man for a minute ther i was really mad i thiught this was the sis 735 board for only 42.00! I just ordered 3 of the sis 735 boards today from newegg.com for 15.00 more each. Well i feel much better now the sis 735 board is awsome and this board here is alot slower as the chipset is old
This Motherboard sucks. I had problems with it when installing and using Windows 2000/XP
Why not just get the K7S5A for more features, compatiblity, speed, and stablity.
Why not just get the K7S5A for more features, compatiblity, speed, and stablity.
<< This Motherboard sucks. I had problems with it when installing and using Windows 2000/XP
Why not just get the K7S5A for more features, compatiblity, speed, and stablity. >>
This board is definitely no problem to run 2000/xp, since two of my sysytems are based on this board. They runs pretty fast and stable. If you system has problem using 2000/xp, I think 99% possibility is your low quality SDARM.
When i installed Win2k/WinXP using this motherboard i got blue screen errors.
<< I think 99% possibility is your low quality SDARM. >>
I dont think so... I tried Crucial (Micron Chips), Kingston (infineon chips), and Mushkin (ibm chips).
<< I think 99% possibility is your low quality SDARM. >>
I dont think so... I tried Crucial (Micron Chips), Kingston (infineon chips), and Mushkin (ibm chips).
If this mobo is based on the 810LR chipset, then be careful. I built a system with the 810lr chipset three days ago. Tried to install W98 twice and Win ME once. I could not complete the installation. It would freeze in the middle of the installation. Very unstable in my opinion.
Lanyap
Elite Member
- Dec 23, 2000
- 8,260
- 2,358
- 136
The 810LR uses SiS 730S chipset while the K7VZM uses VIA KT133 (VT8363) chipset. Reviews on the K7VZM aren't that great but I needed a MicroATX Socket A MB to fit a MicroATX case. I ordered this on 1/9 and received a confirmation that they received my order but I haven't received any more information on whether it shipped and their online status doesn't give me any info. Did anyone order this also? Did you receive it yet?
Bump, I'm still looking for a CHEAP motherboard with everything built in. Looking for opinions still.
<< I'd rather pay the extra. get the K7S5A from Newegg. That way I'm guaranteed an upgrade path. Plus I get built-in LAN, and both SDR and DDR support... Odd, tho, the board in the link says on-board LAN, but it has a header for it on the MB... Which suggests an add-in card...
There's just some things there's no *reason* to save a buck on, IMO... >>
Put this in perspective guys. I sold a Slot A motherboard for $60 on FS / FT shipped. At ~$10 less than what Slot A MBs are going for, this is a great deal and is NOT old technology. As for an upgrade path? What are you talking about? So you drop a Duron 850 - 950 in it now and a T-Bird 1.2 - 1.4 GHz later. For e-mail and occasional gaming (it DOES have an AGP slot), that sounds like an upgrade path to me!
If I were building a system for someone looking for WebTV-like functionality, I'd be all over this. My father-in-law's eyes would bug out if he went from his Celeron 300 (NOT A) Emachine to this MB and a Duron!
Ziptar
Platinum Member
- Jul 7, 2001
- 2,077
- 0
- 86
<< Bump, I'm still looking for a CHEAP motherboard with everything built in. Looking for opinions still. >>
I have been looking too, I have searched high and low, this deal is tough to beat... I have found cheaper ones elsewhere but, after shipping they are much more than the $59.50 and $4.00 shipping they are charging at PCA.... I will be ordering the $17.99 ATX case and pcchips m810lmr from PCA today.... Cant beat it for $93.80 shipped....
Electronics4Life -
Go with the Biostar from newegg. I have the ecs k7s5a and I have problems like most who bought this board (I have never seen so many complaints/problems for just one board). Dunno if they made any drastic improvements on the k7vzm, but ecs has failed to gain my trust for stability. If you just want to get things set up and running without having to troubleshoot all night long, try the BIOSTAR M7VKS.
Go with the Biostar from newegg. I have the ecs k7s5a and I have problems like most who bought this board (I have never seen so many complaints/problems for just one board). Dunno if they made any drastic improvements on the k7vzm, but ecs has failed to gain my trust for stability. If you just want to get things set up and running without having to troubleshoot all night long, try the BIOSTAR M7VKS.
I think a lot of the problems are user error or people buying from vendors that repackage returns (like Fry's\Outpost).
Keep in mind, folks, ECS is one of the largest OEM direct to manufacturers motherboard company out there. Gateway\Compaq\HP are still buying from them. If the return rate is as bad as you think, then these companies would not have a good record. As much as we bitch about prebuilts and the support we get for them, they rarely arrive at your door DEAD because of a faulty ECS motherboard.
Keep in mind, folks, ECS is one of the largest OEM direct to manufacturers motherboard company out there. Gateway\Compaq\HP are still buying from them. If the return rate is as bad as you think, then these companies would not have a good record. As much as we bitch about prebuilts and the support we get for them, they rarely arrive at your door DEAD because of a faulty ECS motherboard.
I've sold 12-15 systems with the PC Chips motherboard, and I've had very good luck with it. Once nice feature is that WinXP will automatically install all drivers except for the LAN (use the Win2k driver on the disc; it works fine). This makes a great mom'n'pop or office computer, and the SIS video will even do video acceleration suitable for games of the Half-Life vintage.
The Biostar M7VKS, as mentioned above, is also very good and stable for a cheap all-in-one system. Once advantage of the PC Chips board is that it does have a rudimentary overclocking capability: you can change the FSB from 100 to 133, although you can't change the voltage. So I'd recommend getting something like a Duron 800 (overclocks to 1066, cost about $35) or a T-Bird 1000 (overclocks to 1333, cost about $60). Both of those overclocks are easy/safe and should be successful 90% of the time. Make sure you get the 100 MHz FSB version of those chips! (Although if you are handy with a pencil, you can change the settings on your own.)
The Biostar M7VKS, as mentioned above, is also very good and stable for a cheap all-in-one system. Once advantage of the PC Chips board is that it does have a rudimentary overclocking capability: you can change the FSB from 100 to 133, although you can't change the voltage. So I'd recommend getting something like a Duron 800 (overclocks to 1066, cost about $35) or a T-Bird 1000 (overclocks to 1333, cost about $60). Both of those overclocks are easy/safe and should be successful 90% of the time. Make sure you get the 100 MHz FSB version of those chips! (Although if you are handy with a pencil, you can change the settings on your own.)
I don't think the ECS boards are faulty, but they sure as hell aren't easy to set up like many of the other boards out there. Issues with Lan port, cold boot, warm boot, sleep mode, powersave, etc. are simply too common on this board. They are the norm, not exceptions at least for the K7S5A. Just look at the length of the thread on this board at OC workbench. Looks like I'll go with the Biostar.
The reason OEMs aren't having problems is because they are using the same PS, OS, and other hardware or have done it many times so they know what needs to be set/changed/etc.
It took me all of 15 minutes (minus OS installtion) to build a PC using my MSI board. I'm still not completely satisfied with my ECS board, and that rig has been together for a month now. I'm still messing with stuff trying to get it right. Maybe I got a bad board, but that just further pushes me away from ECS.
IClight
The reason OEMs aren't having problems is because they are using the same PS, OS, and other hardware or have done it many times so they know what needs to be set/changed/etc.
It took me all of 15 minutes (minus OS installtion) to build a PC using my MSI board. I'm still not completely satisfied with my ECS board, and that rig has been together for a month now. I'm still messing with stuff trying to get it right. Maybe I got a bad board, but that just further pushes me away from ECS.
IClight
Question: It says it has a LAN HEADER What's that? If I have a special cable, will I not need an ethernet card??
Question: It says it has a LAN HEADER What's that? If I have a special cable, will I not need an ethernet card??
Sure looks like it ... the header appears to be a regular double-set of pins, you'll need some sort of connector to create a RJ45 connector to plug into your LAN.
Go with the Biostar from newegg.
Ick ... Biostar SUCKS!! If nothing else, don't EVER depend on them for any form of technical support. I never heard back from them on ANY questions I had, and that was even after ultimately sending to help@, support@ and even sales@ ... apparently nobody gave a sh*t. :|
Your mileage may vary, but I swore I'd never do business with them again...
I'd rather pay the extra. get the K7S5A from Newegg.
Yup, yup, yup. This is definately what you want to do. It's a good, solid board with a ton of cool features. You don't even need a converter to get the LAN port, it's already included along with the rest of the ports on the back.
Sure looks like it ... the header appears to be a regular double-set of pins, you'll need some sort of connector to create a RJ45 connector to plug into your LAN.
Go with the Biostar from newegg.
Ick ... Biostar SUCKS!! If nothing else, don't EVER depend on them for any form of technical support. I never heard back from them on ANY questions I had, and that was even after ultimately sending to help@, support@ and even sales@ ... apparently nobody gave a sh*t. :|
Your mileage may vary, but I swore I'd never do business with them again...
I'd rather pay the extra. get the K7S5A from Newegg.
Yup, yup, yup. This is definately what you want to do. It's a good, solid board with a ton of cool features. You don't even need a converter to get the LAN port, it's already included along with the rest of the ports on the back.
<< The Biostar M7VKS, as mentioned above, is also very good and stable for a cheap all-in-one system. Once advantage of the PC Chips board is that it does have a rudimentary overclocking capability: you can change the FSB from 100 to 133, although you can't change the voltage. >>
The Biostar M7VKS (which is in stock at Newegg) also has a jumper to set the FSB to 133, as well as a BIOS setting. Perhaps I should play with it, since I have a Duron 600 in the box, a CPU which is a well regarded overclocker and used to run at 800 MHz stable in an Asus A7V, but the old Durons don't do high FSBs gracefully and besides, this CPU sometimes gets up to 40 C without overclocking, even with a Thermaltake Volcano rated to 1500 MHz.
The board seems happy & stable with W2K, but I can't get X to work with SuSE 7.2 at over 800x600 at 256. Ah well, what did I expect? Linux takes a while to support integrated motherboards.
From the review link, it seems this board is good enought for my Duron system. thanks very much!
Thank you itduck,
I'd compared several boards and vendors finally decided to go with PCA and I am glad. The K7VZM board + $17.99 case + USB front connector + fan + 300W PS, very respectible shipping, only $10.02 to NY. This will be my daughters' primary PC for AIM, browsing, gaming and Word. Total cost w/ Duron 950 < $257.00, including 62MB AGP in case on board graphics falls behind. Best of all, they were very excited to pick their own PC case and colors. Great find, good deal. I will use them again. And, thank you all for your valuable input.
I'd compared several boards and vendors finally decided to go with PCA and I am glad. The K7VZM board + $17.99 case + USB front connector + fan + 300W PS, very respectible shipping, only $10.02 to NY. This will be my daughters' primary PC for AIM, browsing, gaming and Word. Total cost w/ Duron 950 < $257.00, including 62MB AGP in case on board graphics falls behind. Best of all, they were very excited to pick their own PC case and colors. Great find, good deal. I will use them again. And, thank you all for your valuable input.
Lot o talk about ECS quality/stability/ease of use etc..., so I guess I can add my exp to the mix. Just built a "budget" sys for xmas pesent for pops. used the directron "black cube" case w/psu for like then put a duron 750 in with a ECS k7SEM w/built in LAN & VID & SND(ac97). Board Installed fine w/no probs, can't do much tweakin though but like a previous comment alot can be changed w/pencil on the chip itself(multiplier,voltage,fsb) I didn't need this as pops is no power user but if it eventually gets "slow" then I can boost him up without any $. So no probs w/ECS for me but I do have some probs w/the Gigabyte ga-7dxr I am running myself......
Like this deal. it seems this Company has lots computer cases to choose from! Great site and Great prices
Received Duron 950 and rest of the items from newegg today. I was prepared to purchase Athlon 1.2G CPU tomorrow because according to ECS's information this board, version V1.0, will support up to Duron 800. I slapped the Duron 950 in anyway then fired it up - it posted WHOW at 951MHz. With no OC in mind, this inexpensive general purpose PC is running Windows XP Home happily and churning web pages amazingly fast.
On board LAN, comes with a NIC board, along with other components were recognized and installed by XP Home.
BIOS self test, updates as predicted smooth. For the price I paid, it's a great board. I'll recommend it to anyone.
On board LAN, comes with a NIC board, along with other components were recognized and installed by XP Home.
BIOS self test, updates as predicted smooth. For the price I paid, it's a great board. I'll recommend it to anyone.
JUST got this board from PCAliance. I about sh!t my pants when I saw how it was shipped! They just shipped it in the original motherboard box taped up! I'm actually amazed that there wasn't much evidence of UPS's Samsonite gorilla treatment. Don't have a chip yet to see if it works. Will report back shortly on my results. My first purchase from these guys and I'm not too impressed already. For what it's worth the lan header is attatched to a slot/backplane so should be okay there.
Lanyap
Elite Member
- Dec 23, 2000
- 8,260
- 2,358
- 136
I ordered this MB and the ECS sound card. Received it yesterday. It was packed in a thin box not much bigger than the contents. They used relatively large pieces of broken styrofoam (like they broke it off from monitor packing) for packing material. They sent me an ECS video card instead of the sound card so I'll have to resolve that problem.
Here's my view of PCAlliance based on what I have experienced so far (first order):
They carry a limited selection of products and the products they do carry are low end and in some cases older designs/versions. Shipping costs are decent but they do a poor job of packing items for shipping. They send the wrong items. They send you a confirmation email when you place your order but they don't send an email when it ships and you cannot determine the shipping status on their website.
Each of these issues by itself may not be bad and will happen from time to time when you order online but when you add it up together it does not make for a good business. I might order from them again if they have an item that I really want but I will think twice about whether I want to take a chance.
(Low end products) + (Low end shipping) + (order mistakes) + (no shipping notification) = Low end business
Just my 2
Here's my view of PCAlliance based on what I have experienced so far (first order):
They carry a limited selection of products and the products they do carry are low end and in some cases older designs/versions. Shipping costs are decent but they do a poor job of packing items for shipping. They send the wrong items. They send you a confirmation email when you place your order but they don't send an email when it ships and you cannot determine the shipping status on their website.
Each of these issues by itself may not be bad and will happen from time to time when you order online but when you add it up together it does not make for a good business. I might order from them again if they have an item that I really want but I will think twice about whether I want to take a chance.
(Low end products) + (Low end shipping) + (order mistakes) + (no shipping notification) = Low end business
Just my 2
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 21K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter