why is everyone wasting time with the K7S5A?

[kursplat]

$99 bucks with an XP2000 that i was going to buy anyway. threw a spare XP1500 in it and it's totally stable. nothin' wrong with that. i'll probably sell it in a complete comp when i'm ready to upgrade my stuff and i won't be getting calls about " uumm , it doesn't work . what do i do ".

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I bought the Pro version for $60 because it has 3 main features I wanted: USB 2.0, 5 PCI Slots, SDRAM & DDRAM support. I don't bother with overclocking since I like to be on the safe side. It's running stable. Hasn't had a crash since I reinstalled my Nvidia video drivers.

btw, I use PC133, SDRAM support saves me at least 45-50 bucks.

 

[BarryAZ]

I agree -- but the board is a bit old by now -- still quite a bargain option at Fry's here. The thing is, they are matching it up with an XP2000 for around $100.

My impression is that the Pro version is better (it at least has USB 2.0 support which is useful).

But again, it is NOT a board for overclocking or top performance.

But consider that neither overclocking nor top performance is a 'mainstream' requirement.

That being said, I'm not buying this board these days -- too many options for not that much more money -- and I do like the option to go with faster CPU's.

One thing that I do look at, the orientation of the CPU socket -- I HATE having to pull the motherboard out of a case to swap out CPU's -- too many of the current motherboards make you do that with the XP's.

 

[BarryAZ]

" Wouldn't it make more sense to get a kt 333/266a board and a 1700+ t bred b for a similar price?"

Well kind of. These days, it would make MORE sense to spend an extra $20 or so and get a 2000+ or 2100+ tbird instead with that combination.

If I was doing a 'low cost special' on the CPU (the 1700+), I might as well be consistent and get the low cost motehrboard as well.

Consider this, most of those KT333 motherboards -- if you get a 1700+, and then upgrade to say a 2400+ (not a bad idea), you will need to pull the board out of the case to do the upgrade -- time is money for me.

 

[Cerb]

Power users and gamers require things 90% of the people in the world do not.
When I make this board for a friend in college who needed an upgrade from a P1 so she could run AutoCAD, it didn't matter that it has no OC options.
It didn't matter that I could pay double the money and get _maybe_ 10% more overall performance.
It didn't matter that it didn't have good onboard sound.
It didn't matter that it didn't have USB2.
It mattered that I knew, after I replaced the battery , that it was going to WORK, and keep WORKING.
That's it. It has an AthlonXP 1.4GHz that will likely never be stressed, and an amazing GF4MX 440, simply because I didn't know for sure she wouldn't try some light gaming here and there.
My dad has the same thinking. He got his K7S5A rev 1 for $65 (the highest I've ever seen it) to try it out. Almost two years later, and many hardware changes, it has run like a top, and for email, web, occasional DivX and MP3 ripping, it is great. He doesn't plan on getting a different mobo for himself or any machine he makes until he has to change processor families.