ECS K75SA--Bad Board?

[Guest]

I just built a decent gaming rig based on the ECS, and I have had zero problems--easiest and most trouble free machine I ever put together. After I ordered it, I checked out this forum, and the board pretty much was being crucified. A recurring problem was random restarts. I had that problem, too, initially. I figured it out--with the memory speed set to Ultra (in BIOS setup), lots of random restarts, with it set to Fast, occasional restarts, with it set to Normal, no restarts, rock solid stable. And, just for shits and grins, I ran Mad Onion 3D Bench on it in the various settings--crashed in Ultra, but there was NO SPEED DIFFERENCE between Fast and Normal settings. And this was with Generic DDR memory from DVCentury.com (but it $20 cheaper with a "work" guarantee).

What have YOU'RE experiences been? What do I have to look forward to 6 months down the road (it seems most problems are out of the box with no long term failure or stability problems)...

Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're probably right!

 

[FatBurger]

Friend of mine has had one for about 3-4 months, no problems.

<font color=blue>If you don't buy Windows, then the terrorists have already won!</font color=blue> - Microsoft

 

[kief]

I just ordered one for a spare box, hope I have no problems. I usually "untweak" the BIOS in all my machines except my main one (kick ass parts) as id rather have a stable system then a tad extra speed =)

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[rbertino]

Mine's been running great for almost 6 months now. I even have the memory timings set to Ultra (of course, I also have really good memory). The power supply has also been a cause of some problems with this board. I got an Enermax 431W, I figured that way I had room for growth.

System specs:

Athlon XP 1500+
512 MB Corsair PC2400 DDR-SDRAM
Enermax 431 W PSU
Gainward Geforce 3
60GB IBM Deskstar 60GXP
Toshiba DVD, Plextor 12X CD-RW

 

[camieabz]

Built one for my cousin and one for a client.

4 months & 3 months. No probs.

Both with generic 400W supplies and crucial CAS 2.5 DDR RAM.

<b><font color=blue>~ What do you mean "It isn't working!"...Now where's my sonic screwdriver? ~ </font color=blue></b>

 

[kief]

Yeah from what I have read the RAM is important for this board. Good power supply is a must too!

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[ksoth]

I got this board from my brother. I had really bad problems with it, in terms of disk performance, stability, etc. I was told that it had PC2100 memory in it, so FSB was set to 133 mHz. Because I had so many problems with it, I decided to get a new Asus A7N266-C nForce 415 board. When I got the new board, I went to swap out memory, but found out that the ECS board was using generic PC100 (SDR), so it wouldn't work in the nForce. I'm thinking that maybe a cause for all the problems may have been that crappy RAM, trying to run at 133 mHz instead of 100 like it should have. Oh well. But, even though I had bad experiences with it, many people say it is a rock solid board, so I'd probably listen to them. Good luck with it.

"Trying is the first step towards failure."

 

[kief]

PC100 @ 133mhz will make ANY board unstable!!

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[Black_Cat]

The early versions seemed to have problems. I had 2 that were DOA. All the others that I have put together are still up and running flawlessly. The rule of thumb with these boards (and all boards for that matter) is to use a quality power supply and decent RAM.

I can't think of a good signature so I'll use this one.

 

[dhlucke]

Mine is great. 400W antec power supply and 512MB of Crucial PC2100 cas 2.5

<font color=red>God</font color=red> <font color=blue>Bless</font color=blue> <font color=red>America!</font color=red>

 

[tilepusher]

Hey A,

My experience: I made 2 systems, the first one ran great, no problems, loved the board! The next one was DOA, spent 2 days replacing & reseating all the components(Ram, Video card, PS, pulling mobo out of case.......whole nine yards),no post, no beeps, no video, power to all fans & connected devices ok. I sent the mobo back to newegg, & replaced it with a Shuttle AK31A(Via KT266A chipset)..........I now have no problems with that system. My take on the ECS mobo, either you get a "Good" one & they work great or they are "DOA" & you waste a week or so of your time trying to make sure it is the mobo(not something else) & getting a RMA & replacement mobo. If it works this is the best value mobo out there! I just don't have that kind of time to take another chance on this mobo again. Good Luck

Peace Out............tile

Just waiting for the next "Big" thing like everyone else?

 

[labdog]

antec ? lol. the best is Enermax.
CL 2.5 ? lol. the best is CL 2.0.


<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...<font color=red>

 

[LED]

I bet you can start a whole new thread debating it...but Antec makes a hell of a PS. 2 fan, fan throttling, stable voltage...quiet. Does everything the Enermax does. I think they even use the same fans. Theyre very similar. Im happy with mine...a 350w Model, came w/ the SX635 Antec Case...Great case btw, I think Alienware uses em. 2nd fan kicked in once during that heat wave hehe.

 

[labdog]

but 350w, is it enough for the PSU ?


<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...<font color=red>

 

[Ncogneto]

The Antec 430 watt silent series is a dam nice power supply, quite too. I would place itup against the enermax any day of the week.

It's not what they tell you, its what they don't tell you!

 

[Quetzacoatl]

You are an idiot. It is called the ECS K7S5A, not K75SA. Way to be smart guy

"When there's a will, there's a way."