Duron SDRAM mobos?

[Bigus Dickus]

I had put together a meager system for my grandpa a couple of years ago (Duron, 512MB SDRAM on KT133/133A mobo, basic graphics, etc.) and it looks as if it needs a new motherboard.

Searching newegg I see that everything is DDR. Searching pricewatch, I see a refurb KT133A board in quantities of 4+ and a couple of KLE133 boards (which might work). I need to double check to see if the Duron runs on a 100 or 133 bus, but in either case my problem is the same... where in the hell do you find old mobos like that?

He's since added memory (total of 768 I believe), and with the price of a replacement likely being something like $30 new (if I could find one), I'd really prefer to just drop in a new one instead of swapping mobo + memory and possibly going through new driver installs and such. For his use, he'd never need a DDR board.

I'd prefer not to go buying a used one from ebay or hardward forums since it would likely be several years old, but OTOH I haven't run across any new ones either.

Suggestions? Are there sites that specialize in oldish hardward like that?

 

[Blazkowicz]

try getting an ECS K7S5A? (two SDR slots and two DDR slots),
or an asrock K7VT2. these cards are not made anymore but are the most recent ones with SDRAM support.

 

[Nappe1]

I don't recomend ECS K7S5 -series. it has tend to die with in 2 or 3 years. MSI K7T Turbo is legendary motherboard and it was in fact quite reliable, as long as it wasn't overclocked and PSU was quality one.

I suggest you to do what I did to my parents computer:
buy cheap previous generation DDR chipset motherboard. (I bought MSI KT6 Delta - LSR. it has KT600 chipset which is more than enough for Duron1200, previous motherboard was K7S5A) at least on this side of Atlantic, DDR memory is quite cheap, so this is good time to move DDR.

KT6 Delta costed about 50 Euros (has 3 years waranty here.) and good quality 512MB DDR400 costs a bit under 100 Euros. With this investment, you also secure possibility to change CPU later on. When the 64 bit processor prices starts to be in lower end, there's plenty of used Athlon XP CPUs available very cheap.

Also, there's still quite few SDR users around, so you should get good price from old PC133 sticks when selling them.

 

[Blazkowicz]

I killed my K7S5A I had got for 50 euros, but that was my fault (static electricity). Now I have a K7S5A pro (same thing with USB2), got it for 20 euros on Ebay.

Both have always been stable
I have a XP2400+ and 768MB noname sdram (good PSU : fortron 350W with 120mm fan), no way I'll buy again my RAM in DDR. I plan to keep this system until I can buy a cheap DDR2 athlon 64. (so I'll have skipped an entire memory generation )

 

[RussSchultz]

I have two k7s5a's still going strong.

XP-1700 and xp-2400.

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

I don't recomend ECS K7S5 -series. it has tend to die with in 2 or 3 years. MSI K7T Turbo is legendary motherboard and it was in fact quite reliable, as long as it wasn't overclocked and PSU was quality one.

I suggest you to do what I did to my parents computer:
buy cheap previous generation DDR chipset motherboard. (I bought MSI KT6 Delta - LSR. it has KT600 chipset which is more than enough for Duron1200, previous motherboard was K7S5A) at least on this side of Atlantic, DDR memory is quite cheap, so this is good time to move DDR.

KT6 Delta costed about 50 Euros (has 3 years waranty here.) and good quality 512MB DDR400 costs a bit under 100 Euros. With this investment, you also secure possibility to change CPU later on. When the 64 bit processor prices starts to be in lower end, there's plenty of used Athlon XP CPUs available very cheap.

Also, there's still quite few SDR users around, so you should get good price from old PC133 sticks when selling them.

The K7S5A is one of the last socket A mobos thats out there that will uses SDR ram. The problem with the K7S5a was it needed a good PSU. With out a goo strong PSU, its would be unstable so use a good strong 300Watt and up with this mobo.

 

[Nappe1]

my parents one died when changing PSU. there's even thread here about the whole thing.

I'll search for it.

EDIT:
here it is: http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19513&highlight=ecs

The motherboard died and took the TI-4200 with it as well.
(neither one started up in 3 different systems which they were tested. No leaking capasitors nor any visible "bubbling" in them. most likely Capasitors just dryed.)

TI-4200 is still waiting to be checked closely if it still can be fixed. the new computer is now running with Radeon 9600.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

My grandpa doesn't need any "upgrades" now or even in the forseeable future. For what he does with his computer (light spreadsheet stuff, little quirky "programs" he downloads like freeware landscape layout and greeting card designers, and surfing the web), his Duron 900 with 768MB RAM and a Rage Pro is a powerhouse.

The only difference he would notice if going to a spanking new dual-core Athlon and high-end graphics card would be that it would boot faster. Well, since he is happy with WinME, he might not even notice that.

Seriously, this computer cost less than $400 to build ~3 years ago, and he (nor I) has any desire to spend $100+ on upgrading it. What I'm looking for is a $20 or $30 drop in replacement mobo so that I won't need to reinstall or reconfigure much at all.

I don't think the PSU is all that beefy... good Enermax quality, but relatively light at 250W or less IIRC. I'll check out some of the suggestions here and see if I can locate anything remotely "new." I'm a little concerned about buying an old used mobo to replace an old used mobo. At the same time, he'd be really pleased if I told him the repair only cost twenty bucks.

 

[Fox5]

Is the Duron Slot A or Socket A btw?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...;item=6777840471&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
How's this?

 

[Bigus Dickus]

Socket A

 

[{Sniping}Waste]

Is the Duron Slot A or Socket A btw?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...;item=6777840471&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
How's this?

That is the first I have heard of a SlotA duron. :?

The only Slot A I know is Orion and Tbirds.

 

[swaaye]

I'd hit eBay for a Abit KT7A or ASUS A7V. Those are great boards. VIA KT133A was really the best chipset back then. I had BAD experiences with MSI K7T's though so I'd stay away (I know of 4 that died after about a year or so).

The Abit boards MAY have bad caps though. Abit had problems with their supplier around that time. Look for them in pics or ask the seller. The caps will be leaking goo or the tops will look like they are ready to burst (they will be protruding). I REALLY liked my KT7A when I had one so I still recommend it if you can find a good one. I have 2 Abit P3 boards (BF6 & BP6) at home with bursting caps. One still works but the other is a dud.

ideas
eBay: KT7A
eBay: A7V