Opinion needed

[Sniper82]

Should I drop my Asus A7V133 KT133a mobo,1gig and 256mb PC133 Crucial and go with a ECS K7S5A,1.4gig and 256mb DDR2100 Crucial? Is the ECS K7S5A reliable I heard this combo wasnt a good one. I am gonna be using a sparkle 300watt.

Opinions

 

[Adul]

i think you be better of finding another MB other then ECS. But if you get one that works then it should be fine otherwise it is headaches. I spend to much time on this forum sometimes... =\

ASUS make a nice rock solid MB. Epox has well, not to mention better ferforming then the SIS chipset. But if you want something stable and good peforming try a MB based on the nforce 415 chipset.

ok i will shutup now.

 

[CocaCola5]

No.

 

[Woody419]

Going from an Asus to a ECS would be like trading a 2 year old Mercedes for a brand new Yugo. It's newer and faster, but it is going to break down when you least expect it and leave you stranded.

 

[KevinMU1]

I would stick with the Asus too, and think about updating your power supply while you're at it.

 

[Bartman39]

I could`nt part with my A7V133 and even bought another just to use in my server... (BTW it now runs an XP 1800+ cpu) As for going to an ECS...? It is like comparing apples to oranges... ASUS is a good quality product and not the ECS is bad but its cheap... I recently tried Shuttle and ended up with a bad taste of problems so now its back to ASUS for me...

Just a thought...? Others may scream over this but I would also recommend Abit (had excellent luck myself)... Epox too

 

[KevinMU1]

I'll second the motion on Epox, I've had 3 of their boards and find them to most excellent. I always consider them first.

 

[Sniper82]

So going DDR aint worth it going from a Asus to a ECS? So I should just drop the 1.4 in my Asus and stay with my PC133 ram? I figured going DDR would be worth the sacrifice of changeing to a ECS. I am buying the ECS use and the dude I am getting it from said he uses 3 ECS board and his bro uses 4 and they have never had any problems. He said only reason he is getting ride of it is because they have to make PC's as it is and hes wanting to build a micro system.

But if you all think I should keep my Asus and PC133 I will . I wasnt planning on keeping the ECS forever just untill I got some extra dough.

 

[KevinMU1]

Well rather than spend the money on an interim ECS board, just save a few more weeks/months/whatever and jump right up to a good one!

 

[Sniper82]

Is the ECS just a flaky board? Hard to config/setup or something? I havent seen a bad review one on the web. All the web sites I checked said it was a great board at a great price. Other than the overclocking features suck.

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

I've used 4 k7s5a's in 4 different builds, and have never had a problem with them. They are an excellent board for the price.

That said, I wouldn't bother upgrading to one and DDR just for an extra 400Mhz. Keep the Asus.

 

[Sniper82]

So going a extra 400mhz and DDR isnt enough performance increase to go to a ECS huh? Didnt think ECS sucked that bad. How much %(performance wise) would I see going from PC133 to PC2100 DDR on a 1400mhz??

 

[Woody419]

A search for ECS will bring up a lot of posts with troubled boards.
Here is one to get you started.

 

[KevinMU1]

My suggestion was based more on my theory that you shouldn't buy intermediate hardware--get what you really want. It ends up costing more, and you never feel like you have that super-cool product. Save a bit longer and really treat yourself.

 

[Sniper82]

What mobos do you suggest at under $80 price tag(buying from the foums)? If one can be had for that?

 

[Insidious]

<< Others may scream over this but I would also recommend Abit (had excellent luck myself)... >>



Ok, I'll do some screamin............ j/k

It always amazes me that peeps can let politics and peer pressure convince them to pass over ABit..........

Case in point: apparently (from the round-up article for 4400/4600 video cards) Anand has now added Leadtek to the "I don't like you anymore" list

I LOVE their MoBos! *(edit: it is ABit I love)* Easy, Stable, and nothing but quality in component selections, fabrication and documentation. (THEY LAST!)

Take a look at the KG7 they are down to $60 or $70 now..........

 

[NaughtyusMaximus]

Its not that ECS sucks (personally I'll recomend them for most any low cost build), its just that I don't see the point in upgrading specifically to move from PC133 to DDR. As well as the fact that if you're upgrading to DDR, why get a board that seems to be an intermediate step (with support for PC133 and DDR) and not a higher-end (more fully featured) board.

 

[Dormant]

LOL LISTEN TO ALL THESE ASUS FANS! I have purchased and installed 4 ECS boards 3 of which were k7s5as and with the proper bios update they all work great! I OWN an Asus A7M266 and it is a P.O.S.! I have had more problems with my "Mercedes of mobos" than I have with ANY OTHER manufacturer. Earlier tonight I installed an ECS k7S6A and everything went great. I havn't done anything other than the install yet on the k7s6a though so we'll have to wait and see. I hate it when people make generalizations on Mo'bo manufacturers! I have had sh1tty boards from almost every major manufacturer. About the only thing I trust for Mo'bo opinions now is the culmination of the 100s of reviews I read on the web. I dont think its realistic to say "This mo'bo is great for everything... Overclocking, stability, speed and it works without a hitch in every possible hardware configuration". My point is never say "x" company ALWAYS makes great boards because its simply not possible. Someone is gonna b1tch about the fact that it doesn't fit their case just right, or their cold-cathode light tubes don't reflect off it properly, or the geforce 4 covers the ram, or the ram doesn't have adjustable voltages...

You get my drift. If you want to know which is the best board for you the only way your going to find the answer to that is by doing some reading (USUALLY A LOT OF READING!) and even then your not guaranteed happyness.

 

[Dormant]

<< Should I drop my Asus A7V133 KT133a mobo,1gig and 256mb PC133 Crucial and go with a ECS K7S5A,1.4gig and 256mb DDR2100 Crucial? Is the ECS K7S5A reliable I heard this combo wasnt a good one. I am gonna be using a sparkle 300watt.

Opinions >>



If you can wait 3 or 4 days on your purchase I'll have a lot more info on the K7S6A (Sis745) which should only be $10 more than the K7S5A (Sis735) and it supports DDR333. I have only read 2 reviews so far on the K7S6A...

AMDMB Review of K7S6A
Planet Savage Review

 

[Booster]

<< Should I drop my Asus A7V133 KT133a mobo,1gig and 256mb PC133 Crucial and go with a ECS K7S5A,1.4gig and 256mb DDR2100 Crucial? Is the ECS K7S5A reliable I heard this combo wasnt a good one. I am gonna be using a sparkle 300watt. >>



The answer is short: NO. Don't do it. If you want DDR, I suggest you go with a KT266A board that can be had for roughly $80 nowadays.

 

[jayglick]

My philosophy is that its always better to have the best quality even if it means sacrificing a little speed. I'm still running an ABIT KT133 mb that's solid as a rock and will only upgrade when the prices come down some since I'm not a very wealthy college student.

 

[KevinMU1]

well said jayglick. I always go for the highest quality part, even if it costs more or means sacrificing some performance, but in the end it's worth it. I'd rather have a 8X DVD drive that will last for years and years than a flaxy 16X DVD drive that will only read discs sometimes and may go bad in a year. If you demand the best, your computer will give yout he best back.

 

[murphy55d]

I've never used an Asus, so I don't consider myself an Asus fan, but I still would never buy an ECS motherboard.

I'm using an EPoX 8K7A right now which I am sure you can pick up cheap. It isn't KT266A but I am using DDR and it is very stable. (It is AMD 760)

 

[Sniper82]

I decided to go wit ha Shuttle AK31 version 3.1 KT266a mobo. I havent heard one bad review on it and when I search the forums although I don't find alot of info on it but I don't seeing many ppl have problem either.