Asus A7S333

[wallie_x]

I am contemplating buying this board. If anyone has built a system with the A7S333 or MSI 745 Ultra, please tell me what you're experiences have been. I currently own an ECS K7S5A. It's the most stable board I've ever owned (not due to ECS, but because the Sis chipset's stability is on a par with Intel's). Also I would like to know what you think about the on board sound. :cool:

[STread96]

I an a proud owner of the ECS K7S5A as well. I have read reviews of the MIS Ultra not performing up to par with the other SIS745 boards. I would try my luck with the A7S333 if those boards are the only options. Also, the SIS745 is not a very fast DDR2700 solution if that has any bearing on your choice. I would recommend holding the ECS you have until SIS comes out with a new chipset or wait till Clawhammer comes out.

[merkus]

ECS K7S5A sucks..
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=108728

[wallie_x]

ECS K7S5A sucks..

I wouldn't say that. My K7S5A has performed flawlessly for me. The Sis 735 chipset benchmarks in the superior range, and without OC features. My super PI score is: 1M=01min 19sec. I have not seen another 'stock' mobo/CPU combo that benchmarks that high. (I did have the memory timing tweaked to the max, however.) While the quality of ECS products are not first rate, they are by no means junk either. I just wish they would have put a little more effort into quality. Then the K7S5A would have been in the top ten mobo's of the decade; it's extremely popular in Europe and Asia. If you don't believe me, just look at how many have been sold in those two places. :cool:

My machine:

ECS K7S5A rev.#4
Athlon XP 1600 @1.39ghz
516mb Crucial 2100 DDR @ fast, CAS 2.5
Quantum Fireball 20gb 7200 rpm HD
Cheapo nVidia Vanta 16mb X4 AGP
Windows XP home ed.

[merkus]

i have a k7s5a and i wanna get rid of this junk asap! :eek:

:t

[wallie_x]

have a k7s5a and i wanna get rid of this junk asap!

Me too. That's why I'm looking for responses from people who have built MSI 745 Ultra's or Asus A7S333 systems. ECS makes middle grade mobo's, but I don't consider the K7S5A 'junk'. They just happen to be the first to introduce an innovative design of supporting either PC-133 or DDR memory coupled with an excellent performing innovative (no southbridge) chipset. The AMI BIOS does leave a lot to be desired, and the over all quality is questionable. Equating it as a chocolate dipped piece of **** doesn't quite fit either. I'd say its somewhere in between. :D

[otheos]

Actually it's the SiS735 chipset that supports both SDR and DDR RAM. ECS just put sockets for both :) And it's not the only chipset that supports both SDR and DDR. The KT266/A does too, and ECS has built a mobo with both kind of sockets around it too.

Can I ask, what it is that you don't like about this motherboard that you keep calling it "low quality"?

[merkus]

when i get my Abit KR7A Raid I am going to throw my K7S5A out of my window (5 storyies high).
:)
i will take pictures

:t

[wallie_x]

Can I ask, what it is that you don't like about this motherboard that you keep calling it "low quality"?

Some of it was the look, smell and feel of the board itself. The AMI BIOS is anything, but high tech. Also, I got paranoid after seeing the issues with this mobo at a large international tech web site. I had power supply issues at first, but these I got resolved. I ended up isolating the board electrically because so many complained of no post/possible shorting out/PS issues. When I flipped the board over. I was shocked. The mounting holes are lined with a brad similar to a rivet. These were of such cheap quality and workmanship. It looked like an inexperienced person did them by hand. Some were very close to the traces, and could of even fractured some. That really made me disappointed; this board had so much more potential than the way they made it. Just my 2 cents. wallie_x

[otheos]

Fair enough, although I have built 6 systems with this board and never had a single problem. I always use plastic stand offs for more than one reason (they insullate, are gentle to the holes and break first when you push the ram in, instead of the mogherboard :)). PSU's yes, I've had my share of trouble with PSU's but eversince I "standardised" to Enermax I had zero problems.

As for AMI, I really don't see the problem, if it's features you want and are not there, it's not AMI's fault but a decision by the BIOS design team. If it's the interface, then ok, but make sure your next mobo doesn't have AMI either and I'm prety sure the MSI has AMI Bios.

Overall I've found the K7S5A to be one of the greatest motherboards, and a landmark in modern PC times. It's low cost, high availability, features and stability gave (alond with the Duron) a very fast low cost system to many people previously bount to old hardware.

ECS also builts the K7S6A with the SiS745, at the same price. I built one system around it last week and I have to say it's really nice :) But I'm sure you won't get another ECS board for sometime.

However don't let the "Asus" name lure you as their A7S333 is a low cost platform and the same "cut corners" you saw at ECS are expected there too.

Anyway, good luck with your quest :)

[wallie_x]

However don't let the "Asus" name lure you as their A7S333 is a low cost platform and the same "cut corners" you saw at ECS are expected there too.

Otheos,

I'm beginning to believe just that. At the very same web site I mentioned above there seems to be numerous issues with the A7S333. I am not a puter wiz, but it seems Asus is attempting to mimic ECS and cater to 'K7S5A type' potential buyers. The K7S5A was an extremely popular board in almost all countries. I've seen the prices of mobo's, particularly in Europe, and I must say I'm a little shocked at the prices, particularly in the UK were you live. That makes shopping for high cost vs. performance ratios much more a determining factor than here in the US. I live in Planet California (It's full of 'Space Cadets' [myself excluded of course]) but it's a straight freighter boat ride from here to the Pacific Rim. And I'm wondering how much Tariffs play into the UK computer parts cost equation. However, the benchmarks of the Sis 735 chipset is what really impressed me before I bought the board; and like I said, after using it for a while I believe the 735’s stability to be on a par with an Intel chipset. That being true then, have you made any K7S6A systems? And what has been your impression of those? :cool:

[otheos]

Unfortunately, and for some strange reason, when it comes to computer parts' pricese, USD1 = GBP1, when it's more like USD1.5 = GBP1. So like you said, prices really matter herel.

I've built one box around the K7S6A, and I found it actually really nice. It's a honest product, and ECS has attempted to make it more "mainstream" with an "overclocking BIOS".

I really like SiS chipsets, and the setup was a breeze, insert the drivers CD, and grub a cupocoffee and after a couple of reboots' it's done. Speed was definitely there (with and XP1800+) and seti run nicely for 18 hours that I had the system in my hands, and was a whole 20 minutes faster than the same CPU on the K7S5A. I liked it, but cannot comment on anything else as I only used it for 4 hours.