K7S5A Problem!

[drunken_master]

I'm sure you guys have heard the many problems that plagued this motherboard, but can anyone list any solution specific to my problem or just list all the solutions?

My problem is that when I stick in 2 sticks of RAM, any brand, any type, even matched properly, my computer just hangs in windows at random times, and 2-5 min in games. The funny thing is that when I use only 1 stick regardless of what DIMM i put it in, it works fine. Mind you, that this is all under the 133/133 FSB setting in the BIOS. But when I set the BIOS to 100/100 FSB, it runs absolutely fine except that my processor speed is at 900 mhz. It also crashes when I choose the 100/133FSB option.


My system specs are:
300W Y2K PSU (i dunno, it's supposedly more for P4 but eh..)
AMD Thunderbird 1.2 ghz 266 FSB
2*256MB PC133 RAM
SoundBlaster PCI
Geforce 3 Ti200 128MB
10 GB 5400rpm hard drive
52X Max cd-rom drive
4x LG cd-burner

I'm thinking that it's the PSU, because I've heard that I need to run a +3.3V@20A at least to make it stable but I my PSU has it at 15A. But before I go buy another PSU, please list as much solutions as possible. Thanx!

 

[Crashman]

It could be your power supply, or a BIOS problem, or a defective board. Did you try raising the Cas Latency in BIOS when you use two sticks?

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[Croaker]

I have 2 k7s5a boards. One with SDRAM one with DDR. I had to try 3 different sticks of sdram before I found one that would let me install Win 2000. I just ordered some new DDR for It. My machine with DDR has 2 sticks of 256 DDR and a good 350w Power supply. Never had a any crashes.This board if far better that any VIA chipset board I have ever had except for overclocking. I have had asus k7m,a7v,p3v4x,chaintech 7aia. I sold all of them.

#1 1900+ on K7S5A
2 * 256 DDR
Soundblaster Live
Geforce 2 GTS
30 Gig IBM
16x DVD
350W Power supply

#2 1200 on K7S5A
256 sdram
geforce 2 mx
onboard sound & lan
3 * 4.3 UW SCSI drives(got them free)
300W Power supply

 

[Ncogneto]

Defionatly would upgrade the power supply first. It will be money well spent.

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

 

[drunken_master]

Hmm... I've already tried increasing the CAS latency for the two sticks, but it doesn't work...

It's 100/100 or take out the second stick. I don't think it has anything to do with the memory, but the board itself...

 

[drunken_master]

Okay, I just read some stuff on different boards about this mobo having overheating problems with the chipset.

I tested to see if it was true, so I stuck in the 2 sticks, and placed a fan running at top speed, aimed at the chipset's heatsink. Right now, it seems pretty stable, but I'm wondering if overheating can be caused by the PSU, cause like I said before, my PSU has a +3.3V@15A so i dunno.

But anyways, if it's not, I've read how people put thermal paste between the heatsink and after stuck a 486 fan on top of the heatsink to solve their problem... Considering that I have never done this before, does anybody know a good site to show how this is done, and also where I can get the materials? (like the thermal paste, super glue, and such and such)

Thanx...

 

[HonestJhon]

arent you supposed to have more than 15a on the 33.v line anyways?
so i think that upgrading the psu would be a good idea.
would solve the problem most likely...before you start screwing around with the board.
just my 2 cents. KACHING

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[jankphil]

Well if you want to know, a lot of ppl are having trouble with this particular motherboard. It's not the powersupply but the acual board. If you look in the US ESC web site the posting for that problem on their boards is unreal (well over 2000) so for a long time i'm going to stay away from ECS, they seem not support or help their customers....

 

[CMRvet]

Fully agree with you. K7S5A is really a lottery.
Very fast, very cheap but with the WORST peripherals management that I’ve seen. I have a customer with a K7S5A and has been a pain in the a$$. USB is a chaos, LAN works only when it wants; power management is very poor (got it disabled), almost impossible to start up in safe mode, sometimes the CD is not recognized, but you restart the system and everything is fine…
I know is a $57 mobo, but we both prefer to pay a little bit more and avoid some headaches.
Finally I’m going to return the K7S5A and change it for a MSI KT3 ultra just adding $25.

Now I’m sure that I’will not go for ECS anymore

 

[drunken_master]

It's not so bad right now...
The K7S5A is running pretty good other than the fact that it freezes up on me when I use 2 SDRAM slots, but other than that, everything works fine. Well I haven't tried the onboard sound because I have a better soundcard.

I just bought an Enermax PSU 350W with the +3.3V line running at 32A. And so far, it's pretty stable...
I'm gonna have to leave it on a bit longer to make sure, but this is probably my fix...

If it's not then please post how to's in adding thermal paste between the chipset heatsink and the chipset itself. I'm trying everything to fix this problem! Oh and where can i buy the stuff...

Thanx for the insight guys!

 

[Ratch]

What version of windows are you running? I think i've read somewhere that Windows 98 doesn't more than 256mb. It crashes, whether the crashes are radom, I couldn't say. Besides... If you've not got 98 it doesn't matter.

Just hang in there, someone will come up with the answer