AMD XP2400+ plus ECS K7S5A mobo for $79,95 at Frys

[puppyfriend]

Originally posted by: draggoon01
anyone try pricematching to san diego?

Can't be done. They explicitly say the price is only good in the metro area where the ad comes out.

David

 

[nexialist]

Hey guys,

Frys just opened a 2nd store about 3 weeks ago in San Marcos whiich is about 30 mi North of San Diego . They have been running some pretty incredible ads (like $149 for a 27" color Toshiba) to "bring em in".

Some days you could not even find parking and all 50 cashier's were working and the check out line was about 40 yards long. Fry's is my Toys-r-us.

Dan

 

[htne]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Is this deal available in Houston? Any one check for me ?

Houston gets totally scre*ed on this one. $89.99, and the cpu is the 2200+, not the 2400+.

Bummer!

 

[RipperX2k]

How's the ECS K7A5A? I had problems with the non-pro version, but has anyone have any problems with the PRO version? Also anyone know any review sites for the PRO version? I'm currently on a old IWILL KK266 and a Athlon 1.2, so this would be kinda nice to hold me over until like something huge comes out later on. But, it's not bad for $80 and maybe like $10-15 for a HSF. One good thing would be that it still uses PC133 so no need to upgrade really.

 

[RipperX2k]

I just bought one of these. Can anyone recommend a good HSF for the chip? I'm thinking $10-15 max for the HSF.

 

[butch84]

Why cant frys come to minnesota!! At least they need to start an online store, this is killing me . . . . .

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
Damn, I want a Fry's in my area!!

 

[multifacitedonyx]

Originally posted by: htne

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Is this deal available in Houston? Any one check for me ?

Houston gets totally scre*ed on this one. $89.99, and the cpu is the 2200+, not the 2400+.

Bummer!

Austin is $89.99, but it is the 2400+

 

[darqice]

I just bought one of these. Can anyone recommend a good HSF for the chip? I'm thinking $10-15 max for the HSF.

ripperx, without reserve I heartily recommend this monster speeze 80mm quiet heatsink/fan from newegg for $7.00, plus $5 for shipping puts you in your range

linky

YMMV, but I bought two for my systems and IMHO this is good for all but the most hardcore overclocking

 

[RipperX2k]

Nice, I'll look into it. BTW, how's the noise on this thing? Is it the same with like retail hsf? I dont want somethign that sounds like a freakin airplane taking, if you know what I mean.

 

[darqice]

ripped from the link

"Noise level 26.5 dBA Air flow 31.70 CFM at 2500 RPM"
that is **very** quiet.

personal experience, this fan is pretty much as loud as the other 80mm case fans blowing lots of air through my case...

 

[Walleye]

what about the stability on the PRO version?

would this be a good idea for a complete NOOB to building computers?

 

[superblast]

Originally posted by: Walleye
what about the stability on the PRO version?

would this be a good idea for a complete NOOB to building computers?

I picked this combo up in the previous sale and have been running memtest on it for several days without a hiccup. I have heard from others that this isn't a very good board but I'm using this as a secondary system so price is more important than stability, etc. If you're a newbie, I would recommend getting the combo, selling the board on ebay for $30-40 and applying that towards an Asus Nforce2 board or something that is similarly stable (remember, you're virtually getting the board for free if you check the price of xp2400s on pricewatch). There's so many factors when building your first system... you certainly don't want an unstable board thrown into the mix.

 

[cdipierr]

These boards are fine. Older versions has problems with high-end TBirds (like the 1.4GHz version), but that's hardly an issue now. I've never had an issue with any K75A and any Athlon XP.

 

[Walleye]

Originally posted by: superblast

Originally posted by: Walleye
what about the stability on the PRO version?

would this be a good idea for a complete NOOB to building computers?

I picked this combo up in the previous sale and have been running memtest on it for several days without a hiccup. I have heard from others that this isn't a very good board but I'm using this as a secondary system so price is more important than stability, etc. If you're a newbie, I would recommend getting the combo, selling the board on ebay for $30-40 and applying that towards an Asus Nforce2 board or something that is similarly stable (remember, you're virtually getting the board for free if you check the price of xp2400s on pricewatch). There's so many factors when building your first system... you certainly don't want an unstable board thrown into the mix.

i just picked up the board, and am looking at it now... gonna buy the hard drive, case, memory, and a few other things as i see deals...

 

[Diego101]

Hey make sure that you test things out before letting them sit too long waiting on more deals since you probably only have a 15 day warranty on the CPU.

 

[JWMiddleton]

Originally posted by: RyogaHibiki
I got a similar bundle deal at fry's awhile ago that had the NON-pro ECS board. THAT board was a POS. It has a well-documented problem of losing its bios settings. Does anyone know if the PRO version of this board has that same (or any other) problems?

I've got 5 of these boards: 3 non-pro, 2 pro. I've not had a single problem with any of them. They run SETI 24x7.

 

[Miramonti]

this is an awesome deal. I just picked up the cpu from newegg for more than that! no frys around here tho. :|

 

[DongTran]

Originally posted by: Diego101
Hey make sure that you test things out before letting them sit too long waiting on more deals since you probably only have a 15 day warranty on the CPU.

my warranty says a year all over the receipt and cpu packing

 

[ShotgunSi]

Originally posted by: DongTran

Originally posted by: Diego101
Hey make sure that you test things out before letting them sit too long waiting on more deals since you probably only have a 15 day warranty on the CPU.

my warranty says a year all over the receipt and cpu packing

I believe you have a 14/15 day return/price match policy. And 1 year warrenty against defects probably with AMD.

 

[PoPPeR]

My personal experience with the K7S5A: stay the fvck away. My board has incredible stability issues compared to my last board (Epox 8k7a... sigh...). I didn't really know about the bios losing problem, but it sure happened to me a lot and I even went out to buy a new battery for the mb. Only a loss of 3$, since my settings actually resetted this morning when I turned on my computer. I'm not a hardcore overclocker so I can't comment on that part. For free + as a second system, definitely worth it. I just ordered a Epox 8rda+ from newegg for 88$ shipped and i can't wait to get this motherboard out of my main system. I hear it's extremely picky about ram as well. Btw, it took me three trips to Fry's to get a working board.

However I do know that if you do find a working board that doesn't have the most common problems, then it could very well be the best deal you ever made.

 

[pxc]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSi

Originally posted by: DongTran

Originally posted by: Diego101
Hey make sure that you test things out before letting them sit too long waiting on more deals since you probably only have a 15 day warranty on the CPU.

my warranty says a year all over the receipt and cpu packing

I believe you have a 14/15 day return/price match policy. And 1 year warrenty against defects probably with AMD.

No, Fry's handles the 1 year warranty. I've had to replace one for an idiot who fried the CPU I sold him. There was a nice heatsink mark on the 1 edge where it was touching... he put the HSF on the wrong way.

 

[DogbertFuz]

any news on how these OC? Can they get up to 2.6ghz? =)

nick

 

[IBJanky]

I have the same combo on my current computer as all I can say is I'm VERY happy with it!

VERY stable and I have had NO problems at all!

Excellent deal if you ask me!

 

[Tazan007]

K7S5A is one of the most stable boards. I don't know what some of you guys are smoking but I suggest you look for the fault in one of your other components. Get a "decent" power supply and RAM and you won't have any issues. Hence, Crucial or other quality RAM(doesn't have to be the fastest or anything). Some good power supplies for this board would be Enhance ENP-0730, ENP-0735, Forton 300W power supplies, Allied 400W PS, Enlight 300W PS, Herochi 350W PS. Most of these can be had for around $30-$40 if not cheaper. I've built 5 computers for myself with this board and helped 4 other people build computers with this board. No problems except for once and that was because the board was DOA and Newegg sent out a new one without problems. Also some of you need to get better case circulation. Try to keep the case temp at a decent level so as the mobo chipset doesn't overheat. Some people have had this problem which was resolved by replacing the heatsink on the chipset with a better one or applying better thermal paste/glue. I've had my current ECS K7S5A mobo for 1.5 years and no problems as of yet. I'm more likely to replace the board before it dies.