Friends don't let friends buy ECS.....
Life's too short to use ECS.....
etc, etc.....

My Dad's K7S5A ran for 5+ years. Granted he's not a power user but that's really not all that bad although for the last part of that, not sure how long exactly, it acted a bit flaky.

This is just a reference design card and not made by ECS itself so I don't see any problem with it and the aftermarket cooler is a nice bonus. I's still consider other brands too just for the sake of warranty and support though if the pricing is close.

i liked my ECS motherboards a lot :\

Holy cow, I never knew the K7S5A forgetting its settings was such a common issue! I built one for a co-worker years ago, and periodically they would call me saying the computer was "very slow." And it was, because when I checked it, the FSB had dropped to 100MHz! And of course all the other settings (time, etc.) had been lost too. The first couple times I replaced the CMOS battery and re-did all the settings, and I think they've bought something else (this was 5 years ago...), but from reading these posts, I can see a lot of other people felt my pain!

"Lifetime" warranties are usually three years anyway. They mean the lifetime of the product, which means until it reaches End of Support.

I do not need a 9600GT. I do not need a 9600GT. I do not need a 9600GT...

OK...I've convinced myself.

cant wait to see what the gt200 will bring to the table.

if it was any other company other than ECS I'd be excited.

so well equipped, 512mb ram, factory overclocked and only $150.00 when I started reading I was "jesus that's going to kill ATI".... then I read that it was an ECS graphics card and all interest immediately evaporated.

I tried selling ECS motherboards over the past 12 years from the now infamous K7S5A's along with Sdram offerings to a more recent slew of socket 754's, a cppl of K7S5A's are still running happily losing their bios settings everytime they are shut down....... those still stuck with them leave them running.

of the integrated ECS I sold they would routinely lose track of the integrated video which was always a messy affair and service call.

while some of the newer ones are content with just losing track of the integrated LAN's a cppl times a year..... although resetting the bios seems to fix it what a pain in the ass.

Here is a PNY for 135 with a MIR.

I'm not a big fan of MIR and the ECS is passive so there are tradeoffs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133216

Passive cooling is a good thing, but better make sure there is good air flow around this card. I would be tempted to bring this card down to stock speeds to keep it cooler. That protrusion means it probably wouldn't fit in my micro-atx case.

I don't get why nVidia is STILL controlling sales of the SLI connectors.

egads, thats one ugly ass cooler.

So wish I'd had a clue about the price:performance of the 9600GT when I bought an 8800GTS not all that long ago. They've dropped in price a fair amount from the price I paid already, I know at some point you have to buy but this is a bit frustrating. Ooh well.

One of my cardinal rules: NEVER EVER BUY ECS!

You can buy "B-Stock" on eVGA's site now, $179 for an 8800 GT 512MB Superclocked.

my friend just called, and told me he bought the E8400 at a local Frys store(I know I know..it's Frys...but...) it only cost him $225 (without tax). To me, thats a deal considering you dont have to pay for shipping and the extra tax that you get from newegg. I am going to his house to see if its legit ;D

ECS is a huge OEM company. Much bigger than MSI pelit or whatever.

They probably get a special deal from Nvidia passed on to the customers.

What! No frog flame-thrower wielding frog? Forget it.

I picked up my MSI 9600GT for 160 and its factory OC to 700mhz.

The ECS card is almost certain to be the nvidia reference design so I wouldnt be scared of buying one of them.