Caveat Emptor!! Huge "Duron XP 1200" Swindle going on!!

PsychoSy · 10-03-02, 05:19 PM

http://www.amdforums.com/showthread....hreadid=161009

Who's the blame for this mess? The reseller or ECS?

Apparently, there's a huge scam going with ECS packaging and marketing their K7SEM mainboards with an "integrated AMD Duron XP 1200" that's soldered onto the board. The BIOS string will report that the CPU is an "AMD DuronXP 1200" but upon using common third party software such as CPU ID or SiSoft Sandra, or prying off the heatsink, customers are finding the scary truth - an AMD Duron 850 in the socket!

The packaging box falsely advertizes the CPU as being "1.2 Ghz" and shows graphs of BS benchmark scores pitting this "special" DuronXP 1200 against a 1.2Ghz Intel Celeron but Sandra shows that it's equal to a Duron 850 because that's exactly what's under the hood (which conveniently has a sticker on the HSF saying "Warranty Void If Removed".

Online resellers are also participating in this scam offering the combo with both the ECS and PCChips monikers. According to AMD's website, there is no such thing as an AMD DuronXP processor.

Look out folks!!

LuckyNV · 10-04-02, 06:45 AM

there is always someone trying to makea quick buck

PCarr78 · 10-04-02, 04:40 PM

Well, they're counting on user idiocy.

Joe Sixpack will never think of using wCPUid or anything like that...

CainSyris · 10-05-02, 11:49 AM

I suspect they are trying to do a product rating scheme. Thinking a Duron 850 overclocked to 892 is to have the "PR" of a Duron 1200XP. Overclocked FSB might give it some bandwidth to play with, but somehow I doubt its all the way to 1200.

But really, who here trusted ECS or thought of them as a quality manufacturer? Anyone?

You get what you pay for.

Smokey · 10-05-02, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CainSyris
I suspect they are trying to do a product rating scheme. Thinking a Duron 850 overclocked to 892 is to have the "PR" of a Duron 1200XP. Overclocked FSB might give it some bandwidth to play with, but somehow I doubt its all the way to 1200.

But really, who here trusted ECS or thought of them as a quality manufacturer? Anyone?

You get what you pay for.

No one is talking about the quality of the product here, it's about not getting what you paid for! As for the PR ratings of cpus , thats upto AMD, not motherboard manufactures to do, which at the moment only applys to the T-Bred core, no the old T-Bird or Duron cores. This is flat out dishonest and ECS should be closed down for trying to pull such a stunt. If anything AMD should be doing something here about this abuse of thier naming system and the incorrect bios identification. How would you like to buy a GFTi4200 only to find that the core is a GF4MX420?

CainSyris · 10-05-02, 02:33 PM

So you are suggesting that ECS selling a Duron 850 (or 892) as an 1200XP is not impacting the quality of the product they are selling? I don't know about you, but for me quality has as much to do with being what its supposed to be as being functional at what its not supposed to be.

So a 850 sold as a 1200XP is still a quality concern because its not what its supposed to be.

And a good OEM would not engage in such things. Buying from ECS, you again, as I have said, get what you pay for.

Do yourself a favor and avoid ECS. Most people with even a slightly larger budget do and most of these people are happier, too.

After the fiasco with QA that was the K75a (SIS 735), I wouldn't trust ECS at all.

Hell, if you read online, half the people who talk about the Abit IT7-MAX2 are attacking it BECAUSE its being OEM'ed by ECS for Abit. And that's not even based on fact, but based on the press releases that admitted ECS was doing some outsourcing for Abit and the fact that Abit doesn't typically use the color scheme that the IT7MAX2 does (yet ECS usually does). So if people are so damn quick to attack ECS (even when associated with Abit), then what does that tell you?

Avoid. Or suffer quality issues. Getting less than what you were told on the box (and boot screen) should be enough information about their quality concerns.

Smokey · 10-05-02, 08:36 PM

No what I was saying is that products that cater for someone on a small budget, doesnt mean that the product is crap

Take a look at the GF4MX, cheap but does its job. I know nothing ECS, but just from this topic alone, I think they should be closed down. If they are known for making non quality products, then yes avoid them

Soltek are another company that make cheap motherboards, but they seem to be quality boards

PsychoSy · 10-05-02, 11:40 PM

Currently, ECS is in the #2 spot for total volume of boards manufactured and shipped, so they are considered a top tier is leading the pack) mainboard manufacturer (for those that thought Asus and Abit still lead the pack, your plate of Crow Almondaine will be served shortly - MSI is king of the hill now).

Anyway, to move that much product means that they have quite lot of buyers and their outsourcing contracts are lucrative (ECS makes all the mainboards for Shuttle and Jetway, some for PC-Chips, Dell, Gateway and the entire budget line for Abit). If their products sucked so bad, they wouldn't be having these numbers or those contracts.

But this "rebadged" Duron stuff is something that I'm confident all the attourney generals in this country would frown upon and, being as huge as ECS is, there is no excuse for it.

I'd expect this from PC-Chips, but not ECS.
Shame on them.

netviper13 · 10-06-02, 01:26 AM

You can't honestly insult the K7S5A or the K7S6A with any merit. Sure they had a few problems, but what mobo doesn't? They were cheap as heck, and most people who knew what they were doing (like me) who used them didn't have troubles. Cheap and spanked the pants off everything up to the kt266a.

CainSyris · 10-08-02, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by netviper13
You can't honestly insult the K7S5A or the K7S6A with any merit. Sure they had a few problems, but what mobo doesn't? They were cheap as heck, and most people who knew what they were doing (like me) who used them didn't have troubles. Cheap and spanked the pants off everything up to the kt266a.

Actually, I can definitely insult the K7S5A. I cannot tell you how many posts (across countless forums) I saw on that board being sub-par due to QA issues. Broken boards, etc. (Just like Asus is taking flak for in the P4S8x now.) And even if every motherboard manufacturer produces a few bad boards, it is not fast that I forget it.

Of course, you can say it was cheap and that is true, but even if you pay a little money on something, you surely do want it to be working and not half the time broken.

If you had good luck with your ECS venture in cheapdom, then I congratulate you. There were many (and I will say that again, m-a-n-y) who did not.

I do not speak about the K7S6A, however. Don't know what the reports were on that board because SIS took so long on the SIS745 and motherboard manufacturers were not as interested in that as they were in the SIS P4 chipsets.

So now SIS is less focused on the Athlon market and more focused on being the low-end of P4-dom.

10-03-02, 05:19 PM	#1
PsychoSy Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Monroe, MI Posts: 489	Caveat Emptor!! Huge "Duron XP 1200" Swindle going on!! http://www.amdforums.com/showthread....hreadid=161009 Who's the blame for this mess? The reseller or ECS? Apparently, there's a huge scam going with ECS packaging and marketing their K7SEM mainboards with an "integrated AMD Duron XP 1200" that's soldered onto the board. The BIOS string will report that the CPU is an "AMD DuronXP 1200" but upon using common third party software such as CPU ID or SiSoft Sandra, or prying off the heatsink, customers are finding the scary truth - an AMD Duron 850 in the socket! The packaging box falsely advertizes the CPU as being "1.2 Ghz" and shows graphs of BS benchmark scores pitting this "special" DuronXP 1200 against a 1.2Ghz Intel Celeron but Sandra shows that it's equal to a Duron 850 because that's exactly what's under the hood (which conveniently has a sticker on the HSF saying "Warranty Void If Removed". Online resellers are also participating in this scam offering the combo with both the ECS and PCChips monikers. According to AMD's website, there is no such thing as an AMD DuronXP processor. Look out folks!! __________________ [b][i]A man's ambition must be small, To write his name on a s**t-house wall.[/b][/i]

10-05-02, 08:36 PM	#7
Smokey Team Rainbow Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: FRANCE Posts: 2,273	No what I was saying is that products that cater for someone on a small budget, doesnt mean that the product is crap Take a look at the GF4MX, cheap but does its job. I know nothing ECS, but just from this topic alone, I think they should be closed down. If they are known for making non quality products, then yes avoid them Soltek are another company that make cheap motherboards, but they seem to be quality boards __________________ HTPC/Gaming \| Hiper Type R 580W PSU\| Intel Q9550 @ 4GHz \| Gigabyte EP45 UD3R \|4x 1024MB OCZ Reaper PC9200 DDR2 \| Seagate 320GB/ Maxtor 320GB/ Maxtor 500GB HDD\|Sapphire HD5850 \| Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Pro \| Harmon Kardon AVR135 reciever \| Jamo S718 speakers \| 42" Plasma 720p (lounge room)-Samsung P2450H (bedroom)

10-05-02, 11:40 PM	#8
PsychoSy Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Monroe, MI Posts: 489	Currently, ECS is in the #2 spot for total volume of boards manufactured and shipped, so they are considered a top tier is leading the pack) mainboard manufacturer (for those that thought Asus and Abit still lead the pack, your plate of Crow Almondaine will be served shortly - MSI is king of the hill now). Anyway, to move that much product means that they have quite lot of buyers and their outsourcing contracts are lucrative (ECS makes all the mainboards for Shuttle and Jetway, some for PC-Chips, Dell, Gateway and the entire budget line for Abit). If their products sucked so bad, they wouldn't be having these numbers or those contracts. But this "rebadged" Duron stuff is something that I'm confident all the attourney generals in this country would frown upon and, being as huge as ECS is, there is no excuse for it. I'd expect this from PC-Chips, but not ECS. Shame on them. __________________ [b][i]A man's ambition must be small, To write his name on a s**t-house wall.[/b][/i]

10-04-02, 06:45 AM	#2
LuckyNV Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 21	there is always someone trying to makea quick buck

10-04-02, 04:40 PM	#3
PCarr78 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 505	Well, they're counting on user idiocy. Joe Sixpack will never think of using wCPUid or anything like that...

10-05-02, 11:49 AM	#4
CainSyris This is MY boomstick! Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 179	I suspect they are trying to do a product rating scheme. Thinking a Duron 850 overclocked to 892 is to have the "PR" of a Duron 1200XP. Overclocked FSB might give it some bandwidth to play with, but somehow I doubt its all the way to 1200. But really, who here trusted ECS or thought of them as a quality manufacturer? Anyone? You get what you pay for.

10-05-02, 02:33 PM	#6
CainSyris This is MY boomstick! Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 179	So you are suggesting that ECS selling a Duron 850 (or 892) as an 1200XP is not impacting the quality of the product they are selling? I don't know about you, but for me quality has as much to do with being what its supposed to be as being functional at what its not supposed to be. So a 850 sold as a 1200XP is still a quality concern because its not what its supposed to be. And a good OEM would not engage in such things. Buying from ECS, you again, as I have said, get what you pay for. Do yourself a favor and avoid ECS. Most people with even a slightly larger budget do and most of these people are happier, too. After the fiasco with QA that was the K75a (SIS 735), I wouldn't trust ECS at all. Hell, if you read online, half the people who talk about the Abit IT7-MAX2 are attacking it BECAUSE its being OEM'ed by ECS for Abit. And that's not even based on fact, but based on the press releases that admitted ECS was doing some outsourcing for Abit and the fact that Abit doesn't typically use the color scheme that the IT7MAX2 does (yet ECS usually does). So if people are so damn quick to attack ECS (even when associated with Abit), then what does that tell you? Avoid. Or suffer quality issues. Getting less than what you were told on the box (and boot screen) should be enough information about their quality concerns.

10-06-02, 01:26 AM	#9
netviper13 Treehugger Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 942	You can't honestly insult the K7S5A or the K7S6A with any merit. Sure they had a few problems, but what mobo doesn't? They were cheap as heck, and most people who knew what they were doing (like me) who used them didn't have troubles. Cheap and spanked the pants off everything up to the kt266a.