CDRLabs.com

EDIT- See the post by Slim below.

AMD Athlon® XP 2800+ Bare CPU W/ ECS N2U400-A Mainboard $99.99- http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4162413

AMD Sempron 2500+ Boxed Processor with Motherboard $69.99- http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4202624

Intel® P4 2.4AGHz (533 FSB) Box CPU W/ ECS 848P $ 109.99- http://www.outpost.com/entry?site=op:mf ... ku=3992328

Hitachi (IBM) 160GB UATA100 8MB Buffer Hard Drive $49.99 after rebates- http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3885187

TOSHIBA 8X DVD±RW INTERNAL DRIVE $59.99- http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4035892

SONY DRU540A $89.99- http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4085532

BTC 52x32x52x CDRW EIDE INTERNAL DRIVE $19.99 - http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3816157

Outpost is Fry's online store. These CPU/mobo combo deals are the same ones advertised in the Fry's newspaper adds. Now remember, if it's too good to be true - it isn't.

Look at the total price and accept that as a good deal for the CPU only. Note that the make and model of the motherboard is not identified. Assume that the mobo is a POS, throwaway item. If you buy the combo, also buy the equivalent Intel motherboard if you want something that works.

Slim

CowboySlim wrote:Outpost is Fry's online store. These CPU/mobo combo deals are the same ones advertised in the Fry's newspaper adds. Now remember, if it's too good to be true - it isn't.

Look at the total price and accept that as a good deal for the CPU only. Note that the make and model of the motherboard is not identified. Assume that the mobo is a POS, throwaway item. If you buy the combo, also buy the equivalent Intel motherboard if you want something that works.

Slim

Slim,

I appreciate the post, I'm not very familiar with Fry's/Outpost. Prior to seeing your post I did order the P-4/ECS motherboard combo because I was looking for a cheap test rig. More or less to help friends out and to get some first hand knowledge with Intel.. Of the seven computers that I currently have none use an Intel processor.

Here is a thread to reinforce your point. It goes back to August and Fry's may have a new batch but I don't need a potential headache - http://hardware.mcse.ms/message54097.html


I wouldn't want to give up on ECS because they have made some good low end motherboards in the past. Even the high end manufactures like Asus or Abit will turn out a bad motherboard now and then ....

You appear to suggest this may be a pattern of behavior at Fry's....am I correct?

Thanks for the help,
Bill

CowboySlim wrote:Outpost is Fry's online store. These CPU/mobo combo deals are the same ones advertised in the Fry's newspaper adds. Now remember, if it's too good to be true - it isn't.

Look at the total price and accept that as a good deal for the CPU only. Note that the make and model of the motherboard is not identified. Assume that the mobo is a POS, throwaway item. If you buy the combo, also buy the equivalent Intel motherboard if you want something that works.

Slim

Over month and half ago I bought M/B (ECS)+ Intel 3Ghz Processor for $210 as advertised by Fry's Electronics after two weeks the same combo went on sale again this time for $169, I went to Fry's and ask them for refund of the differences under price protection policy in which the I received the $40+tax refund. I have been using this ECS motherboard and the Intel 3 Ghz process since then absolutely flawless and without any problem at all.

Yes, some ECS boards may give problems initially, but once you work thru the issues (picky on the power supply choice, poor heat conduction between the board's chipset and heatsink, etc.), you have an economical choice for computing.

I've had too many stability issues with ECS mainboards. Some designs are just cheap and piss poor. Some are good budget designs on paper, but fail due to quality control (ECS K7S5A being a good example). After having several issues, I won't buy them again. Asrock (value brand of ASUS) and some entry level models from other manufacturers can be had for very little more.

I goto their store instead of ordering from their web. I have bought
two comb deals from them in the past year. One is P42.4G and the
other is Althon 2400XP. The MB are fine. But the AMD processor has
some problems with BeSweet. After I searched the web, it looks like
the problem is in AMD, not in the MB. Certainly, I do not believe
Fry's anything to do with the problem.

Fry's sometimes has some very good deals on their Ad, better than
what I can find from "pricewatch" and other web places. They also
has a very good return policy. The only problem I have had with Fry's
is their rebate. I do not know if it is their problem or if it is
the manufacture's problem. I probably received less than half of the
rebates for items bought from Fry's. At least other places have
a better ways to trace the rebate you summited from web. I do not
know if you can trace your rebate on Outpost.com.

ECS K7S5A

This is the one I have! Yes, they took some design/engineering shortcuts on this model but there are ways to circumvent the associated problems that surface (2 that I alread mentioned). It's been working rather flawlessly for the past couple years. That being said, I wouldn't want to go through the same initial experience again.

Slim,

I appreciate the post, I'm not very familiar with Fry's/Outpost. Prior to seeing your post I did order the P-4/ECS motherboard combo because I was looking for a cheap test rig. More or less to help friends out and to get some first hand knowledge with Intel.. Of the seven computers that I currently have none use an Intel processor.

Here is a thread to reinforce your point. It goes back to August and Fry's may have a new batch but I don't need a potential headache - http://hardware.mcse.ms/message54097.html


I wouldn't want to give up on ECS because they have made some good low end motherboards in the past. Even the high end manufactures like Asus or Abit will turn out a bad motherboard now and then ....

You appear to suggest this may be a pattern of behavior at Fry's....am I correct?

BigMonkey,

I guess that the posts subsequent to mine just about sum it up. Don't expect the mobo to be fully functional, stable and reliable. If you get one that is, be pleasantly surprised and chalk it up to good luck.

Slim

on that ecs mobo the main issue is the chipset overheating and cuasing all sorts of trouble. especialy for gamers. what is needed to be done is remove the fan or heatsink what ever is on it. clean of glue, replace with thermal paste, and add heatsink and fan. that solves alot of the issues many have had with that board.

Yes, adding thermal paste did the trick for me, hence the error-free operation I've had for some time now (even with overclocking). I didn't add a fan, though.

Lol.... ECS must have sold a million of K7S5A boards. I think the ability to use DDR and SDRAM was the big attraction. The one I had worked fine after installing a power supply that provided 28a on the 3v rail. It's still in use by my sister in-law. I must admit that I was lucky, some of the K7S5A boards (certain batches??) had serious problems.

The other two ECS boards that I owned are the K7S5A Pro and the K7VMA. The K7S5A Pro board worked fine after a bios update. The K7VMA was worthless.

I was more concerned that Fry's might be getting some motherboards dumped on them (at a good price) that may have problems.


Thanks to everyone for the help.
Bill

PS. Fry's sent an e-mail saying the P-4 ECS combo is out of stock. After a little research on my part I hope you guys can help me out selecting a P-4 motherboard in the hardware forum.

BigMonkey wrote:PS. Fry's sent an e-mail saying the P-4 ECS combo is out of stock. After a little research on my part I hope you guys can help me out selecting a P-4 motherboard in the hardware forum.

hehe.
i can already see that coming...
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe, curtesy of hoxlund and aviationwiz at least.

dodecahedron wrote:

BigMonkey wrote:PS. Fry's sent an e-mail saying the P-4 ECS combo is out of stock. After a little research on my part I hope you guys can help me out selecting a P-4 motherboard in the hardware forum.

hehe.
i can already see that coming...
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe, curtesy of hoxlund and aviationwiz at least.

Yeah, a suckers born every day.

Thanks for the motherboard tip.