My LLano A4-3300 Review [Old thread - necro]

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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
You guys can have all of the ECS A55M boards and A4-3300 APUs you want; I'm getting out of the market. Before I spend WAY, WAY TOO much on these obsolete POS. WTF did I do?
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
You guys can have all of the ECS A55M boards and A4-3300 APUs you want; I'm getting out of the market. Before I spend WAY, WAY TOO much on these obsolete POS. WTF did I do?
What happened here? Sorry to hear it doesn't work out for you anymore. :\ I never understand how you bought almost 15 ECS FM1 boards, which is way far more than I thought. Keep it only up to 5 max for obsolete stuff, each time.
 
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waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
Ascendtech has a 30-day return policy if I'm correct. Why don't you keep all the NIB A55 V2.0s, while return back all the open-box ones with marking sign on sticker, some used ones, and maybe some used A75s that aren't new, like you claimed.
 

Justinbaileyman

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2013
1,980
249
106
What happened Larry?Did some of the boards come DOA?Whats not working?Or are they just that old that they are complete shit?There is always Socket Am1 you could tinker with and the prices seem to be dropping pretty fast on these as well.Maybe I will hold off on buying any till I find out what the hell is happening.I usually have really great experience with old AMD tech.
 

NTMBK

Lifer
Nov 14, 2011
10,208
4,940
136
Hope you manage to get a decent resale value for those parts, Larry. Flip them on eBay while you can, before they get any cheaper.
 

daxzy

Senior member
Dec 22, 2013
393
77
101
I was looking at upgrading a relative's AM2+/Athlon II system. I jumped on eBay and saw that Phenom II x4 and x6's are going for ridiculous prices ($40-60 for X4's and 60-120 for X6's)!
 

Justinbaileyman

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2013
1,980
249
106
I was looking at upgrading a relative's AM2+/Athlon II system. I jumped on eBay and saw that Phenom II x4 and x6's are going for ridiculous prices ($40-60 for X4's and 60-120 for X6's)!

Thats because AMD X4 and X6 have better Single Thread Performance then the FX line. In a lot of cases the Top Tier X6 when overclocked will absolutely destroy even FX8xxx series CPU in both Single and Multi threaded programs.Heck even better at gaming most of the time. Well that is till you start using Windows 10 and DX12 which the fx line excels at..
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
while you can, before they get any cheaper.

Ugh, don't say that. Might have to buy more, and cost average down.

I guess I'm having a "hardware hangover".

At least, I've been able to hold off and avoid buying some of those $31.99 60GB Silicon Power (new) SSDs on Newegg's ebay site. Trying hard not to buy any that are less than 120GB. (Roughly the minimum size needed for Windows, comfortably.) I did break down and buy a few of the 120GB Corsair Force LS (refurb) SSDs, when they went down to $33.99. (They're MLC. You can get brand-new TLC drives for a similar price, but thus far, I'm largely trying to avoid TLC.)
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
I was looking at upgrading a relative's AM2+/Athlon II system. I jumped on eBay and saw that Phenom II x4 and x6's are going for ridiculous prices ($40-60 for X4's and 60-120 for X6's)!
Don't forget Athlon II X4s, they're less than $35. Athlon X4 651 FM1 is going for $37.62.
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
Hope you manage to get a decent resale value for those parts, Larry. Flip them on eBay while you can, before they get any cheaper.
Actually, no. The boards will actually go UP in price when more of FM1 quad-core APUs drop down to less than $20.
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
A4-3300 for $6 each best-offer ACCEPTED. Paid $30 for 5. Life's good. :cool:

Based on how well I'm doing, my next upgrade will be A6-3500 triple-core for $6 again. It's a gradual process.
 
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VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Actually, no. The boards will actually go UP in price when more of FM1 quad-core APUs drop down to less than $20.
If you say so... :)

A4-3300 for $6 each best-offer ACCEPTED. Paid $30 for 5. Life's good. :cool:

Based on how well I'm doing, my next upgrade will be A6-3500 triple-core for $6 again. It's a gradual process.

I still can't say I understand your line of thinking. If you need X amount of computing power, why wait N years until it drops to something super-cheap? By that time it's worthless.

Seriously, if you think that way, why aren't you all over Pentium 4s or Core2 machines? Mobo costs?
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
BTW, slightly OT for this thread, but Ascendtech on ebay has ECS 960-something (760G chipset) AM3+ mobos, WITHOUT I/O backplate, for $34.99, "New (other)". I think that they have UEFI and are Win8 certified.
 

Justinbaileyman

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2013
1,980
249
106
Damn it this is a better deal then the Fm1 mobo. :( gotta hold back gotta hold back..
There is no way its going to run a 125w FX cpu as listed in the description.So what is the strongest cpu this can run? would a x4 955 or 960 fry this board?
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
BTW, slightly OT for this thread, but Ascendtech on ebay has ECS 960-something (760G chipset) AM3+ mobos, WITHOUT I/O backplate, for $34.99, "New (other)". I think that they have UEFI and are Win8 certified.
Yes, that's ECS A960M-MV and A960M-M4, and I have six right now when I last bought them for $29.99 each on Newegg before sold-out in fall-2015. Difference between the two is M4 adds a parallel port. There's also A960M-M3 without HDMI output.

They do have UEFI installation, but they don't have secure-boot feature, so they're not Windows 8 certified. The good news is only the ECS AM3 mATX boards work for Windows 10. Neither Asus nor Gigabyte AM3 mATX boards work for Windows 10 completely without some software compatibility errors and some glitches popping up on the screen.
 
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waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
Damn it this is a better deal then the Fm1 mobo. :( gotta hold back gotta hold back..
There is no way its going to run a 125w FX cpu as listed in the description.So what is the strongest cpu this can run? would a x4 955 or 960 fry this board?
Don't bother going with ECS AM3 instead. These have a high-failure rate due to temperature issues and heat from the chipsets. Heat is the enemy for electronics. It requires a lot of system fans.
 

MiddleOfTheRoad

Golden Member
Aug 6, 2014
1,123
5
0
If you say so... :)
I still can't say I understand your line of thinking. If you need X amount of computing power, why wait N years until it drops to something super-cheap? By that time it's worthless.

Seriously, if you think that way, why aren't you all over Pentium 4s or Core2 machines? Mobo costs?

It makes a lot of sense it you look at bang for the buck. An A4 may not be a thrilling performer by today's standards..... But it will still outrun nearly everything on AM1 for a lot less money. Many of today's laptops that are brand new are still outperformed by the A4 3300. It's hard to argue with buying a brand new boxed CPU with heat sink and cooling fan for six bucks..... Yet there are mindnumbing individuals here that still do it. That iGPU has 160 shaders, so it can even manage light casual gaming.
 

waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
It's hard to argue with buying a brand new boxed CPU with heat sink and cooling fan for six bucks.....
Just a reminder, these A4-3300s are new, never-used OEMs, and no fan/heatsink is included. A heatsink can be purchased separately for $6, so it's actually a $12 APU retail box.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Just a reminder, these A4-3300s are new, never-used OEMs, and no fan/heatsink is included. A heatsink can be purchased separately for $6, so it's actually a $12 APU retail box.

Which, still, IS a deal, comparatively-speaking.

I was thinking last night about "eating my own dogfood" (Microsoft term), and setting up my FM1 A4-3420 3.1Ghz rig in a case, and running it for a week, actually using it.

Edit: Just a curiousity. Waltchan, if the mobos were the same cost and condition, would you prefer to purchase G465 Celerons (Sandy Bridge single-core with HyperThreading), or the A4-3300?

Edit: You're right, those boards are only Win7 certified, Win8 "compatible". No mention of Windows 10.
http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?DetailID=1428&MenuID=115&LanID=9
 
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waltchan

Senior member
Feb 27, 2015
846
8
81
Edit: Just a curiousity. Waltchan, if the mobos were the same cost and condition, would you prefer to purchase G465 Celerons (Sandy Bridge single-core with HyperThreading), or the A4-3300?
Good question. Actually, this may surprise you, but I can't pick a favorite winner at this time. o_O Celeron G465, while it has stronger single-thread than A4-3300, suffers from overpricing as used due to lack of quantities produced. There really weren't too many G465s or G470s sold to satisfy the budget buyers. Plus, Sandy Bridge graphics is much worse than A4-3300. G460 was actually the best-seller and easiest to pick up for $15 right now if you can find one. They usually get snatched fast, however.

Currently, I count three times more amount of Core i3 Sandy Bridges on eBay than Celeron or Pentium combined. I've seen i3-2100 bid price comfortably sell for $35 shipped as used, only $10 more than Pentium G620.

In the long run, the Sandy Bridge i3s have the better-edge in more savings and price depreciation than Celeron and Pentium due to higher quantities produced. i3 was the replacement name from Core 2 Duo in 2011.
 

escrow4

Diamond Member
Feb 4, 2013
3,339
122
106
You guys can have all of the ECS A55M boards and A4-3300 APUs you want; I'm getting out of the market. Before I spend WAY, WAY TOO much on these obsolete POS. WTF did I do?

Instead of buying a pile of crap for target practice you should have bought a Skylake i5.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
Instead of buying a pile of crap for target practice you should have bought a Skylake i5.
Well, it could have been yours for target practice.

escrow4 rejects your gift. Maybe you regret writing this earlier. :sneaky:
Nah. Just offering him another chance to try out a low(er)-end rig.

I think I'll build that now, as a matter of fact. Why not.
Edit: On second thought, maybe later.
 
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Justinbaileyman

Golden Member
Aug 17, 2013
1,980
249
106
Instead of buying a pile of crap for target practice you should have bought a Skylake i5.

Why buy one over priced system when you can have a dozen lower end systems that can do the same thing. Beside you could easily cluster several these together which you can't do with a single i5 setup.So much potential in a dozen systems.Hell he could have his own server farm or be his own isp.I think personally I would have gone the AM3 Ecs route just for future upgrade-ability though.:thumbsup::D:D:D