What DO U Think? K7S5A v. 3x?

[GJGJR12]

i'm thinking about getting a K7S5A run my new XP 2000, the reason i like this board is it is DDR/SD. For me this is good cause right now DDR is too expensive, but down the road i'll go for it. What are yur opinions on the board, and if u don't like this one do u know of any other boards that support DDR/SD?
THANX

[Peter M]

This board is the usual suspect for SDRAM recyclers. Look however whether you can get the latest v5.x aka "pro" revision. These have USB 2.0 onboard, but lose the legacy gameport.

If you don't want to use SDRAM, then there are boards with more modern chipsets around. K7S5A has just had its 2nd anniversary ...

regards, Peter

[GJGJR12]

ya i realize that but i want to be able to upgrade later on to DDR because i already own 768MB of SDRAM, sooooo i wanna wait a while till i get the DDR. I'll look out for that v 5! thanx this board will run a XP 2000 right?

[BipolarBill]

Yes - it will even run the newer 166MHz Athlons.

BTW - SDRAM has passed DDR in price lately. DDR is actually cheaper in most places.

[Rugor]

Good solid board. Not the newest design, but good and solid.

[Canyon411]

I've been researching mobos for the last few weeks preparing to build a new machine and I too like the idea of keeping the pc133 compatibility and as the wallet permits, upgrading to ddr. The ecs k7s5a seems to be a great choice. You might take a look at the Shuttle Ak32 as well. It's a socket a 266 fsb ata 33/66/100 with 1 agp, 5 pci, on board lan & audio, and 2 slots each of 168 pin and 184 pin ddr. The price is as good if not better and I like what I see so far. I actually logged on to see if it's been reviewed at all by our knowledgable sysopt brothers & sisters. Hope that helps.
Canyon411

[GJGJR12]

Where san i find this shuttle board?

[Jonathan Daleo]

I think its a good mobo. Had a few probs when I first got it but now its running fine.

You cant go far wrong for that price anyway.

Check out the new K7S5A PRO if its out of your budget settle for the Rev 3.1.
You wont regret it.:t

[GJGJR12]

I found a board review...
Shuttle Review (http://www.active-hardware.com/english/reviews/mainboard/ak32.htm)

At first it sounded like a good board until i got down to the part where it says UP TO ATHLON 1.5ghz+. Or maybe i'm mistaken, does this mean 1.5Ghz and up? Will it support my XP 2000+? I'm somewhat new to this
:(

also, how fast of ddr can u slap in this thing, looks like only 2100

[GJGJR12]

CAn sumone tell me where i can find the PRO version of the K7S5A board also?

[BipolarBill]

You must be new here, eh?

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16813150036

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=N82E16813135126

[GJGJR12]

not really, just lazy

[BipolarBill]

Well, LazyBoy, remember that the Pro has USB 2.0 where the AK32 doesn't. The penalty on the ECS is that you can't use PCI slot 1 if USB 2.0 is being used.

Check the Shuttle BIOS release notes to see which CPUs is supports. I doubt that it supports the Barton core AMDs though.

[GJGJR12]

so if u use the USB 2.0 u cannot use the PCI slot 1? that's odd. y is that? is it because they give u a card to put in or is it that it just won't let you, what board do u recommend, i won't be overclocking, just want to put a XP 2000+ in there.

[BipolarBill]

Would you please go to the Shuttle site and look at the BIOS notes? I'm not going to do it for you. Search with Google.

The USB 2.0 controller shares the PCI slot resources on the ECS. Since the board comes with LAN and sound, you don't really need all of the PCI slots, do you?

[$1500-P4 gamer]

Not to mention that most of us DIYers dont use slot 1 anyhow. Bad voodoo as its usually fighting with agp card. My voodoo3 would lock up with sblive in slot1 on bx mobo.:eek: Also newer faster video cards are hotter. So now I dont use slot1 as to allow more air flow to the gpu fan. Most others do this too. As these days I beleive you would have problems with pci slot1 and agp video due to better bios, and mobo's plus operating system improvments. So I think ecs didnt think of it as a bad thing. Just not useing the slot noone used anyhow.:)

[GJGJR12]

OK, i see the shuttle supports the XP 2000+, but between the two boards the ECS Pro and the shuttle, what is everyones personal opinions between the two boards, money between these is not a big difference so i just want to know what people would go with if they were in my position

[BipolarBill]

ECS.

[Rugor]

ECS

[Rugor]

To expand on it:

Refined SiS chipset vs early Via chipset.

Nolo Contendere.

[Jonathan Daleo]

Do What Your Told

GET AN ECS :p

[omega31]

ECS.

[embj]

DO NOT get the Pro. I have the Pro and it sucks. It was defective. The only difference between the regular version and the Pro is that the Pro has USB 2.0 and you lose your gaming port. Also, many peeps have had problems with the Pro board. So you are better off going w/ the older board.

[BipolarBill]

:rolleyes:

[embj]

I didn't say it here but, I did say it here (http://www.techimo.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=580055). I don't come to Sysopt as a primary resource anymore. I use TechIMO as my primary resource because of quicker responses.

Check out the links that are on that page.

[Rugor]

Hmmmmmm, we have a pro sitting here that's not having any problems. Great board.

[Rugor]

Ok, the same post, three times in two threads, thanks EMBJ.

[BipolarBill]

First build, first mistakes.

Funny, I don't come to SysOpt for fast responses - I come to contribute. It's a two-way street.

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=856449#post856449

[embj]

I do contribute. I contribute what I know. That is another reason I don't come onto SysOpt anymore....you all treat me as if I am stupid. Watch....you are going to say something smart @ssed about that, too.

[Canyon411]

Hmmm, If it quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck. it's got to-----oops, I should have pulled the trigger before someone else did

[GJGJR12]

BOYS BE NICE!
ALL I WANNA KNOW ABOUT IS A MOTHERBOARD, not yur quacking ducks!:r

[stix_kua]

i say go for this instead...

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=km2m

:D

i know how you feel and went thorugh this same ordeal but in the end, bought this and have love MSI ever since....I actually have three:D

[Canyon411]

Hmmm, that msi looks like an ok board from the dual ram option, but only 3 pci ports, oh brother!! Not to great from the expandability standpoint. I was trying to choose between the k7s5a pro and the shuttle ak32 and I think by upcoming build will be based on the k7s5a. More and more, I think it will be the best choice!!

[GJGJR12]

I'm a fan of MSI myself but the 3 PCI slots just isn't cutting it, i dunno this might take a lil more comparing:(

[paul0660]

K7S5A, a medium quality board, needs a top quality psu. There are hundreds of complaints here and elsewhere about issues related to slightly low voltage. If you do not have a top quality psu already, factor the cost of one into your board/ram considerations.

[Canyon411]

.....So the high quality psu that comes in the new case I'm buying for $34.99 from newegg isn't going to make my k7s5a feel warm and fuzzy...lol
looks like a nice case style-wise with lots of internal and external drive mounting space. Looks good on the outside too with a side inlet fan as well. Good Value!

[BipolarBill]

Sigh.

Minimum recommendation:

http://www.directron.com/fsp30060atv.html

[europanorama]

i am just coming here via newsletter accidentally and acidentally i have been reading bad messages on an other helpboard(german?)yesterday complaining about this board. at the end nobody could tell what was the reason of this k7... to work badly.

i would stick to shuttle. maybe there is an av40s3 around(ata 133/fsb 533. but if you use agp you will loose one pc1-slot of 4. maybe not if you do not have a videocardfan. but there are newer ones around. if you were swiss you could get 256mb dddr for 30 usd only cl 2.5. cl 2 is a bit more expensive(40 usd). it is now running on a special setup and i will buy a second one having 512.(total of 3-3x1 gb max.). but this board is an old msi k7t266 pro ver 1.(raid), fsb 400/ata 100. i have an athlon xp 1800+ on it running. i have 2 identical asus p4b266se (raid)for pentium 4(socket 478 of course). i will tell you about them when the are running. power supply is so important.neednt be 400w but a good 300,350w. could anyone explain here which output(ampere,watt) is necessary? since there are 110 and 220 v maybe this is difficult.

[BipolarBill]

3.3V amperage needs to be over 24A.

[MickMitani]

I built a XP1600+ system several months ago for my daughter using the Shuttle AK32 and it works well for her. As others have said, the SiS 735 chipset on the ECS MB is a much better performer than the VIA KT266 on her Shuttle. The KT266 has a lot of issues and mediocre performance. That is why few MBs have that particular chipset and why many of the ones that did were quickly replaced with upgraded versions with the VIA KT266A. When the KT266A chipset came out, VIA corrected a lot of problems and surpassed the SiS 735 again. So the Shuttle AK32A should be better than the K7S5A at many things.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/mainboards/via-kt266a/


I have another computer that uses SDR-DDR, the ASUS A7A266 with the ALI chipset. Got the board for free, and it is worth every penny that I paid. This board is a bit flakey - like it won't accept a GeForce3, a GeForce 2MX or a Savage4 video card (maybe more, but that was all of the 32 or 64meg cards I had lying around). Also, it has to be manually rebooted after any software installation that requires a reboot, otherwise it locks up and has to be reset. It is my 2nd spare computer and I don't use it for anything but surfing and light duty stuff when my other two computers are tied up.

I know a few folks have used the Biostar 7VIG, which has USB2.0 and the VIA KM266 chipset, which is the VIA KT266A with embedded video. This MB does have an AGP slot so you don't have to use the onboard video, but it is mATX and only has 3 PCI slots to go with the AGP.

[stix_kua]

Originally posted by Canyon411
Hmmm, that msi looks like an ok board from the dual ram option, but only 3 pci ports, oh brother!! Not to great from the expandability standpoint. I was trying to choose between the k7s5a pro and the shuttle ak32 and I think by upcoming build will be based on the k7s5a. More and more, I think it will be the best choice!!

it comes with usb 2.0, up to 6 channel sound (5.1) onboard video, agp 4x but 8x cards do work, and your complainig over the number of PCI slots......

my system will use only one of the PCI slots for my firewire card...

my specs are as follows

MSI KM2M Combo-L 6738
Athlon XP 2000+ Tbred
256 DDR266
Maxtor 40 GB HDD
10 GB Fujitsu HDD
BenQ 16x DVD
Acer 8/4/32 CD-RW
Flopper drive:p
Actiontec Firewire (3 ext, 1 int)
Windows 2000
400 W. PSU

and i'm loving it...

i don't even use a modem