ECS K7S5A

[Rv-Sound]

I just bought this mobo unused for cheap on ebay as an upgrade for my now a replacement for my kt133a DAW mobo. I've heard this mobo has work great for DAW configuration. For now I'll be using the sdram from my current setup, as well as my athlon tbird. Later on, (when wallet recovers a little bit from christmas http://www.audioforums.com/forums/wink.gif ), I'll get some nice ddr and XP processor. I was wondering, what is the fastest XP CPU this mobo can handle and what fan/heatsink (QUIET) can I use for it?
Thanks in advance!

[Rv-Sound]

Also, what about ddr?. From the manual it says it supports DDR up to 266 mhz. On crucial's website, this mobo supposedly supports DDR PC2100 and DDR PC2700 but I am lost, what's the relationship between those numbers and the memory clock speed (266mhz)?.

[jaq]

RV - the K7S5A is a nice board, used by many here (try searching, there are many recommendations). (It is not without its quirks, tho..., and you'll find quite a few complaints.) I'm happy with mine.

My K7S5A audio box:

ECS K7S5A (duh...)
AMD XP 1700+ Palomino
512 MB PC 2700 Samsung (one stick, from Crucial, the K7S5a cannot run the memory this fast w/o overclocking, but faster is better for future upgrade possiblities, and stability)
Matrox G450 Dual Head AGP
Aardvark DP 24/96
2 40GB Seagate Barracuda IV (ATA100, 7200rpm, each in a Mobile Rack)
Plextor 24/10/40 CDRW
Pioneer 12x DVD-ROM
Antec TruePower 330W PSU
Enlight 7237 case
Swiftech MCX462U Heatsink
Antec 80mm SmartFan on CPU Heatsink
Antec TriLight 80mm case fans, 1 front, 1 rear.

The TruePower PSUs have a "fan only" circuit, that you plug your case fans into. The PSU runs those fans (and the fans internal to the PSU) @~5V (rather quiet), unless the PSU starts to heat up. The smartfan has its own built in thermistor that will speed up the fan if the CPU/HS heat up.

ECS K7S5A quirks:
- use one stick of RAM
- DO NOT SKIMP ON PSU!!!!, in fact, you should get the TruePower 380 or 440, as my unit will pause ~10-20 sec before post.

Go to ocworkbench.com/ecs for the best damned MOBO support forum you'll ever find. Including a "modified" BIOS that will allow you to increase your interrupts from 16 to 24!!! (if done prior to setting up OS)

I've run mine using WinME and XP Pro (different OS drives swapped in/out of mobile racks). I would not call my setup "silent". But it is pretty quiet, and stable as a rock.

Queue

[Rv-Sound]

So, what's the fastest CPU I can use with it then?
Also...the 1 memory stick thing sucks. I want to load 1 gb...I was planning on getting it from crucial. Am I going to have problems for sure then?

[trock]

I use 2 RAM sticks in my ECS K7S5A. Works fine.

[Har]

Originally posted by Rv-Sound:
So, what's the fastest CPU I can use with it then?
Also...the 1 memory stick thing sucks. I want to load 1 gb...I was planning on getting it from crucial. Am I going to have problems for sure then?

Fastest CPU: depends on the BIOS version. My K7S5a shipped with a BIOS that allows it to go up to an AMD XP2000+, which is also what it says in the manual (it's what I have installed on mine, and it's running great).
I've heard newer BIOS versions might allow for faster CPU's....you'll want to check out the info at the ECS site for that.

RAM: I've heard differing stories on this...seeems some folks have no problems with 2 sticks of DDR, and some do. Right now I've got one stick of Crucial 512 DDR, and will hopefully be going up to a full GB myself sometime soon...and also hopefully won't have any problems with it. http://www.audioforums.com/forums/biggrin.gif

[trock]

I'm using the Athlon XP 2400+ with my K7S5A. My manual also says up to 2000+ but it runs very nicely with the 2400+ and recognizes it correctly as 2 Mhz (if I set it to 133/133 in the CMOS).

I'm using it with a WD 80GB HD with 8 MB cache and the other night as a test I ran 106 24-bit simultaneous tracks and it used only 18% CPU and 30% disk. Of course that was just tracks with no effects. But a song that had about 45 tracks and a *lot* of effects that used 75-80% of my previous CPU (PIII/866) and a similarly high number for the disk (I forget exactly what it was) on the PIII only
uses 20-25% CPU and about 20% disk on this one. It's really nice to have all this extra headroom.

[Alan]

Originally posted by Rv-Sound:
So, what's the fastest CPU I can use with it then?
A 2600ghz 266FSB T-Bred B,but not the 2600ghz "333FSB" T-Bred as the board tops out at 266FSB.
You need the latest bios for anything over 2200ghz.I never used more than 1 stick of 500mbDDR so I can't comment about using 2(never needed it anyway),but I will say stick with quality DDR(Muskin/Crucial)and quality PSU(Sparkle/Enermax/Antec 400W or better),in fact there's no garantee your old budget ram wont give you problems,a crap shoot there.Also you don't need PC2700 DDR with this board as it wont even take advantage,PC2100 is fine.

[Rv-Sound]

argggg, forget it. I bought it just to find out its not compatible with my PSU. My PSU's fan is mobo controlled and the mobo doesn't offer the input to do that. My PSU is fancy (quiet, 430W) and is more expensive that the mobo, so I want to keep it. If anyone's interested in buying this mobo, lemme know. Its basically new.

[JacinTexas]

If you've still got the ECS K7S5A for sale email me as I'm looking to buy one.
jacintexas@houston.rr.com

[Rv-Sound]

Check your e-mail

[bibleboy3]

HI All,
I've looked on the ECS site (when site was up) for the latest bios down loads but couldn't find them any where?? here's my question where can I find (download) the latest bios revisons for my K7S5A .. BTW I've also had problems with the 2 sticks of mem. but the prob. went away when I slowwed down the processor. thanx in advance for all your help http://www.audioforums.com/forums/wink.gif

May Jesus bless you all
Sincerely,
Bill

[bibleboy3]

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