Got turned on to a socket A board..

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

OK first off it is an ECS (elitegroup) K7VZA with socket462 and KT133A chipset.
The board needs re-capping and although I have plenty of sdram lying about, I am wondering if it is worth recapping and buying a proc for it.

I only have experience with Athlon64 and I only built one system of it's type, so I don't even know what is the highest end proc I can get.
I think I seen a T-bred 1.6 for around $15.00 U.S. and I assume that is about the best I can expect for this socket?
I reason that an investment of around $50.00 (for processor and capacitors) would be ok, as I have all the necessary hardware e.g. hdd vid mem etc.
What do You think?

Any thoughts are most welcome

 

[ThePerfectCore]

Ugh, ECS. I had several ECS K7S5As, from the first revision all the way up to the "Pro" model. Every one of them had stability issues that could be tracked back to bad caps, so I'm not surprised to hear that another one has crapped out. Their entire K7XXX line had trashy caps.

But, to answer your question - if I were in your position I'd spend the $15 on the chip and the ~$10 or so on new caps. ($35 for caps? Really?) A 1.6 Athlon is enough to run a file server, play some old games, or just hang around as a spare/guest computer.

Plus you'd get good soldering experience by recapping the board.

Thoroughbreds, Thunderbirds, Palaminos, pretty much anything Duron/Athlon/Athlon XP is going to run hotter than the surface of the sun so it won't do well as a silent PC unless you have a huge fan, undervolt, or put it on water.

At the very least, fix it up and then donate it to a local charity group or give it to a nearby family that needs but can't afford their own machine.

 

[bennyy007]

First thought ECS just bad choice of motherboard in many ways as I have one myself and I'm getting rid of it This may not answer your question in hand but i felt i needed to express my opinion on ECS mobos!

 

[DocClock aka MadClocker]

Yea, I think I'll pull the trigger and go for it..I never had to deal with the 4n1 drivers or any of the other AMD goodies like unlocking the multi, and I have never been able to push this Millennium Thermal Designs socket 370/socket A h.s. fan I received through Overclockers Forums years ago. The thing is a beast..I mean it seems to weigh about 3 pounds and all copper.
So I guess the KT133A was a decent chipset?

Hey Benny, could it be that your board also has bad caps?
The symptoms are pretty easy to figure out...the board will have stability issues at any speed, and it may do some random quirky thing that could never be explained and in some cases not even replicated.
If you are handy with a soldering iron, it is rather easy to re-cap your board.
I did my 3 under the crudest conditions, but all are now stable and back better than b4...I have two more Abit boards to recap but I need more caps to finish them.
Thanks fer the replies,
Now I'm off to find some caps and a socket A chip for cheap

Edit: the heatsink should read Millennium Thermal Solutions not Designs Edit: