Which is better ECS K7S5A or ECS K7SEM?

[Dea]

Which of these 2 is a better board?

Thanks

 

[optimistic]

They are two different boards for two different purposes.

 

[yodayoda]

the K7S5A is a SDRAM/DDR based, full ATX, and no integrated video. the SEM is SDRAM based (no DDR), but microATX and has integrated video. so what do you need?

 

[Dea]

I can use either as I have a video card if need be. I have a XP1800 and a XP2000 cpu. I am just trying to figure out overall which is the best. I am also thinking of overclocking the CPUs. I have seen a lot of complaints about the K7S5A but not much about the K7SEM.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Probably because very few folk own a K7SEM. Like stated above, you're trying to compare apples to oranges here.

The K7SEM is an integrated "all-in-one" solution with onboard video, sound, and LAN (IIRC) and using low-end SDRAM. Targeted more for the OEM market and cheap "grey-box" systems sold at your local store.
The K7S5A is the non-integrated solution for the custom builder, without the onboard video and the option of using DDR RAM. While it doesn't overclock as handily as some of the other solutions out there, it's still a pretty stable board with good features.

Now, that said - why not grab a KT333-based solution (or KT266A if price is an issue)? Those boards overclock like champs and perform at or above the level of the SiS-based K7S series.

- M4H

 

[Nats]

Go w/ the K7S5A. You can get an unofficial bios that you can use
to flash your board. Makes for good OC. Make sure that you
have a good PSU. I was able to push the AthlonXP 1700+/1466Mhz
to 1622. You can find the bios by the doin a search.

 

[conehead433]

Check out the K7VTA3 board. I had considered the K7S5A just because you could use the cheaper PC133 RAM. I managed to get the revision 5 version of the K7VTA3. It only supports DDR Ram but has IDE Raid supporting up to 8 IDE devices, USB 2.0, Firewire, On-board LAN and sound, 5 PCI slots,1 AGP slot, 1 CNR, 3 DDR 333 for up to 3GB. It's not exactly an overclocker's board, but for about $20 more than the K7S5A you get a board that has more upgrade potential. Apparently this newer version offers more features than earlier boards. Bought mine from Electroseller- it's $80 shipped. It was advertised as ver 3.0 but on my board it says ver 5.0. Here's a link.

http://www.electroseller.com/Mercha...MB_EC-K7VTA3.V3X&Category_Code=ECS-AMD-BOARDS

http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7vta3_v3.html