ECS K7S5A SiS 735 on NewEgg a good deal ($53)?

[ragejg]

ECS K7S5A SiS 735 Socket A mobo is on Newegg for $53!!
Maybe a good deal?

My freind's stuck with an Athlon classic 700 TOTALLY HOBBLING his GF3ti200 and ATA-100 HD. He wants to replace his mobo and CPU for midrange performance, and LOW cost.

I have a duron 900 or Tbird 1.3 for him (interim upgrade while saving up for XP1700... or an emergency cpu), and he wants to use his existing 384mbCrucial PC133, existing case, HD and accessories.

This configuration (if bought) would only last a few months until the XP cpu and replacement of the PC133 with some DDR266 or 333.

Are there stability probs with this mobo, being dual RAM channel?

Does it have bad OC potential?

Is this the chipset that shared the crown with AMD 760 only to be bested by KT266A last year?

Would this be a good deal for him? I'm selling the 900 to him for $20. Or my TBird 1.3 for 40.

This guy's on a budget and wants to step up a little while expanding his performance ceiling.

[Gator]

excellent deal! I have one, very good motherboard, my computer is VERY stable.

OCing it's not good for, but if you download the cracked bios for it it'll OC fine

[PsychoSy]

Originally posted by ragejg
Are there stability probs with this mobo, being dual RAM channel?

Yes, it's pretty fickle on RAM but if use Crucial PC 2100 DDR or PC133 SDRAM, you should be fine. Do not use PC 2700 or higher DDR as it doesn't really like it.

Does it have bad OC potential?

Yes. This is NOT an overclocker's board. You can tell from the price. It might overclock a little, but it's not worth it.

Is this the chipset that shared the crown with AMD 760 only to be bested by KT266A last year?

It buried the AMD 760, the ALi Magic1, and the KT266. VIA couldn't beat it until they released the KT266 A chipset.

Would this be a good deal for him? I'm selling the 900 to him for $20. Or my TBird 1.3 for 40.

Damn good deal. He might have better luck with the 900 on this board as the ECS K7S5A can be fickle with certain T-birds. But, she loves the AthlonXP. :D

If you have any problems with this board, there's a ton of experianced folks at AMDMB.com's ECS forum to help you out.

[saturnotaku]

Provided you have a decent, name brand power supply and good RAM (Crucial works best) the K7S5A will not let you down. It's an outstanding board for the money. Heck, the money you save with it over other boards you can use to buy quality RAM and a quality PSU. :D

Just don't look to do any overclocking with this board. However, there is an overclocker's hacked BIOS available in the forms at www.ocworkbench.com

That site is also an excellent source of info on the K7S5A. It's become quite a cult classic among its faithful users. :)

[fishlung]

I recommended this board to some friends of mine who were on pretty tight budgets. A couple actually went with this board in the end, and they were pretty darn pleased with what they got. :)

[thcdru2k]

good deal? its the best deal man. budget gaming ain't really budget gaming anymore. the difference is speed isn't all that noticible to the average person anymore.

[ragejg]

I appreciate all the info!! He's probably going to see these threads, go straight to newegg, and grab it. Now I want one!! I have the same questions about my own mobo, which originally wasn't bought to be a gamer... I'll post another thread.

Thanks again!