K7S5A probs

[Kestryll]

Hello,
I'm hoping someone here is familiar with this MB and some of it's history
I can't seem to get it to run right with the CPU/Memory set at 133/133 in the BIOS. It runs fine at the 100/100 setting. I've seen comments about the power supply being a potential problem and that this may not be an uncommon problem with this board.
Any ideas, recommended fixes, thoughts, or suggestions for what size ball-peen hammer to use would be greatly appreciated.
Kest

 

[Peter]

It's not exactly a problem with this board - it's just a problem that people who buy cheap boards also tend to be cheap on other components like power supply unit and CPU cooling. Another common reason for this symptom is substandard RAM.

 

[Kestryll]

Well, I thought it was cooling at first myself. I am currently running an AMD XP1700+ with a Volcano6cu, 2 80mm fans as exhaust, 1 80mm fan as intake, and an Antec HDD cooler in a 5.25" bay w/ 3 small fans as intake as well. My case temp are usually lower than the room temp.
My PSU is a CompUSA house brand 300w, possible problem but I can find no specs on it to make sure.
My memory is 2x 256mb of PC133 with 'Microsoft Certified and Tested" stickers on the memory itself, wether this means anything or not.......
Believe me, I have no problem spending for quality parts, I just prefer not spending needlessly.

 

[PCHPlayer]

Originally posted by: Kestryll
My case temp are usually lower than the room temp.

WOW! Can I get some of those magic fans that actually cool the air as they blow it into your case.

I was thinking of upgrading my kids computer from a k6-400/66 to this motherboard with a Duron 700 and 128MB RAM for $90 at Fry's.

 

[IFICUDIWUD]

What do you mean by running right?? I have this board and it runs fine w/xp1600.. What kind of problems are you having,, Try and be specific and you will get more reliable answers to your questions.. Believe me I learned this the hard way

 

[Kazuo]

Tried upgrading the BIOS? I heard early versions had this problem, but it's since been resolved.
My roommate has been using the newest CheepoBIOS on this board without incident. It's neat stuff. Runs a lot more reliably after it too. Hope that helps

 

[mechBgon]

I would strongly suspect the CompUSA power supply. I had a 300W CompUSA power supply floating around at work, and finally used it in a PentiumII 233MHz system about a week ago. The wiring felt very thin and flimsy, and the power supply felt light and flimsy. No way would I use it on an AthlonXP system. How about a 350W Sparkle Power from Newegg ($42)?

 

[Kazuo]

Yeah, I've also seen Enlight 340W PSUs going for around $40 at times. Think I paid $45 for mine. Pretty happy with it, never had any problems. It shall follow me through my AthlonXP using days (since I don't think they'll reach a point where it'll become unsuitable with the current class of Athlons). Or fear the power of the Allied 450W PSU for $50 (pretty sweet deal!) Personally I'd go with the 400W Allied. It is most suitable. For $42 shipped, it might be the way to go. And I hear that Allied/Foxconn is pretty well constructed.
My brother's using a flimsy 300W with a 1.2GHz T-bird and appears to be going fine. It's all about balancing the power rails

 

[tenoc]

Try a 350W AMD/P4-approved PSU.

Also update to the newest Official BIOS here.

Forget o/c with this mobo unless you really enjoy banging your head against brickwalls, poking sticks in your eyes......

You get the idea.

 

[kmmatney]

One of my ECS k7S5A boards wouldn't run with a particular stick of RAM, but I swapped the RAM with another computer and then both systems worked fine. Try testing it with another stick of RAM. I've built 5 systems around this board and have never had a problem with power supplies. One system is specifically running with a CompUSA 300 watt PSU. Most of the quirks I dealt with with the K7S5A have been with memory and the AGP slot.

I've had success overclocking this board using CPUFSB. My Athlon XP 1700+ can run at 1950+ speeds.

 

[Buz2b]

I tend to agree with those that mention the PS as the potential problem. That and the RAM should be your target areas. Just because the RAM is "MS Certified" doesn't mean it will work with a particular MB; especially one that can be a bit finicky at times if you use "low-end" memory.
The other long shot idea would be active cooling on the chipset. There have been some that "fixed" this problem by applying a chipset fan but that is a fairly rare thing.

 

[bozack]

Had the same exact problem as you, also a friend at work also has the same problem.....

2 sticks of PC133 would not work at 133, but would work fine at 100

Borrowed 1 stick of 256 PC133 and that worked fine.....

Listened to all the people say it was my powersupply, my bios, my chipset overheating blah blah blah but never really bought into it....

talked to someone on another board who had worked with over ten of these boards in different systems and he and I both agreed it was just the memory, and these boards don't like to work with all sticks of PC133.

Went to best buy and picked up a stick of 256mb Kingston Value PC2100 DDR for 39.99 after rebates (64.99 - 25.00 mail in)

System now seems to be fine.

Good luck.

 

[Buz2b]

talked to someone on another board who had worked with over ten of these boards in different systems and he and I both agreed it was just the memory, and these boards don't like to work with all sticks of PC133.

Having worked with almost as many I can say that I HAVE NOT found that to be true. Of course, I usually use good quality memory. That might have some bearing on it. However, just for the record, I have populated this board on systems with two sticks of PC133 of varying sizes with no problem running at 133. Same goes for DDR. The only trouble I've run across is with ECC RAM. That is a "hit and miss" prospect as the board isn't rated for it. Some will work though.

 

[bozack]

buz I don't know, go take a gander over at the ocworkbench forums and see how many people are having this exact same problem, it is more than a few and many are running powersuppies which are more than "in spec" such as true power 430s and what not....

My problem was easier to diagnose since I had two sticks of crucial 133 and when I checked the crucial site my memory was not recommended for use with this board.

But for $40 for 256 megs of 2100 DDR how can you go wrong?

I say try it with one stick of PC133 at 133, if that works then I am almost certain one stick of PC2100 will work at 133, heck it did for me.

 

[Kazuo]

Many people claim that the 2 PC133 problem was fixed with a BIOS flash too.
I'd definitely try upgrading to the newest BIOS first, apparently it helps with PC133 compatibility in cases where it's not so good before.

 

[Buz2b]

bozack;
No problem but I do frequent the OC Workbench ECS Forum from time to time and it seems to run in cycles over there. You know sometimes you can almost "tell" when Fry's has yet another special on a combo with this board because you can see the numbers go up on posts with problems. Perhaps I should have been more clear for you. I am not saying that there haven't been problems posted that include people having trouble with two sticks of PC133, or even DDR for that matter. I am merely stating that myself, along with a great many others, haven't had this trouble. I am also trying to point out that this is not necessarily a "board related" problem or a "board flaw". More times than not, the "problems" that pop up with this board are solved fairly easily and can be more related to "user error". Before anyone gets on their "high horse" and takes offense at that remark, I AM NOT pointing at anyone in particular. I am just making a general statement based on facts that I have observed from building with and helping others troubleshoot with this board since its very first release. There is no doubt in my mind that some have had legitimate problems with this board; no argument there. However, those are the exception; not the rule.
Anyway, that has been argued back and forth for far too long and serves no purpose here. Back to the problem at hand. I was hoping that the originator of this thread would have posted back by now with any progress that may or may not have been made.
I still tend to think the PS and/or the RAM might be the issue here; not the board. But hey, if he can find someone with a single stick of 256 MB of PC133 to test it, why not. I'm all for it.

 

[bozack]

Hey Buz, I agree that I think it is either a power supply or a Ram related issue in this case, and also in many cases...not really a board thing as heck, not to many boards which support the Athlon XP even allow one to use PC133.

In my case I figured a new powersupply "might" solve my problem, whereas new memory "would" solve my problem, not to mention after the rebate new memory was still about $40 cheaper than the powersupply I was looking at and was a bit of a performance increase over my PC133.

I would suggest to the originator of this thread that he/she try and run the board with only one stick of their PC133 memory and see if it will work at 133 speed, if so then it is IMHO either a Power issue or a memory issuse and he/she can flip a coin on what they want to upgrade first.

In my opinion if you get it to work at 133 with one stick of memory then you will have a good chance of getting it to work with one stick of "decent" DDR memory, whereas with a powersupply it might solve it, and it might not..buy from a place which accepts refunds just in case it doesn't solve your problem.

good luck.