K7S5A flawless install!!!

[Dunjon]

Man I thought I was gonna hate this board. I hated all the cheap "all in one" socket 7 boards but the only installation problem I had was my own fault. My power supply was set to 220v instead of 110v. It took me to try it out in another case to realize that.

 

[AGodspeed]

You used a 220W PSU for an ECS K7S5A? Is that an approved PSU?

I ask because it's well known that this board is sensitive about which PSU you use. Just be careful. 🙂

 

[clumsum]

I did the same psu 115/230V switch thing once, took me all evening to find the problem, now I check that first thing!

I have also had a very positive experience with the Amptron K7 830LM (K7S5A clone) mb, I did install a brand new cmos battery and just recently read on a forum to even make sure the cmos jumper fits tight enough to make continuous contact or suffer the occasional resulting cmos checksum errors ...................
No problems for almost six months now and the board is very fast and stable, the on-board LAN is a bonus since I just recently upgraded to a broadband cable connection.

 

[bozo1]

I just built my 2nd K7S5A and had no problems with either.

AGodspeed - he said he had the voltage switch accidently set to 220volt - he didn't say he had a 220-watt powersupply!

 

[jfunk]

I built one of these for a friend back in jan and it went without a hitch as well.

There really isn't anything wrong with these boards as people say. I think its just that there are probably a higher number of defective ones than with some other manufacturers since they are so cheap, but that is to be excpected and you just have to take the risk of some amount of hassle when you decide to go with a $50 board.


j

 

[Duvie]

I think the only thing defective was the users....Because it was so cheap eveybody and their sister was building a computer for the first time and thus too many newbies with no experience really hosed some installs....no research...generic ram and power supplies...and lack of basic install procedures and troubleshooting methods....

many rushed to judgement and rma....

I have personally walked many through flawless installs...Not one had a problem...And then there was ofcoure the 5 I did build and 10 my buddy built...no issues

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I concur, still one of the best price/performance boards out there and rock solid when observing the aforementioned guidelines.

 

[joe4324]

I make sweet love to the K7S5A...


I've built nearly 15 system out of them now. I'm still 15 to 0, on good vs bad. but I did swap out a few Cmos batteries in a couple though. But for the price of these boards I'll breaking buy a cmos battiey with each one and still not care!


Even though I love it so much my own system is going to be sporting something new pretty soon. I'm pretty serious about overclocking. and even though I can get 144Mhz bus (software clocked) on my k7s5a I still want more. I'm currently looking at the XP333, or possibly waiting a little longer to see if there is a performance board using the 745. I really have no beef with VIA. I still have nightmares about my socket7 days (FIC PA2013....*cries*) but that was a long time ago. Perhaps a new kt333A board will catch my eye someday.

 

[Macro2]

what is the cmos battery problem??
Thanks.

 

[osage]

I tend to agree with Duvie, some of the many probs ppl were having had to be due to lack of experience/research. Not all, but I'm sure quite a few .
I've done 2 completely painless and 1 that had problems, but the board was known to have a problem, should have been RMA'ed.
But even that worked out OK, it's been doing F@A for 2-3 weeks solid 24/7 as well as other surfin etc:

 

[kylef]

There IS no such thing as an RMA with this board, unless you can send it back to Newegg somehow. It apparently does not have a warranty. ECS refused to look at my board and wanted $35 to replace it (the onboard LAN and AGP ports were fried somehow). If it works on install, wonderful. But be sure to send it back within the 30 day return policy of your vendor otherwise.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

<< what is the cmos battery problem??
Thanks. >>

The KTS batteries they use in the K7S5A aren't the best to begin with, and they evidently had a bad lot of them which caused them to die shortly or with some even be DOA. I had a bad 1 in the first K7S5A I built(died in 2months) but after replacing it with a Sony I had lying around it ran flawlessly until I sold it.