ECS K7S5A pro + Barton?

[drzaius2]

i know these boards can support a barton core.. but can they support the 166 fsb?

i've got one of those "tweaked" bioses that let me change the fsb settings around with one option being 166.. but does that mean my PCI and AGP will be way overclocked?

and can the sis735 chipset even take 166?

[Todd a]

You could check the manufacturer's web site here:

http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7s5a_pro.html

You will see the official specs:

Processor
AMD® Athlon XP / Athlon / Duron CPU
Socket A
266 / 200MHz

It might have an overclocking BIOS to run at 333MHz, but the multipliers for PCI and AGP bus. I would not try. Maybe you could get a better motherboard. The performance boost of going from that SiS chipset to something like a Force2 will give you about a 20% boost in performance (assuming you are using DDR on that board as SDRAM performs even worse). You also would get better overclocking features, 5.1 sound, FireWire... for about $100. Then you could drop in another CPU later. There are even single channel nForce2 boards hitting that have almost the same performance as the dual channel ones. Soltek has one hitting NewEgg on the 28th for only $76.

[Shinma]

Originally posted by drzaius2
... can the sis735 chipset even take 166?

Official support listed as 133/266 MHz.

[AMD Guy]

Well- The original 735 chipset did not do 166 FSB, however, I just put a system together for a friend using this motherboard and I do remember seeing a 166 FSB setting in the BIOS. He had a 133 FSB CPU so I paid this setting little or no attention, but I do remember seeing it. I do not know if it is an 'official' setting or not.

[nihilistic]

I can only get 133 FSB on mine. These boards suck ***. The chipset heatsink uses thermal tape

Im sure you could get something from it with your hacked bios, but your just gonna fry that board, that the reason i dont even bother....

[drzaius2]

i have replaced the chipset heatsink with a bigger aluminum one.

i must admit i am somewhat disappointed by the lack of "in bios" features. i'm thinking now that i'll just get the highest 266mhz t-bred (2400+ i believe).

or if these new thortons ever come out.. then that's something else to look into.

[Todd a]

I'd still just get a better motherboard. The performance boost from an nForce2 board will be about 20% r more and you might be able to overclock your currant CPU a bit. This would also give you more options for upgrading later. There are several good nForce2 boards for around $100 (some even less).

[nihilistic]

If you get hacked bios you can overclock it like any other mobo. But the board isnt meant for that, so it cant be safe. There are some actual colling specs you need to add to it before you even overclock it..not onyl that, you cant fit a beefy heatsink on there becasuse theres not enough room

[drzaius2]

i'm going to throw on my tbred b 1700+ in there and see how high i can with the fsb.

there's a duron (morgan) running at 1133 on there now.. the board has over volted it a bit to 1.8v rather then the default 1.75v.

is has a volcano 6cu on the CPU and it runs at ~44C under full load (prime95).. ~38C idle. there's actaully quite a bit of room.. the volcano 6 is a pretty big heatsink (80x60x65 mm), wider then the volcano 11 (70x66x30.8 mm).

anyway... something for me to play around with.

[Todd a]

Mod the heatsink by bending the fins out a bit an slap a much quieter 80mm fan on top. I have done this to several heatsinks befor. The results cool at least as good, but much quieter.

[AMD Guy]

OK. Just got another of the K7S5A motherboards to put together an inexpensive system. It WILL support 166 FSB but with NO voltage tweaks and NO PC 2700 (166) memory support!!! Got to hand it to ECS for a strange setup like this!


100/100 CPU/MEM
100/133 CPU/MEM
133/133 CPU/MEM
166/133 CPU/MEM

[Justintime]

Nice, 166 cpu and 133 memory, lovely performance that Why'd they even bother?

[drzaius2]

where'd you get those numbers from?

these are what options i have with the "hacked" bios:

110/110 MHz
112/112 MHz
124/124 MHz
133/100 MHz
110/147 MHz
133/166 MHz
138/138 MHz
143/143 MHz
147/147 MHz
150/150 MHz
166/166 MHz
200/200 MHz

as well as those ones you said.

it the board can take a 166.. then putting a barton on is no problem.... also i read a review on thermaright's SLK-947 and this board has room for it... bonus

[DanceMan]

Interesting, drzaius2. It leads right back to your original question. The settings are there in the hacked bios, but can the 735 chipset actually support the 166 memory?

Aren't there websites and forums dedicated to this board? Did you browse around in those to see if anyone has tried this?

[drzaius2]

ok.. i found my answers.. mostly.. this is what i've found from the forums at ocworkbench.com.

the board can't support a 166fsb when using the bios without some voltage mod to the chipset... what some of them are doing are booting into windows with 133 and then using software to up the fsb to 166..

i'm thinking that when i change the CPU on a K7S5A, i'll just get a XP 2400+ (15x133) and then put up the fsb to 138, 143 or something..

thanks for the help.