Replacement Mobo?

KtaiKtai Massachusetts
edited January 2005 in Hardware
Long time lurker, first time poster. ;)

Semi-Deceased specs:
ECS K7S5A
AMD Athlon 1400
1x 512mb dimm o' "Value RAM" (Unsure on mhz, it was free)

Basically, I was playing video games with my wife last night, and the smell of burning electronics filled the room. Shut down my PC and opened it up, *looked* fine. Wanting to see if it was a PS problem, I powered it up again; went fine for about 5 seconds, then the PS started whining (fan working fine though), and a stream of smoke came up from the chips near the main power connector.

I pulled the plug and it stopped, but I'm pretty sure my mobo is dead. (One of the chips has a large black blister on it, I have a feeling that even attempting to boot again was stupid of me.)

My question, therefore, is 3fold:

1) What do you think the problem was? My PS is/was a good model (Believe it's Antec 400w, I'm shamed that I can't remember! My only excuse is that I'm at work and braindead.) so I wonder if it was just the MB, but the circumstances and the whine make me suspicious.

2) What will I have to replace? I would love to be able to just buy a new MB, but who knows what's dead now...

3) If I do buy the same MB again, where is a good place to do so? Following the advice in other threads, I looked on newegg, but couldn't find a K7S5A for sale there. Alternatively I suppose I could try to use this as an opportunity to buy a new PC...

Many thanks for your time!

Comments

  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    Do you have a UPS? The PC could've gotten a surge or something or one of the caps, resistors or anything that passes current crapped out. As for a motherboard replacemen, it depends on the ram that you have now or if you're planning on upgrading. Do you know if the ram is DDR or SDR? Well even if it's old, ram now is rather cheap. If it's DDR, there's a bunch of boards out depending on your budget.
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    Yup, it's PC2100 DDR. No UPS, but I do have a power strip that is supposed to double as a surge protector.

    Is there a way of testing the PS without having it connected to a motherboard?
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited January 2005
    Most ups's don't protecxt well against surges anyway blackhawk. Only the very best do. The current comes in and when they sense a drop they swap to batterys.

    A voltage regulator does a better job of protecting.

    Now in order you asked.

    1) What was the problem?

    I have had more antec and enermax (big name) psu's fail in the last 4 years as all other brands combined. May of been the psu. May of been a surge like BH suggested. Your problem is you don't know and have no ability to troubleshoot. If you plug another MB/Chip into a bad PSU you probably fry andother new set.


    2) What do I replace?

    That MB is out of date. Frys sell new more updated better ECS motherboards with a 2500+ new cpu for 49 bucks on sale. They need DDR memory. IF YOU HAVE DDR it may be good. Maybe not and it sounds like you can not test it. A new stick of 512mb pc2700 ddr is maybe another 50 bucks and wouldnt be a bad investment as any new MB wants faster memory anyway.

    3) If I want that MB wherew do I buy one?

    Look on ebay. If your befuddled I have a bunch of friends that are running them and one would sell ya his for $30 or $40 bucks and thats ripping ya off because see section "1" above as that is what they will take your money and go buy.

    Your problem is......... You don't know WHAT is bad. If the PSU went south it can at times kill all kinds of other parts and your not like me with stacks of parts here to test with. You either buy all new or keep checking part by part.

    New cheap parts are not that much really. New case/psu and MB/ram/cpu (on the cheap side) is maybe $150 to $200 bucks. Do not plug anything into that PSU again for starters. I wouldnt and I have built thousands of PC's.

    Depends on how much of a hurry versus going cheap your in, on how I suggest you proceed.

    Whats your skill level?

    Tex
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    I've built 2 PCs (both mine), but never had to deal with a problem like this. I'd certainly say I'm a novice. I'm looking at this as an opportunity to learn.

    I'm in a bit of a hurry, but I only have a couple hundred bucks to blow; I can probably trust that my HD and CD Rom are OK. I suppose I can swap my video card into my wife's PC and see if it still works. (Her MB has an Intel slot, so I can't test my CPU there)

    We're currently moving, this is a bad time (or maybe It's just a sign that I should be packing more and playing less? ;))


    Thanks for all the advice so far!
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited January 2005
    Test ALL parts in another box including HD's and cdroms if possible. I have fried everything inside a box before when a PSU went violently.

    When you know whats good and bad and the type of memory post back and we can work out a deal. What cpu do you have now?

    You can mail it to me for a couple bucks and I'll even test it for ya if you want. A new cheap one with MB is soooooo reasonable you might consider it if your in a hurry.

    I can even setup a new MB/memory/cpu and have it all ready to just screw into your case if ya want. Won't charge a penny. Just cover the shipping. I been around forever and most the mods and admins here have done buisness with me or know me personally.

    Tex
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    That's kind of you, but I can probably benefit greatly from the experience, myself. :)

    Assuming NewEgg is a good source, what would you reccomend as a cheap yet dependable MB/PS/Cpu, if K7s5A is outdated (and they don't sell it anymore, so it must be, heh) (I'd probably be looking for something on the same level as a had before, or a bit better if it was cost effective.)

    Thanks again
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited January 2005
    go with one of neweggs CPU/motherboard combos, they come in at less then 100 dollors
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited January 2005
    K7S5A's or ECS ( the manufacturer ) arent exactly known for the best or parts :)
    they are mostly for lower end computers, and no geek wants a slow machine

    newegg is the best place ive ever seen for computer parts, ive built about 12 systems or so using newegg, they are absolutly fantastic

    and they usually have great deals of CPU/motherboard combos, also barebone systems maybe somthing to consider. But you should try to shoot for an AMD 64 Socket 939 for the best bang for the buck and they are insanly fast, i built a 3000+ system that puts mine to shame.
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    Assuming a Micro ATX board will fit in my standard ATX case, I'm going to order

    BIOSTAR KM266 Pro Chipset Motherboard With AMD Sempron 2200+ CPU kit, Model "M7VIG400-COMBO" -RETAIL

    and

    Thermaltake Silent PurePower, 420W ATX power supply.UL, CSA, TUV, CE Approved. Intel Pentium 4 Compliant

    tomorrow. Unless one of these is the item from heck or something. :)
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    Ktai wrote:
    Assuming a Micro ATX board will fit in my standard ATX case, I'm going to order

    BIOSTAR KM266 Pro Chipset Motherboard With AMD Sempron 2200+ CPU kit, Model "M7VIG400-COMBO" -RETAIL

    and

    Thermaltake Silent PurePower, 420W ATX power supply.UL, CSA, TUV, CE Approved. Intel Pentium 4 Compliant

    tomorrow. Unless one of these is the item from heck or something. :)
    The CPU in the combo has a 333mhz FSB and your ram can't run that. You need a cpu with a 266mhz FSB.

    IMHO you should get a good board now, use your old cpu and then upgrade to a better cpu. For $60 you can get a Shuttle NF2 board. The brand is good and chipset is really good. Another idea could be buying a used cpu and ram. Would save a a lot.
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    Okay, aquired a bit of extra dough for cpu replacement; would the above PS and shuttle MB work ok with: AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2400+, 266 MHz FSB, 512K L2 Cache Processor, 35 Watt- OEM ?

    It says socket A, so im assuming my existing hs/fan will work on it?
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    Should work just fine.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited January 2005
    That is a real good board and it will work with the mobile XP procs with no problems; I have avfriend using that same mobo with a mobile XP2600. Maybe down the line, you might want to get some better ddr than your old pc2100 though, for better performance. You should be able to select any workable multiplier (some multi's are reserved and won't work on K7 procs) but I know that the 16 and 18 multi's will work just fine so you can run 133 fsb(266 effective) with a high multiplier and be able to run the processor very fast and not have to run the fsb and memory speed asynchonously. BTW, that shuttle board has no problem setting any multiplier value, unlike the Asus A7N8X and others.
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    Order is in! Thanks for the excellent info, as always.

    By the way, can 333mhz RAM be run vs. a 266mhz processor? That is, will the RAM "slow down" automatically? (I ask because I was considering getting Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM in a month or so, and you had mentioned a 333 fsb processor wouldn't work with 266 ram, so im curious if it is ok in reverse.)
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    By getting PC3200 memory you will be ablt to take better advantage of that mobile CPU by running it at 200fsb instead of 133 or 166. It will also be a better investment for the future. :)
  • KtaiKtai Massachusetts
    edited January 2005
    Parts arrived this morning! System is working, mostly.

    Things I have learned:
    Power switches break. I spent a very frustrated 30 minutes before I was inspired to try swapping the power on switch for the system sleep switch, which works.

    Everything works but the onboard sound. I have installed the driver from the CD that came with the mobo, and confirmed that it is installed (Win98se, System control panel shows NVIDIA(R) nForce(TM) Audio Codec Interface installed)

    Hmm, come to think of it, that doesn't sound much like an audio device. I wonder if I forgot a step...back to the manual.

    Thanks again!
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