But this could cover the mother board. Worth a call anyway.

"The Buyer's Assurance Plan*
A little shopping goes a long way. Charge purchases entirely to the Card and we'll extend the original manufacturer's warranty for up to one additional year on eligible purchases you make with the Card.

Best of all, you're automatically covered when you use the Card. So don't think twice about those big purchases - the coverage is good on products up to $10,000 (excluding taxes, shipping, and handling). For more information or to file a claim, call 1-800-225-3750.

* Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company, Administrative Office, Green Bay, WI. Subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions of Policy AX0953. "

 

[MrNutz]

I picked up this combo for my sister the first time the thread came up...I spent hours trying to get it to POST to find out that it was a compatiblity issue between the creative labs pci modem and the board...after i removed the modem everything worked fine...this is a great board except for the pci modem compatibility conflicts as well as PS problems that people have had...so i recommend that people who plan to use dialup use an AMR modem and totally cut out the pci conflicts you may run into...if you run into anymore problems, there are a few forums dedicated to problems/advice concerning this board.

OCworkbench Forum
EZboard Forum

 

[EDiT]

Well...Another happy customer here...

Got the following delivered today:

k7s5a+950 duron
$40 case from newegg(well worth it for $55 shippeed!)

Added my $20 256 stick from Officemax, and a few parts that I had laying around, and I'm set with a new system.

Got it all set up, and it works great. Had a little scare when I was swapping parts from my old k7s5a system and it would no longer boot, but then I realised that both ends of the the ram is supposed to be pushed into the slot, not just one end.

Now I have two k7s5a systems without a problem with either.

 

[Krugger]

EDiT, Excellent news. I assume you're referring to the EVERCASE E4252 from Newegg, exactly the case i was looking at. I was actually deciding between the one with and without PS. Is the 300W PS enough? After reading all the problems with the mobo, it seems like a lot of it was due to the PS unit, so i was thinking of getting a nice 350 Antec maybe... any advice on that? *new to building system from scratch*
-----Krugger

 

[bambam]

I will contact Fry's about the Outpost return policy. If it has really changed, I bet you'll see Newegg's price decrease.

 

[WTBURNETTE]

Krugger
A 300W power supply will be plenty. I built one for a friend and the 300W PS blew (it was defective). For two months while we waited for an RMA, it ran off of a 235W power supply I had spare. I don't recommend lower then 300W for obvious reasons, but I think 300W will be more then enough...

 

[landrand]

I bought four ECS K7S5A boards from outpost.com. Three out of the four had problems. I spent considerable time
using different PS's, CPU's, memory, and video cards while trying to get the ECS motherboards to work. I know these
components were good cause they came out of working systems. In my opinion, get another board other than ECS. These
boards are a gamble. If you go to ECS's web site, under thier knowledgbase, you'll see the K7S5A has something like 1,700
posts with people having problems of sort. The number of posts for the K7S5a is way out of line verses the other ECS boards.

 

[WTBURNETTE]

<< I bought four ECS K7S5A boards from outpost.com. Three out of the four had problems. I spent considerable time
using different PS's, CPU's, memory, and video cards while trying to get the ECS motherboards to work. I know these
components were good cause they came out of working systems. In my opinion, get another board other than ECS. These
boards are a gamble. If you go to ECS's web site, under thier knowledgbase, you'll see the K7S5A has something like 1,700
posts with people having problems of sort. The number of posts for the K7S5a is way out of line verses the other ECS boards. >>



I think the number of problem posts concerning the K7S5A has more to do with how popular the board is compared to other ECS boards, more then any other reason. I've built two systems with the mobo and both installed flawlessly and are working fine now, months later. All mobo manufacturers are letting too many boards out that are DOA or have other problems, it's not a problem exclusive to ECS or with the K7S5A. I have a Soyo Dragon Plus and people have said the same about this mobo, though I haven't had a single problem, and many people in the forums have the board and love it. I think the industry as a whole could use better QA/QC departments to make sure fewer bad boards reach the end user. Perhaps there was a bad batch or two that caused you to get two bad boards??

 

[EDiT]

<< EDiT, Excellent news. I assume you're referring to the EVERCASE E4252 from Newegg, exactly the case i was looking at. I was actually deciding between the one with and without PS. Is the 300W PS enough? After reading all the problems with the mobo, it seems like a lot of it was due to the PS unit, so i was thinking of getting a nice 350 Antec maybe... any advice on that? *new to building system from scratch*
-----Krugger >>



As WT said, 300w seems to be more than enough. Now I wouldn't go running 4 scsi HDDs, a cd-rw, and a DVD all on this system, but it should be more than enough for a reasonable load. I actually shuffled my 1400 into this case 'cause I like it better than its old case, so now I have the k7s5a with a 1400, 2 HDDs, a floppy, and a CDRom, and no problem.

Now I would never give up my Antec 1040B for this case, but at less than half the cost, this is well worth it for my lower end PCs.