ECS K7S5A and AMD Duron

[MrBumpy]

Hi,

I am upgrading my fiancée's computer, and I was wondering if the following components would work well together:

New Components:
<> Motherboard: ECS K7S5A
<> Processor: AMD Duron @ 950 MHz (200 MHz FSB)

Existing Components:
<> Memory: PNY 128 MB PC-133 SDRAM (CAS 3)
<> Power Supply: KME 250 watt (model px-250w atx)
<> Graphics Card: STB Velocity 4400 PCI (nVidia TNT)

My two concerns have been the power supply and the memory, since I have read many reports of people having difficulties with the K7S5A and certain power supplies and/or brands of memory. The 300 watt power supply by KME (model px-300w atx) is on the AMD approved list for the Duron, but the 250 watt version isn't.

Also, I have heard that there is a performance hit running the RAM asynchronously with the CPU bus. How severe is this hit? Would it be better to run the Duron at 133 MHz FSB and increase the multiplier instead, or would this be bad for the CPU?

Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[MrBumpy]

empty post, sorry... (I'm just being a newbie)

 

[gcy]

the ECS K7S5A needs 300 watts or better psu. check previous threads.

 

[Buz2b]

Your concerns about both items is well founded. Both the memory and the PS are a question. First the memory. The only reason(s) I question it is first, I've not seen anyone that ran PNY memory (doesn't mean it won't work though) and second because it is CAS 3. Same thing, most run CAS 2 or 2.5. I'm not sure if the board even has a setting for 3, but most likely does. Also, there are no multiplier adjustments on this board and very few, depending on the BIOS, FSB settings. You are going to be limited in your adjustments.

Second is the PS. There have been some fortunate individuals that have gotten a 250 watt PS to work. A few. Those are the exception, not the rule. A plus in your side is that it is a Duron, but I don't know if I would try it. You might try to find a local source for an AMD approved for your CPU, PS. It is not enough just to be AMD approved; you need to be approved for your CPU and of course anything beyond that you want to install. You can find AMD's table of approved PS's on this page.

BTW, the only KME PS that is mentioned is a KeyMouse Electronics 300 watt. That would work for your situation, but the 250 watt is not listed for whatever reason.

 

[MrBumpy]

Thanks for your replies! Based on what I have read, it looks like I will not be buying the ECS K7S5A. Does anyone know of a good and inexpensive alternative that will work with the aforementioned hardware? As I said, my fianc&eacute;e is on a very tight budget, so she can't afford to buy new RAM or a power supply as well. Am I silly for thinking that these components will work fine in a Socket-A motherboard with a Duron 950?

Another motherboard we have looked seriously at is the BCM IN730SE. Would I still have the same concerns if I bought this board?

Any other good inexpensive motherboard suggestions for this combo would be much appreciated... as long as they don't have a VIA chipset (my girlfriend doesn't want VIA after watching me go through hell with mine before switching to ALi), so that pretty much rules it down to ALi and SiS.

 

[Buz2b]

Maybe she would be better off with a Dell. I mean, the VIA chipset is as bothersome as you let it be. There was a time when there were considerable problems, but that was then, this is now. If you can load a driver, you can use a VIA chipset. If you can't then there are other issues to deal with. The SIS 735 is the best price/performance board out there right now. Other than your PS and Memory, you should be OK. RAM is cheap right now too. I've never heard of the other board you mentioned. I'd suggest using a Google search and see what you can find out. Other than that, you're only other inexpensive choice is a "low end" integrated OEM type board. But there again you will run into VIA and SIS quite often.

 

[nizenco]

<< I'm not sure if the board even has a setting for 3, but most likely does. >>



yes it dose, you can set it to 2/2,5 and 3.

 

[FunBuilder]

I just built a K7S5A machine with a Duron 800, and a stick of 256 PC-133 PNY Memory which the clerk said was cas 2. (Comp USA sale)

I bought the board at a show with the processor and a cooler master fan for 128.00 dollars. I was looking to go cheap because I wanted to build this machine with some older parts I had laying around.

So far it runs great! I haven't played with memory timings or overclocking. The setup was pretty easy except that after copying my system files from the floppy when I formatted the HD it would not go back to the floppy to continue the installation of WIN 98SE. I had to change the boot sequence to not boot from IDE, and choose floppy as first boot device. Otherwise it would get to searching for it on the post and say "found on IDE-O okay" , and just sit there doing nothing. Never had that happen in the past with four other builds. I changed it back to normal booting sequence after getting the OS installed.

I did follow the manual and install the SIS video drivers, before installing the drivers for my video card, although other people have not done this without any repercusions. I think if you have XP you don't need to.

The only other thing is that the CMOS jumper was set to "clear" from the factory. The manual warns that you must have it set to normal before powering up. Don't know why they would have it set to clear from the factory.

I also had to remove one of my Power LED wires from my case hook-ups from the outside and put it in the middle in order to hook it up to the two pin connector on the mother board. I slid an exacto knife under the plastic and pulled it out with no problems. I have seen that other people have cut the three pin connector in half in order to hook it up.

By the way the onboard sound is very good in my case (as far as listening to CD's) with a 32.00 Altec Lansing powerd sub-woofer and two speakers.

The ethernet also works with no problems.

Edit:I forgot to say that I'm using a 300W Award power supply that came with a 32.00 dollar Titan case from the show. Not sure how good it is, but the computer seems to run fine. It did have an approved sticker on it but it doesn't show up on AMD's website.

All in all I am very happy with it for such an inexpensive system.

 

[Rickr]

I'm using the K7S5A with an Athlon XP 1700, two 128 Mb sticks of Crucial PC133 (CL3) Ram, and a Antec 245 watt power supply with no problems.

If you want a board that uses PC133, and allows for an upgrade to DDR later, this is the one to get.

 

[Freewolf]

I've used pny ram a few times with no problems

 

[sadb0i]

i've built several systems with the k7s5a with 250w and 300w PS and they all have been running for a few months now with no problems...
also have run with ddr and generic pc133 sdram and also have seen no problems as of yet...

i say for the price...give it a go...and if it fails...rma it back and go for a kt133a chipset mobo...damn good chipset and great mobos like the iwill kk266 and asus a7v133....