Fry's mobo and cpu combo: AMD 3500+ & ECS KN1 LITE: $219.99

[videopho]

Fry's ad

Is it a good price for a low budget build?
Is ECS KN1 Lite mobo any good?
Tempting for a low budget build...

 

[AkumaX]

What about the FX60+AN32-SLI for $1299? thats HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

[fishhawk]

Available in Austin, TX.

I'm also wondering how good this mobo is. I saw some postings that said it was just like the Extreme, minus a few features (such as firewire, extra SATA controller). Looking at the manual, the overclocking features seems the same. Only one Ethernet, with looks like it is attached to the Marvell GB LAN.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: fishhawk
Available in Austin, TX.

I'm also wondering how good this mobo is. I saw some postings that said it was just like the Extreme, minus a few features (such as firewire, extra SATA controller). Looking at the manual, the overclocking features seems the same. Only one Ethernet, with looks like it is attached to the Marvell GB LAN.

You are getting the motherboard basically for free, and ECS is not bad for a budget board.

That CPU alone sells for $200.00, so you are getting a motherboard for under $20.00.

 

[fishhawk]

Picked up a combo. Got a 3500CGBOX Venice, which I guess is an E4 stepping, and a NewEgg comment said that the voltage was fixed at 1.35V (not 1.35/1.4V, like the 3500BPBOX is).

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: fishhawk
Picked up a combo. Got a 3500CGBOX Venice, which I guess is an E4 stepping, and a NewEgg comment said that the voltage was fixed at 1.35V (not 1.35/1.4V, like the 3500BPBOX is).

Which one is better for o/c?

 

[maseAT]

kn1 lite supports sli i believe.. i think it's also pretty good quality

 

[dwcal]

They've had these deals before. About 4 months ago I got the 3500+ OEM with an ECS Nforce4 A939 for $200. That's a cheaper board and not a good overclocker because of no PCI bus lock. The KN1 is probably worth $20 more, and 3500+ prices haven't dropped that much in the last few months.

 

[fishhawk]

Originally posted by: maseAT
kn1 lite supports sli i believe.. i think it's also pretty good quality

KN1 Lite doesn't support SLI. You are thinking of the KN1 Extreme SLI, which is a different board.

 

[videopho]

Just came back from Fry's this afternoon with the combo in hands. The mobo looks pretty well constructed with neat lay-out. W/o the combo, the mobo itself costs $89.99 retailed. As for the AMD 3500+ (P/N ADA3500CGBOX), it comes with a full retailed box too. All things considered this is a great deal, IMO.
Is the AMD retailed cooling fan good enough?

 

[fishhawk]

Originally posted by: videopho
Just came back from Fry's this afternoon with the combo in hands. The mobo looks pretty well constructed with neat lay-out. W/o the combo, the mobo itself costs $89.99 retailed. As for the AMD 3500+ (P/N ADA3500CGBOX), it comes with a full retailed box too. All things considered this is a great deal, IMO.
Is the AMD retailed cooling fan good enough?

Don't know if the cooling is adequate, but I do know that the retail fan is hard to get off once installed (the thermal interface material acts like glue). There are many reports on the net about people ripping the CPU out of the socket when trying to remove the HSF. Some report using a hair dryer to soften the material. If you think you might return it or use a different HSF, you will probably want to think about this. Here is some AMD info on installing/removing:LinkyDoodle

 

[sPaZzomatic]

i have personally ripped out 2 cpu outta systems on accident cuz of the stock HS sticking badly to the cpu it sucks but i have used the hair dryer method and it works fine

 

[cyberkost]

I too ripped the CPU out from the (locked) socket by pulling onto the heatsink.
It's funny that according to the CPU booklet you lose the warranty if you use
anyhting other than the original AMD thermal paste.

 

[videopho]

What would be more decent 3rd party cooling kit for amd to purchase?

 

[maseAT]

Originally posted by: fishhawk

Originally posted by: maseAT
kn1 lite supports sli i believe.. i think it's also pretty good quality

KN1 Lite doesn't support SLI. You are thinking of the KN1 Extreme SLI, which is a different board.

i see.. thanks for correcting me. I thought this was the kn1 sli (lite) extreme, which is what i have. i thought they just leave off extreme sometimes..

 

[Samyo]

Is this combo good for overclocking? I'm tempted to upgrade my XP 3200+ to this combo. Is it worth it?

 

[duragezic]

Well I hear that 3000+ and 3200+ Venice chips overclock nearly as high as a higher rated chips most of the time. So pair one of those cheaper, lower clocked ones with a cheap but good overclocking mobo like the Epox, and you have the same performance for less.

 

[pcz]

ECS = Either Crap or Sh!t

They often have faulty motherboards, sometimes they burn out or some crap happens to them...beware of fcked up mo boards...

 

[zikronix]

Originally posted by: pcz
ECS = Either Crap or Sh!t

They often have faulty motherboards, sometimes they burn out or some crap happens to them...beware of fcked up mo boards...

You do realize that ECS and TYAN are the largest OEM motherboard manufactures. Tyan Making mainly server boards and ECS making Desktop boards. My parents have had an ecs board for years with a duron 800. Its not a feature rich board (No OC, crap like that) but the board it self is ROCK SOLID.

All board manufactures have their issues. Ive had bad abits, asus, msi, epox, and one ecs board that was missing the AGP slot. (New in box)

I would have no problems building a bargain computer off of an ecs board...we also know that most flakey board problems can be linked to other componets (ram, ps, cooling, north/south bridge, processor, you know the works.

 

[mikeford]

I can't really see upgrading from a 3200+ to a 3500+ as being a hot deal. These combo deals happen once a week, if it suits your needs then its a hot deal. Some just sell the MB and use the cpu, but I haven't had any trouble in the 5 or so combos I have built so far over the last 3 or so years. Make no mistake, these are MID range performance system, and maybe my lack of trouble is due to not overclocking.

 

[fishhawk]

Got my KN1 Lite/3500+ combo up and running on my workbench. Antec SP350, XFX6600GT, Corsiar 1GB, Seagate 120GB. Installed XP Pro just fine. Even supports S3 standby (suspend to ram, sleeps with fans off). Haven't tried overclocking, but seems nice and solid so far.

 

[slider169]

I just bought the AMD64 3700+ & ECS RS482-M combo for $240 last week.

 

[fishhawk]

Originally posted by: slider169
I just bought the AMD64 3700+ & ECS RS482-M combo for $240 last week.

Yeah, I bought that combo before I bought the KN1 Lite combo, but I'm returning it. Seems like there are/were USB issues and performance issues with the ATI southbridge (SB400). Seems like there is a new southbridge, the SB450, SB600, or even a ULi soutbridge that is better. From what I can tell, the 3700+ is not that much faster than a 3500+ (both clocked the same, the 3700+ just has twice as much cache).

 

[JonathanYoung]

I love ECS boards. Cheap and stable. I've had one in a fileserver for over a year, running 24/7, only rebooting for Windows updates.

I bought the 3500+ OEM CPU with the ECS NForce4-A939 from Fry's a few months ago, and no problems so far. For the same price, you now get a retail CPU. This is an excellent deal!

 

[DongTran]

For those of you who got in on on this, what does the receipt say the pricing is for the CPU and the motherboard? It should list individual prices seperately...thanks