newbie

[pez2u]

Ok so I installed the board, ram cpu, hsf and a video card via the instruction book but nothing on the monitor don't I need a monitor to start so I can see if the cpu and ram are recognized? I rechecked everything I don't know what to do now.

 

[AZGamer]

In order for the AT community to assist you, we need to know the specs. Care to elaborate on what video card, motherboard, etc. you are using?

 

[pez2u]

sorry ok

I have an ecs K7S5A board, with a 1.4 chip and a radeon 7500 graphics card all the fans are spinning and the lights are lit on the front panels and keyboard the only glitch other than no monitor so far is that the power switch in the front doesn't shut the computer off I have to do it from the back I have the fong kai 320 case. This is the very first time for me but I have read everything and prepared for this I guess its harder than I expected.

 

[AZGamer]

There is a known incompatibility between the Radeon 7500 and the ECS K7S5A. It has to do with the AGP implementation of the SiS735 chipset. Unfortunately, there is no known fix, as this is a bug in the "invulnerable" SiS chipset.

 

[pez2u]

Oh nooo what should I do? Should I get a different video card? If so what is decent or should I say will work? Or maybe I should get a different board I already have a 1.4 266fsb chip and ddr ram what should I do?

 

[o1die]

Sell your mobo in the local paper and order a shuttle ak31 version 3.1 ($80 newegg). Had mine about 3 months, and it's fast. Doesn't overclock as well as the Epox 8KHA, but has everything I need, and no dip switches to fool with.

 

[AZGamer]

Or, sell it on the FS/T forums and buy the ECS KT266A board for $69 at Newegg.

 

[pez2u]

Thanks guys I am sure I will be back for more help when I get this worked out..thanks sure nailed that problem for me. Happy Holidays

 

[pez2u]

Hey what about this one IWILL XP333 ALi MAGiK 1 Duron/ Athlon/ Athlon XP DDR 266/200 MHz Socket A ATX MOTHERBOARD I am so worried that I am going to get a bum board and have serious nightmares.

 

[o1die]

No major concerns so far. Not quite as fast as a kt266a board. Do more research and read some reviews at Tom's hardware guide and this forum.

 

[AZGamer]

<< Hey what about this one IWILL XP333 ALi MAGiK 1 Duron/ Athlon/ Athlon XP DDR 266/200 MHz Socket A ATX MOTHERBOARD I am so worried that I am going to get a bum board and have serious nightmares. >>



If you want a quality board at $100, the Epox 8KHA+ is your best bet.

 

[L00PY]

<< There is a known incompatibility between the Radeon 7500 and the ECS K7S5A. It has to do with the AGP implementation of the SiS735 chipset. Unfortunately, there is no known fix, as this is a bug in the "invulnerable" SiS chipset. >>



Where, pray tell, has this been documented? If I were in your shoes pez2u, I wouldn't be taking a random person's claims as gospel.

First and easiest thing to check would be that the Clear CMOS jumper is in the correct position.

One thing that you will hear over and over again with this mobo is that it's picky about its powersupply. Is the PSU in your unit on AMD's approved supplies for the 1.4 T-Bird? An "AMD Approved" label on the powersupply isn't necessarily good enough. Just because it's approved for a 650 MHz Athlon doesn't mean that it'll run a processor twice the speed.

Which HSF are you using? What sort of thermal compound? You are using thermal compound right?

What kind of memory are you using? Have you tried just one stick? Try pulling it out and reseating it a bunch of times. The DDR slots in this board are notoriously tight; it's easy to think that they're all the way in when they're not.

Same thing with the AGP slot. Remove and reinstall the Radeon a bunch of times. I don't think a lose video card is your problem in this case though -- you'd be hearing the beep code if it was. (Assuming you've got speakers of course.)

You may want to try assembling a basic setup outside the case. People have had no POST situations because of shorts. There could be an extra standoff or even the I/O plate wreaking havoc.

 

[AZGamer]

<< Where, pray tell, has this been documented? If I were in your shoes pez2u, I wouldn't be taking a random person's claims as gospel. >>


Rage3D link

Want to hear some quotes from Rage3D, the premiere ATI site?



<< A friend of mine purchased an ECS K7S5A and a Radeon 7500 this past weekend and he is having a weird problem that him and I can't figure out how to fix. He is running Windows ME and every time he reboots its like Windows deletes the driver. He has to re-install the video driver and it will work ok. Also, sometimes his screen goes black and the system locks up. >>





<< I have the same prob every couple of times i reeboot it clicks to go into windows but gives me a black screen.I have the newest agp driver and bios >>





<< I am having the exact same problem with my Radeon 7500, Athlon xp 1600, and K7S5A motherboard in Win98se. I hope someone can figure out how to fix this. It is EXTREMELY frustrating and annoying. And believe me, I have tried all of the obvious things like agp and video card drivers. >>





<< We are running the latest bios 111201L and he is running a fresh install of Windows ME and AGP107. Problem still exist. >>





<< wow i feel so much better knowing im not alone. I have Windows XP with the same ECSK7S5A (rev 5) and the ATI radeon 7500. this sucks.. my system was 100% stable with a older Gforce 256 DDR.


I have reformated beacuase i thought that would help. I have all the ECS patches amd cpu patches the latest offical ATI 7500 drivers also.

my PC reboots now sometimes. and my 3D mark 2001 score if it finishes was 3200. >>





<< I have a antec 300watt. My PC was 100% stable before this card. I use to be able to run it for weeks stait. Now i get random reboots and poor 3d performance. Im almost ready to throw in the towel and re-install my old trusty 3D Prophet DDR-DVI.

lol i fixed my problems. I reinstalled my Gforce 256 DDR DVI again. all problems solved >>



The only positive statement in that thread is from somone running a Radeon 64 DDR VIVO.

 

[pez2u]

well I have the enhance 300 watt and I used arctic silver and tried using one stick of ram and reseated it and the video card and still nothing I have a tiny little speaker in the case that is hooked up but its not working changed the plug around thought well maybe its back wards but nada and same with the front power off switch no response and its frustrating. The fan on the video card is spinning so somethings right but no response from the monitor rrrrr.

 

[L00PY]

Fifth post on that page:


<< Running a rev. 4 K7S5A and OEM 7500 on Win98, absolutely no problems whatsoever. >>



Did they somehow get a K7S5A without a SIS735? Or one with a different AGP implementation on their chipset? What made you think it was the SIS AGP implementation anyways? I didn't read through all the posts all that carefully, but I believe that person said using a quality PSU fixed their problem.

Also, given that these people are having problems with their Windows setup, I don't see how it relates to pez2u's problems. He's getting a POST. One person there even had their system running stable for a month before their Windows drivers/setup got flakey.

 

[AZGamer]

<< Fifth post on that page:


<< Running a rev. 4 K7S5A and OEM 7500 on Win98, absolutely no problems whatsoever. >>



Did they somehow get a K7S5A without a SIS735? Or one with a different AGP implementation on their chipset? What made you think it was the SIS AGP implementation anyways? I didn't read through all the posts all that carefully, but I believe that person said using a quality PSU fixed their problem.

Also, given that these people are having problems with their Windows setup, I don't see how it relates to pez2u's problems. He's getting a POST. One person there even had their system running stable for a month before their Windows drivers/setup got flakey. >>



The point is there are several major issues between these two that need to be addressed,. Even if he gets past POST, he'll have a whole new slew of problems.

 

[L00PY]

Actually I'd say the point is there's hardly a "known incompatibility", and definately not one that applies in this situation. Why not bring up the numerous VIA bugs and incompatibilties now too? Afterall, if you're going to suggest a board using a VIA SB, there are those (much more documented) bugs to deal with once you buy a VIA board.

You might want to go ahead and try hooking up a minimal setup outside the case (on a static free workplace) to rule out any shorts. Are you using the I/O template that came with the board?

 

[AZGamer]

<< Actually I'd say the point is there's hardly a "known incompatibility", and definately not one that applies in this situation. Why not bring up the numerous VIA bugs and incompatibilties now too? Afterall, if you're going to suggest a board using a VIA SB, there are those (much more documented) bugs to deal with once you buy a VIA board. >>



There is no need to beat a dead horse. Are there problems with VIA? Some, but 99% can be fixed with drivers or the new 8233 Southbridge. Are there problems with SIS? Yes, but they are less documented because it is simple logic that since VIA has higher distrobution, there are going to be more complaints with VIA, but statistically there are less problems or an equal ammount of problems with VIA as compared to SiS. At least VIA has a user community with fixes to most problems.

 

[Bovinicus]

Even if there is a known compatibility problem between your motherboard and your video card, I would suggest borrowing a different video card just to make sure that the video card isn't the problem. It would really suck to sell your board and discover that your video card was the culprit after all.

 

[L00PY]

It's a no brainer that the K7S5A has had a higher sales, wider distribution, and a larger installed user base than any of the other boards mentioned in this thread. That alone throws a slight hitch in your "simple logic". Problems that have come up have been pretty quickly identified and work arounds found by the user communities here (there what, around 2000 posts across 3 "official" threads in this forum) and way too many posts over at the ocworkbench forum.

A newbie running into a no POST problem could be making simple setup mistakes. You're not helping much spouting misinformation.

Anyways, 94.53% of easy problems can be fixed by pulling reseating connections. After giving it a go outside your case, run through all the cables again (including the ATX power connector). I know it sounds like voodoo, and you've done it a million times, but sometimes it takes a million-and-one times to get it seated correctly. While it's out of the case, take a look at the AGP and DIMM slots from different angles and visually make sure they're completely seated.

 

[AZGamer]

<< It's a no brainer that the K7S5A has had a higher sales, wider distribution, and a larger installed user base than any of the other boards mentioned in this thread. >>



By your logic, it's a no-brainer that VIA chipsets have a larger user base then SiS chipsets.

How does that change Pez's situation whatsoever?

 

[L00PY]

And Intel has a larger user base than AMD. Is that going to be your next suggestion? That he go P4?

All I was doing was pointing out how you are wrong over and over again. You like to post opinion as fact, and it doesn't help anyone.

 

[PeaceLove]

It doesn't look like you're going to get the answers you need here in this forum, pez2u. If you haven't already, check out these forums:

AMDMB ECS forums

OCworkbench forums

You can crosspost to these two, and hopefully find some information about the nature of your problems that will allow you to keep your board. And, generally, your post won't lead to a pissing contest between SIS and VIA supporters.

 

[AZGamer]

<< And Intel has a larger user base than AMD. Is that going to be your next suggestion? That he go P4? All I was doing was pointing out how you are wrong over and over again. You like to post opinion as fact, and it doesn't help anyone. >>



Using your method of logic, yes. The only reason the previous analogy was made was to point out the flaw in your logic. I am sorry you did not understand that.

However, that is totally besides the point. There are many issues with the SiS 735 that are simply not present in other chipsets. This 7500 incompatibility is one of them.

As for his question being answered, it was, in the fourth post from the top.

 

[L00PY]

Please point out the sentence where I make any logical argument that involves an installed user base and the SIS chipset. All I've been trying to do is solve someone's config problems with the K7S5A and point out all of your (AZGamer's) mistakes and miconceptions. It's you who seems to have a problem with the "simple logic". With my degree I can with 95% confidence say that your attempts at statistics fall into the first and not last category of "lies, damn lies, and statistics."

In any case, the basic info I asked for and made are pretty much the same you'll hear regardless of which reliable souce you go to for troubleshooting advice on this board.

As AZGamer's link so nicely pointed out, there are people that get this board working perfectly with the Radeon 7500. There is no "incompatibility" specific to this board -- just poor driver support and too many inexperienced people trying to set it all up. That last bit is that main issue with the K7S5A board.

With it's low price point and good reviews, many people who otherwise wouldn't have never before considered building a computer tried for the first time with the K7S5A. The next biggest issue is the low price. People trying to put together a cheap system bought cheap components to go with this board. A big no-no, regardless of mainboard, if you want to avoid problems.

In any case, try searching for a hardware site that actually has put together an article on this supposed incompatibilty. Bettery yet, goto the "premier ATI site" and search their site for mention of the K7S5A. You can even search for "elite" (the first part of ECS). All you'll see is that ECS was the second largest mainboard producer in a July post, with 6.72 million pieces. No documented incompatabilites.

Search the forum too and you'll find the thread AZGamer linked to. Also a thread listing people who managed to get their 8500 up problem free, with 7 or 8 K7S5A posting to it. Maybe in AZGamer's mind, adding bells and whistles somehow fixed this supposed "AGP implementation" problem. ATI no doubt rewrites the AGP spec with every graphics card revision. Suuuuure. Or maybe there's no actual incompatibility. Believe what you want, just don't lie blatently about it.