ECS K7SAG

[darwin]

NewEgg has this motherboard for $89 shipped. I got the board, 1800xp thouroughbred retail, and 1 stick of 256meg 2700 memory for under $200. The system runs great overclocked to a 2400xp at 2 gig. The motherboard has 64meg of memory built into it and the onboard graphics overclocks very easy with the included software. I ran 3DMARK2001SE and got a score of 7611 which is not too shabby for an inexpensive motherboard with built in graphics.

 

[cheapgoose]

well, I think a lot of ppl here will stay away from ECS. for 10 more bucks you can get the epox nforce2.

not crapping, just wanted to mention that ecs doesn't have the best rep.

 

[Danman]

Originally posted by: cheapgoose
well, I think a lot of ppl here will stay away from ECS. for 10 more bucks you can get the epox nforce2.

not crapping, just wanted to mention that ecs doesn't have the best rep.

I have bought probably 40 ECS boards (K7S5A) and I never got or had a bad one yet. I've been buying them for probably a year and a half now. Yea, people may think they don't have the best rep but I never had a problem with ECS, maybe it's just my luck.

 

[PoPPeR]

i haven't had horrible problems with ECS, but i've had enough that, unless it'd make you bankrupt, spend extra money on an epox. I went from an Epox 8k7a to a ECS K7S5a, liked the epox better overall

 

[lobe]

I think after 40, it's not luck anymore.

I have 2 ecs mobo's I'm using right now: k7s5a and k7vta3. No problems with either. I'm not afraid of going with ecs.

But yeah, for $10 more I'd probably go with the epox board, too.

 

[Jhill]

I bought an ECS k7s5a board. I returned it. Then I returned it again. Now now 3rd board is screwing up on me. Maybe I have bad luck.

 

[yodayoda]

the guy is talking about a K7SAG, the game union board with builtin SiS graphics and soldered on DDR memory. pretty wild idea. this does NOT compare with the $97 epox board as that board is not the IGP model, just the SSP. an nForce2 with graphics (the IGP versions) would be comparable. i think the GF4MX440 graphics beat the SiS graphics plus you still get an AGP slot (the SiS has none, in fact, you also lose 3 PCI slots).

i don't know, i think ECS has a really cool idea there and i hope people buy it. i would, if they had a chip/mobo bundle with it, but at $89 i think it is a little high.

 

[doinmybestatlast]

12 ECS boards, 10 were ECS k7s5a, one DOA - refurb (didn't check the box carefully). All from Fry's. Greatest deal in MB and CPU combos.
Soild, speedy boards. Have one running 24/7 6 months RAID 1 for non-essential data backup. Not a hiccup.

For my own personal MB I like ASUS and ABIT. A bit more expensive than Epox, Gigabyte and others, but after using a Soyo board I relish stability.

 

[igowerf]

I've had my K7S5a running with a no name 300W power supply for almost 2 years now. It's been rock solid and plenty fast.

 

[cheapgoose]

i guess I just shoved my foot in my mouth. could've swore there were a lot more ppl bltchin' about esc. anyway, sorry.

 

[Subh2o]

you do need to replace the 3032 lit battery on an ECS board right away!

I will buy ECS in the future, stable and inexpensive! In fact for most of us that spend our time here saving money the ECS boards are ideal!

 

[ams30gts]

some ECS are good, some bad. very picky with selected ram, and needs a decent PS from my experience. if you get it for dirt cheap, its good. but i would much rather spend a few extra dollars and get a better board

 

[bambam]

Cashman - You are lucky . I can't say the same . ECS has come along way but there are better built competing products for just a little more $ . I won't be buying any more ECS boards for a long while .

 

[Dogbertt]

I have bought about 10 ECS motherboards. I had 1 DOA and one with a Bad USB 2.0 Port.

But of course I got these at Fry's and their QA isn't all that great.
(What we just RAN over a bunch of Mobos with a pallet Jack? Oh just put them on the shelf and let the consumer be our QA).

ECS , Epox, Fic, and a few others are all low end Mobo's you are just gonna get lucky or unlucky.

Heck I bought an Iwill MB and it was DOA out of the box so who knows. So Iwill so far is 100% bad for me (1 for 1) so ECS is a much better ratio (2 of 10)

I would still buy an ECS (K75SA Pro) because it is inexpensive, comes with a LAN and USB 2.0.

 

[kof]

Originally posted by: cheapgoose
i guess I just shoved my foot in my mouth. could've swore there were a lot more ppl bltchin' about esc. anyway, sorry.

One of the MAIN problems I've personally seen with the ECSK7S5a is the piss poor documentation.
In the manual which came with the first one I bought the jumper settings were totally fubarred, plus the screening was illegible.
Up to that point I had only built about 20 or 30 systems, mainly ASUS.
Well I think I fried the m/b.
RMA'd to Newegg. Found the correct jumper settings. Been running for a year or so.
Later I found a thread in which someone who claimed be from Fry's said that 75% of the RMA's they got were ok, but it was just the poor instructions.
So YMMV.

 

[anglo]

It seeems that ECS drivers are often found via links to Amptron. Does anyone know if Amptron MAKES the boards for companies like ECS and PC Chips (whose board drivers can be found at Amptron) or are ECS et cetera just subsidiaries/fronts of or for Amptron?

I have had luck with both ECS (Outpost and BZBOYS yes BZBOYS!!!) ECS7A boards I've used.

 

[Lanyap]

Originally posted by: anglo
It seeems that ECS drivers are often found via links to Amptron. Does anyone know if Amptron MAKES the boards for companies like ECS and PC Chips (whose board drivers can be found at Amptron) or are ECS et cetera just subsidiaries/fronts of or for Amptron?

I have had luck with both ECS (Outpost and BZBOYS yes BZBOYS!!!) ECS7A boards I've used.

Amptron, ECS and PCChips are all related. I can't remember who owns who. When they release a new mainboard they all have the same board with different model numbers.

 

[Lanyap]

We are talking about the K7S7AG and not K7SAG, right?

Hehe, just noticed, looks like darwin = lobster.

 

[Evadman]

I bought quite a few K7S5A's, and only one was DOA. A good deal in my book. I think the main thing was people buying them because they were a great deal, but not having any clue how to assemble them.

 

[thinlizzie]

ECS builds decent mobos. AMD sponsors our LAN party and in a conversation with the rep he told me that the #1 selling board (and from a relaibility / compatability perspective) is the K7S5A. That said I bought a refurb of the K7S5A from newegg that was bad - I ate the $30 - and replaced it with a K7S5A Pro and the newest one has been absolutely bullet-proof.

Anyone want the bad one? LOL!

 

[Subh2o]

My K7S5A has been a champ, it has taken whatever isthrown at it without a blip. Except the battery dying.