Inexpensive AMD mobo with dual SDRAM and DDR support
Written: Jan 11 '03 (Updated Jan 16 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, SDRAM as well as DDR support, On board sound, LAN and USB
Cons: None observed except possibly a bad cell
The Bottom Line: You can really build an inexpensive PC using K7SC5A and Athlon that would give nice performance.
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| e_commentor's Full Review: EliteGroup K7S5A Motherboard |
Four months ago, I was looking to build a PC powerful enough for use at home using at as low price as possible. I got a cheap Athlon 1 GHz on ebay and my hunt for motherboard started. ECS K7S5A drew my attention as it had PC133 as well as DDR socket. I was not sure at that time which memory to use, since , while PC133 was cheap DDR was fast. This motherboard suited my philosophy of using SDRAM for the present for low cost reasons while keeping the option of upgrade to DDR later on.
Here are my observations about the motherboard
1. First of all the price performance ratio that offered by this motherboard is stunning. The AMD’s Athlons are priced less than the corresponding Pentium 4s , almost half. I went for the Athlon 1 GHz instead of the Athlon XP2200 available at that time, as the price was half. So a combination of a cheap processor and a cheap motherboard combined with a cheap PC133 gave me a performance that was sufficient for my task. If I need a faster performance I can upgrade the CPU to Athlon XP 2600 and change my SDRAM to DDR without changing my motherboard.
2. Dual memory socket for SDRAM and the DDR is really what makes this motherboard an attractive option. The user can keep the SDRAM for the present and upgrade to DDR when suitable.
3. When I installed my 1 GHz Athlon CPU, it showed 750 MHz. I needed to enter into the BIOS to correct the FSB/RAM speed. It was showing 100/100. It was set to 133/133 and then the CPU speed was correctly shown as 1 GHz instead of 750 MHz. I was hesitant initially in setting it to 133/133 from 100/100 , lest my system hangs. But it worked fine after the reboot. The only thing that will need to be ensured is that the CPU supports 133 MHz FSB.
4. The motherboard uses the SIS 735 chipset – which combines the Northbridge and Southbridge chips into one chip. I know that the chipsets do make a small difference in performance, but from the user point of view all that matters that it should work stably.
5. The Front Side Bus or the bus that connects Northbridge ( SIS 735 in that case ) supports 200 as well as 266 speeds. The 266 signifies the frequency of the FSB clock which is 133 MHz , and , since the bus works on rising as well as falling edge, it is equivalent to 266 Mega Samples per second. The processer that I used supported 266 speed.
5. The inbuilt audio works fine. I used an external amplifier and it worked well. I am also using mike for chats and it seems to work well. It has 2 USB ports. I have used them with my MMC card reader and with my digital camera and worked fine.
6. The board has 5 PCI slots and an AGP slot. The 5 PCI slots are more than sufficient for most of us.I used a modem card on one of the PCI . The AGP slot worked fine, though I have heard of compatibility problem with some AGPs.So you should be ready to go for another AGP if one brand does not work.
7. My computer will gave warnings of wrong BIOS checksum once or twice. This made me to go into the BIOS set the FSB/RAM speed again to 133/133 from 100/100 along with the dates. I guess the problem is due to the flaky battery. But I have not bothered to change it.
8. If you are an ebay enthusiast you would like to buy a motherboard and CPU combo to avoid the double cost of the shipping. Still I will prefer buying directly from the shop as it offers better Warranty condition and better return policies.
I have a satisfaction to work with this computer. My wife is happy with it ever since it has been installed and that is the best reward I can think of. She was very angry on me while I was purchasing each component one by one. She instead wanted a ready made computer instead of peace by peace meal. But I enjoyed assembling the computer and within a $400 price tag.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 53.99
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Epinions.com ID:
e_commentor
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Member: Vikas Shukla
Location: Attleboro, MA , USA
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 16 members
About Me:
I am a hardware design engineer. I also provide SEO, Social media marketing consultancy.
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