Fry's Athlon 64 X2 4200+ & ECS GeForce7050M-M

[szechuanpork]

sure ecs ain't no gigabyte or abit at overclocking, but c'mon these 6100s can overclock these super overclockable 4200+s a little bit. anyone have this combo and tried to overclock it? i'm willing to bet 25%.

 

[GeezerMan]

Do you guys think the 4200+ X2 would run smooth enough at stock speeds with a 8600GT card to serve as a HTPC and do HDTV, blu ray, etc. without problems?

 

[IBuyUFO]

I picked up the x2 5600+ from Fry's. There is no picture of a motherboard in the ad. I think it was in the front page right above the Thermaltake Orb video card cooler.

 

[skillyho]

Good deal to those with a Fry's nearby....

 

[QTPie]

Originally posted by: Rockhound1
I am still running an ECS K7VTA3 with an Athlon XP Barton 3000+ in one of my systems. This board has been rock solid since day-1 and just keeps on going...

I just sold my old PC with this motherboard and 2.4G.
It's still running great.

EDIT: Just bought the combo at Fry's Brokaw, San Jose today. It's a bare CPU. It booted up fine with $20 2GB Crucial 5300 stick from last deal at Fry's

 

[Inspector Jihad]

man, this along with the recent price drops in gfx cards...you can put together a solid source gaming pc for like 400 bucks.

 

[GeezerMan]

Is there any temp reporting software that works with the Brisbane core? Every one I try reports way too low.

 

[acole1]

I just picked mine up at the Arlington, TX location. I had a $60 GC I got for my birthday... so it only cost me $4.

They said they had a LOT left over too.

New server FTW!! :beer:

 

[Rockhound1]

I wonder if they have anymore Q6600 combos? It was $229.

 

[QuixoticOne]

Check this thread out; the author of the program has some good information about how and why many temperature programs are innacurate. Maybe his utility will work better for you.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=179044


Unrelated: Thanks, OP.

I have yet to put my ECS + X2-4200 together, but I'm looking forward to it.

How good is the integrated graphics capability on the motherboard?
Does it have LUT look up table capability for gamma correction?
Can it decently support a 22" monitor at 1600x1200 or similar analog or digital?
Is it decently fast for GUI text oriented stuff like office applications with lots of fonts and such at that sort of resolution?

I figure I'll pick up an 8600GT on sale one day for it but in the meanwhile it'll be nice to use the onboard video.

Originally posted by: GeezerMan
Is there any temp reporting software that works with the Brisbane core? Every one I try reports way too low.

 

[jiffer]

Thanks for the link to the temperature monitoring utility.

I'm not sure about your specific applications, but generally speaking, the integrated graphics are adequate for most office applications. You might notice a little bit of lag at 1600x1200 if you're multitasking.

I'll have to doublecheck, but I think the NVidia reference driver has gamma correction ability, along with digital vibrance control, brightness, screen size adjustments, etc., when you use the onboard graphics. But I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about.


I have come across one thing I don't like about this motherboard--the placement of the 4-pin 12V connector. I'm trying to use a ThermalTake TR2-R1 Silent CPU cooler (which I don't consider to be a "monster"-sized cooler), and there's too much interference for my taste. An Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 fits a little better, but I'm still not happy about it. I have to plug in the 12V connector before I install the CPU cooler, which just isn't right. In short, any CPU cooler that is wider than a stock cooler (with a 92mm fan, for instance) might have trouble fitting.

 

[tuffgong]

Picked up the combo earlier tonight...motherboard won't pot. Taking it back Wednesday. The Motherboard doesn't even beep...makes no sense. Tried with CPU, without CPU, with memory, without memory and two different power supplies.

My first bad ECS board.

 

[scgt1]

Originally posted by: acole1
I just picked mine up at the Arlington, TX location. I had a $60 GC I got for my birthday... so it only cost me $4.

They said they had a LOT left over too.

New server FTW!! :beer:

No shit you live close to me I hope they run this sale again this weekend It was a week early didn't have the money bastards where about dfw u live?

 

[Rockhound1]

I broke down and got the 5600+ combo deal. I was really tempted by the Q6600 combo deal, but couldn't justify the extra $125. I will build the system this weekend.

 

[SwiftWind]

is this still available?

 

[scgt1]

as far as i know it was only till today.

 

[IBuyUFO]

Originally posted by: Rockhound1
I broke down and got the 5600+ combo deal. I was really tempted by the Q6600 combo deal, but couldn't justify the extra $125. I will build the system this weekend.

I already built mine I want a cookie.

 

[onelove]

Originally posted by: IBuyUFO

Originally posted by: Rockhound1
I broke down and got the 5600+ combo deal. I was really tempted by the Q6600 combo deal, but couldn't justify the extra $125. I will build the system this weekend.

I already built mine I want a cookie.

... was tempted by this deal, but still shy about ECS from the bad old days of 30% failure ECS socket A boards. I'm sure they are better now, as the rep was explaining...

 

[QuixoticOne]

Apparently I need a couple of decent (and inexpensive) AM2 heatsinks for the X2 systems I'm building for myself and a friend. The sinks that I thought would fit turned out not to.
Any suggestions on good deals for cheap, cool, and quiet running ones that fit?

 

[QuixoticOne]

Thanks for the information on the video and the heatsink.
I was just wondering if it would be possible to color-calibrate the display which uses the VGA LUTs/gamma curves to work. Sounds like it'll work no problem.

The heatsink information is valuable too; I probably would have tried the TR2-R1 or Alpine64 for this because they are inexpensive if not for your warning.

Do you happen to know of any similarly inexpensive heatsinks that are reasonably quiet/cool running? I don't see any more Gemini II $15 or less deals ATM unfortunately.

Originally posted by: jiffer
Thanks for the link to the temperature monitoring utility.

I'm not sure about your specific applications, but generally speaking, the integrated graphics are adequate for most office applications. You might notice a little bit of lag at 1600x1200 if you're multitasking.

I'll have to doublecheck, but I think the NVidia reference driver has gamma correction ability, along with digital vibrance control, brightness, screen size adjustments, etc., when you use the onboard graphics. But I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about.


I have come across one thing I don't like about this motherboard--the placement of the 4-pin 12V connector. I'm trying to use a ThermalTake TR2-R1 Silent CPU cooler (which I don't consider to be a "monster"-sized cooler), and there's too much interference for my taste. An Arctic Cooling Alpine 64 fits a little better, but I'm still not happy about it. I have to plug in the 12V connector before I install the CPU cooler, which just isn't right. In short, any CPU cooler that is wider than a stock cooler (with a 92mm fan, for instance) might have trouble fitting.

 

[jiffer]

I might have spoken too hastily when I said the TR2-R1 won't fit. It will fit, but it makes contact with the 12V connector, and I don't like that. The Alpine 64 is clear, but just barely. Having just discovered this annoyance, I'm annoyed by it. But I will probably get used to it after a while.

Here is a cheap cooler that will do the job:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-8ID2AL

eWiz has also several similar models in the same price range in case you want an alternative. The nice thing about that one (aside from the fact that it isn't much larger than a stock CPU cooler) is that the 80mm fan can easily be replaced if necessary.

This one is a step up, but it's actually a little bit louder:

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=FAN-9ID3A

I haven't used either of those in a while, and I can't remember if the automatic fan control works with their 3-pin connectors. If it does, then noise shouldn't be a problem.

By the way, I'm actually using an Alpine 7 without the LGA775 mounting hardware instead of an Alpine 64. (Aside from the mounting hardware, they're practically the same.) I have an older Alpine 64 that has a 3-pin connector and I don't know if the newer ones have a 4-pin connector; but the Alpine 7 has a 4-pin connector, so that's why I'm using it instead.

I don't have an Actic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro that I can try out with the GEFORCE6100PM-M2, but I have a Freezer 7 Pro (aside from the mounting hardware, they're practically the same), and just from eyeballing it, it looks like the Freezer 64 Pro would fit alright. So would a Mini Typhoon or a Big Typhoon, but those cost a lot more than $15.

I hope this helps.

 

[jiffer]

Fry's B&M now has a combo on sale with the same processor (Brisbane 4200+ tray) and an ECS GEFORCE7050M-M for $69.99.

http://shopping.dallasnews.com...9&subid=20862448&type=

I haven't used that motherboard because the last one I saw had a beta video BIOS (it said so on the startup screen--"engineering release, not for public use" or something like that), and I don't know if the chipset drivers are mature enough for my taste. They might have problems with operating systems such as Windows 2000 or Linux.

On the other hand, I haven't seen many returned items at the store, so maybe a lot people are happy with it.

 

[cubeless]

Originally posted by: jiffer
Fry's B&M now has a combo on sale with the same processor (Brisbane 4200+ tray) and an ECS GEFORCE7050M-M for $69.99.

http://shopping.dallasnews.com...9&subid=20862448&type=

I haven't used that motherboard because the last one I saw had a beta video BIOS (it said so on the startup screen--"engineering release, not for public use" or something like that), and I don't know if the chipset drivers are mature enough for my taste. They might have problems with operating systems such as Windows 2000 or Linux.

On the other hand, I haven't seen many returned items at the store, so maybe a lot people are happy with it.

a big part of the reason for so many returns to frys is the same as the reason for so many divorces of newlyweds... there's no test to prove that u r smart enuf to handle the pieces before u are allowed to take the plunge... building something takes a bit more than many are able to handle...

 

[jiffer]

cubeless, I am quite confident that most of the merchandise returned to Fry's was not defective before it was purchased. Some of it might even be in perfect condition after it has been returned. But you never know who messed with it or what they did to it, so I usually don't feel comfortable buying returned items.




By the way, Fry's B&M also has Corsair 2x1GB TWIN2X2048-6400C5DHX memory kits on sale today and tomorrow for $19.99 plus tax after a $40 rebate:

http://shopping.dallasnews.com...9&subid=20862445&type=

It's $29.99 plus shipping after rebate (plus tax, if applicable) at Frys.com:

http://shop1.outpost.com/product/5253827

According to the product documentation on Corsair's website, it meets JEDEC standards with a latency of 5-5-5-18 at 800MHz @ 1.8 Volts. Sounds like a good match for ECS motherboards.

 

[scgt1]

We need someone here on the inside with marketing at frys. That new combo isn't ad but 10 bucks more then the last. I'm wondering whats up for sale this Friday because I will probably be heading out there at lunch. We had to leave work early today for weather so I used half a sick day and have an extra hour to kill along with my 30 minutes for lunch so what better to use it on then blowing money at frys. LOL.