SiS Kicks Off: 10 Motherboards With The 645 Chipset and DDR333 – THG.RU

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10 Motherboards With The 645 Chipset and DDR333″ –>

SiS645 – Is Its Shadowy Existence Over?

Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) is catching up with the competition. Though it had excellend performance, their 735 chipset for Athlon systems was unable to assert itself. But now, with the 645, the picture is changing. This time, all the popular manufacturers, such as Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and Soyo, have released products based on the SiS chipset, thus raising the company’s hopes.

With the support for DDR memory at 166 rather than only 133 MHz, SiS is ahead of both Intel and VIA. The SiS645 was the first chipset to support DDR333 or PC2700 (these names are derived from either the maximum bandwidth, 2.7 GB/s, or the resulting clock speed, 166 MHz double-pumped results at the marketing-friendly 333 MHz).

The Pentium 4 is already pumped up with clock speed, so the next goal would be to increase the memory bandwidth. As shown in our first tests of Pentium 4 at 133/533 MHz Front Side Bus, by increasing the system clock, the performance gets a greater boost than when raising the core clock. Only the next Pentium 4 generation at 2.53 GHz or faster will know the true promise of this faster bus. Within the scope of overclocking features, this is already possible in part – but without a guarantee for stable operation, of course.

In order to get maximum performance from a fast Pentium 4 CPU, you should either go for a motherboard with Intel 850 chipset and Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), or stick with SiS and their 645 chipset with DDR333 support. Our chipset comparison from December 2001 showed that this chipset can definitely be compared with Intel’s RDRAM flagship. This article takes a look at 10 models, and how they perform in practice.

Trendsetter: DDR333 For Pentium 4

The advances in processor technology are so fast that the memory performance usually cannot keep pace. A quick look at today’s processor multipliers (that’s the ratio between system clock and CPU core clock) shows how acute this problem still is:

• Pentium 4: 100 MHz x14 to 100 MHz x22 (100 MHz quad-pumped)
• Pentium III: 100 MHz x4.5 to 133 MHz x10.5
• Pentium II: 66 MHz x3.5 to 66 MHz x5.5
• Pentium MMX: 66 MHz x1 to 66 MHz x3.5

As you can easily see, the system speed is only a fraction of the CPU clock. The main reason is that it’s hardly possible for the signal to run the long distance between CPU, chipset and the main memory at high clock speeds. This can only be done through huge effort in systems of several hundred MHz.

In any case, SiS takes the only correct path: future processors will continue to have increasing core speeds, and if the memory clock does not grow proportionally, a huge part of the possible performance will go unused. Raising the memory speed from 133 to 166 MHz (DDR from 266 to 333 MHz) is about a 25% increase, which should be doable.

Is The SiS645 A Favorite?

Experienced users normally prefer Intel’s chipsets because they combine several important virtues: they are fast, very reliable, offer easy motherboard setup and, above all, there is persistent continuity in Intel’s products.

In the past, you could not say the same of products from ALi, SiS and VIA, all of which had aspects to be criticized. Sometimes it was the performance, with the next product it was the compatibility, and the stability problem continued to eat away at the image of the Taiwanese manufacturers now and again.

Within the last couple of years, these companies have improved the situation considerably, because they know that the market is not very forgiving of mistakes. The Taiwanese have done their homework thoroughly, and today, if you buy a motherboard with an ALi or SiS chipset, you can be quite sure that it works. The same is true even more so for VIA, as this manufacturer has strengthened its position to chipset maker number two within the last few years.

Now that former issues have been eliminated, there are several factors that speak to the benefits of motherboards, particularly those with SiS chipsets:

• Excellent performance: SiS has come pretty close to Intel and VIA in this respect
• Attractive prices: the chipsets and motherboards with the SiS chipset are clearly cheaper than products with the Intel chipset or even VIA-based motherboards
• Platform switch: due to reasonable pricing, a change of platform will not have too much financial impact – regardless of whether it involves upgrading right now or changing to another processor architecture tomorrow.

Comparison Of All Pentium 4 Chipsets

The Boards

Abit SD7-533

Board Revision: ?

BIOS Version: 6x (3. January 2002)

The current SiS645 motherbaord from Abit is called SD7-533. The number “533” signifies the maximum FSB speed of the next Pentium 4 generation that is expected soon. Though this chipset is not officially designed for this faster system speed, Abit has met all the prerequisites for achieving this: the SD7 runs smoothly at 533 MHz FSB.

The North Bridge chip has been placed at an angle of 45°, which is characteristic for this motherboard. Soft Menu III is also typical Abit, as are the hardware and software included in the package. Soft Menu is the name for Abit’s CPU configuration menu within Award BIOS. Here, you can make settings for all of the relevant CPU parameters, such as FSB speed, CPU multiplier and the CPU core voltage. Unfortunately, Intel has kept the multiplier locked for years, and this cannot be changed. Also, FSB speeds of over 145 MHz do not run stably anymore. However, the most important aspect here should be the huge spectrum of available CPU core voltages: you can choose from voltages ranging between 1.1 and 2.2 V (in 0.025 V increments).

In addition to the items mentioned above, others included in the package are: a detailed manual, a 80-wire IDE cable, a floppy cable and an adapter for the USB 2.0 controller that Abit placed directly onto the motherboard. Besides that, there are 5 PCI slots, 3 DIMM sockets and an AGP Pro 4x slot. Finally, a PCI sound chip from C-Media makes this board ready for multimedia use.

The benchmark results of this motherboard are in the midfield. More important is the fact that you get excellent overclocking options and USB 2.0.

AOpen AX45

Board Revision: ?

BIOS Version: 1.03e

The AX45 is delivered in a trendy box with a small window at the front – this gives you a first glimpse of the PCB, the chipset cooler and the memory slots.

More interesting are the six PCI slots, the CNR slot, AGP 4x, AC97 sound system and the integrated network controller from Realtek. Three DIMM sockets allow the main memory to be upgraded up to 3 GB, and a small piezo speaker replaces the PC speaker inside your case.

All CPU settings are made in the BIOS. Overclockers will only get a frequency ranging between 100 and 133 MHz FSB, which is not particularly much, since the CPU core voltage cannot be altered.

The box contains Adobe’s Acrobat Reader (unforunately, only version 4.0), Norton Anti Virus, and a CD with drivers and utilities. In addition, there is an excellent manual, a full set of cables and a useful quick installation guide for advanced users.

Asus P4S333

Board Revision: ?

BIOS Version: 1005 (14. March 2002)

Asus gives its motherboards names whose meanings are quite clear. P4S333 references everything you would guess: P4 is the CPU, “S” is the manufacturer and 333 is the maximum memory clock.

This board comes with 6 PCI slots, 3 DIMM sockets, a PCI sound chip from C-Media with two line-ins, AGP 4x and a total of 6 USB ports. Thanks to an adapter, 5 of them can be used instantly.

Furthermore, there are two 80-wire IDE cables, a floppy cable, an excellent manual, a driver CD and a quick start guide for impatient users. The latter includes all of the major languages. Last but not least, there is a small adapter cable that you have to use in order to run the second COM port (only one is on the connector panel).

The design is very clean – all 7 slots (6 plus the AGP) can be equipped with full-size PCI cards without conflicting with other components. In addition, all connectors are placed at the edge of the motherboard (power connector, LEDs/reset/power on, as well as the flat cable connectors) which helps to keep the case free of cable chaos.

In addition to a large range of supported FSB speeds (100 to 166 MHz), Asus allows the core voltage to be set within the range of 1.1 and 1.85 V (0.025 V increments).

Biostar M7SXF

Board Revision: 1.0

BIOS Version: 1.14 (17. January 2002)

Biostar equips its SiS645 motherboard with 5 PCI slots, an AC97 sound system, 3 DIMM sockets, 2 fan headers, one ACR and one CNR slot. The latter is quite unusual, since both connectors basically serve the same purpose: to easily upgrade audio and connectivity features at minimum costs. Unfortunately, none of these standards (AMR, CNR, ACR) were able to establish themselves on the market. PCI add-on cards are pretty cheap these days, and besides that, they can be used in practically any computer with an empty PCI slot.

Biostar’s motherboard performs at a high level. All necessary CPU settings are automatically made by the BIOS. Only the FSB clock can be increased to a maximum of 112 MHz. Although there is a small amount of room for experimenting, hard-core overclockers will not find this board very attractive.

Biostar offers extensive monitoring options and a total of six USB ports, but because the suitable adapters are lacking, only two of these can be used by default.

The box contains a manual, a set of cables and a driver CD. The M7SXF is optionally available with a 100 MBit network controller, as well. Additionally, Biostar also offers a version with on-board USB 2.0. We received a model that lacked both.

Epox EP-4SDA+

Board Revision:

BIOS Version:

The EP-4SDA+ ran our test processor (Pentium 4 2 GHz) at a whopping 2093 MHz, which is clearly over the top! Still, the factory-overclocking did not bring any advantages, and this board ends up “only” in the middle of the pack. This is pretty clear evidence that high clock speeds alone do not automatically make a fast system. Here, there’s quite a bit of space for optimization – usually, a BIOS update should correct this.

Without a doubt, this board has potential. There are 6 PCI slots, 3 DIMM sockets and an AC97 sound system, plus an IDE RAID controller from HighPoint. You also get Epox’s debug system which consists of a two-digit display that indicates the system state during the entire boot process. For example, if the system hangs during the memory test, you will be able to read the hex code and look it up in a table included in the box. This kind of troubleshooting is both efficient and elegant.

Epox includes an AGP card lock, which is useful for those who occasionally need to transport the computer. The layout is elaborate, though not perfect. Having all four IDE ports at one place saves space on the board, but makes it difficult to attach all four cables. At the lower edge of this board is the floppy cable. This might look odd, but it makes it easy to put the cable behind the motherboard.

Gigabyte GA-8SRX

Board Revision: 1.0

BIOS Version: F8 (15. March 2002)

The 8SRX is turquoise, which is typical of Gigabyte. It’s nice to see that Gigabyte did not attach a fan to the North Bridge, since this component does not bring anything except noise.

The board has 6 PCI slots, 3 DIMM sockets, one CNR slot, an AGP 4x slot plus card lock, a multi-channel sound system based on Creative’s CT5880 chip, as well as the well-known DualBIOS. This one has a second Flash ROM that leaps into action if the primary Flash ROM fails, e.g. during an incomplete flashing procedure.

A special aspect of the on-board sound system is the digital-in on the motherboard (SPDIF) – none of the competitors have this feature.

Gigabyte also made all CPU settings directly in the BIOS. Since the CPU multiplier has been locked for years, overclocking can only be performed by raising the FSB speed. Gigabyte offers clock speeds of up to 166 MHz and allows the core voltage to be increased.

The box includes an excellent manual, a driver CD which also includes EasyTune III (allows overclocking directly under Windows), a USB adapter and a full cable set.

MSI 645 Ultra

Board Revision: 1

BIOS Version: 1.3 (6. December 2002)

The board from MSI is glaring red – you can’t miss it. MSI only uses the features that are provided by the chipset (4+2 USB ports, AC97 sound, monitoring), but does not provide additional hardware such as an IDE RAID controller or support for USB 2.0. However, MSI does provide a debugging system. Similar to the one that is used by Epox, this one consists of four LEDs that show the system state.

This board runs our processors at 2002.14 MHz which is pretty close to specification (2.00 GHz). Still, it is the fastest motherboard in this review, and moreover, it’s the fastest without having “cheated” with increased clock speeds, which is sometimes the case with the competition. MSI obviously did a good job.

Included in the package are a driver CD, a useful manual, one 80-wire IDE cable and a floppy cable, plus an adapter for the USB ports 3-6. In addition, there is a table that allows you to interpret the system state that is indicated by the D-LED debug system.

Jetway S446R

Board Revision: ?

BIOS Version: F05 (14. November 2001)

Jetway uses multi-colored components: the board is turquoise; the IDE ports 1 and 3 are pink; the 2nd and 4th are white; the PCI slots are violet; and last but not least, there are blue DIMM sockets and a blue AGP slot. All of this is only of secondary importance, of course, since the board will not be visible after you’ve installed it in the PC case.

5 PCI slots and 3 DIMM sockets are standard in this batch – it’s generally considered to be a good basis for future upgrades. In addition to attaching 4 IDE devices to the standard IDE controller, you can attach an additional 4 ATA devices (not ATAPI, however), thanks to the ATA/100 IDE-RAID controller from Promise. However, the placement of these two interfaces at the lower area of the board is not so great, since the connectors are placed in the lower area of the board also, which can render the lower PCI slots unusable.

The S446R provides good performance and should be available at attractive prices (probably around $110). Included in the box were a manual, a set of cables and a driver CD. Another positive aspect is that there’s a driver diskette for the Promise controller inside, too, which is required during the initial installation of Windows 2000.

Soltek SL-85DRS2

Board Revision: ?

BIOS Version: 1.4 (5. January 2002)

Soltek’s SiS645 motherboard is called SL-85DRS2 and comes without sophisticated features. However, there’s plenty of basic hardware: 6 PCI slots, 3 DIMM sockets, AGP 4x, an AC97 sound system, 3 fan headers and a total of 4 USB ports are ready to be used.

Included is a temperature sensor of about 10 cm in length. After connecting it to the motherboard, it can be placed onto any component you want in order monitor its temperature. In addition, the following software is bundled: PC Cillin 2000, Virtual Drive, Partition Magic 6.0 and Drive Image 4.0. Of course there is also a driver CD and a set of cables. Soltek is the only company that also includes a manual for the bundled software, which should be helpful for less-experienced users.

Although the performance of this motherboard is average, we were pleased to see that Soltek sticks exactly to the clock speed specified by Intel: our test CPU ran at exactly 2 GHz.

Soyo SY-P4S Dragon Ultra

Board Revision: ?

BIOS Version: 2AA3 (16. January 2002)

Soyo is currently furnishing all of its motherboards with an incredible amount of features. Recently, the i845 DDR motherboard from Soyo attained top position in a motherboard comparison due to its numerous features. This time, the scenario appears once again, since the Dragon Ultra comes with a similar list of features: 6 PCI slots, 3 DIMM sockets, 4 fan headers, ATA/100 IDE RAID controller from HighPoint, a PCI sound system with C-Media chip and digital I/O, plus an integrated 100 Mbit network adapter.

Noteworthy is the 3.5″ module that includes 4 USB ports, thus making them accessible at the front of your computer. The labelling “USB 2.0” is confusing, though, as the controller does not support this new standard. However, the cables and the connector module do.

This board reaches high performance levels, yet it took quite some effort to get there. This is due to the various memory configuration parameters in the BIOS: approximately 12 settings can be altered, and it required about 15 boot ups and almost two hours of testing until we found the ideal settings for stable operation with our memory from Corsair. Less-experienced users will be overwhelmed by this huge number of settings.

Soyo also scores points with the items that it includes in the package: three 80-wire IDE cables, and a lot of software (e.g. Norton Ghose, Anti Virus 2002, Adobe Active Share, Acrobat Reader and WinDVD 2000).

Test Setup

Benchmark Results

OpenGL Game – Quake3 Arena Timedemo1

OpenGL Game – Quake3 Arena NV15 Demo

Direct3D Game – Unreal Tournament UTBench

Audio/Video Encoding – MP3 and MPEG-4/DivX

Archiving – ZIP Compression

Office Applications – Sysmark 2002

OpenGL Viewperf

Conclusion: SiS645 Is A Hot Alternative To i845!

SiS has matured quite convincingly: in contrast to previous motherboard tests with SiS chipsets, the SiS645 is a good choice and should be taken seriously. We did not encounter problems during our tests. In addition, this chipset is able to outperform Intel’s 845 DDR chipset, and at lower prices. A motherboard with the SiS645 chipset can be purchased for a hundred bucks; products based on i845 usually cost at least $130.

Our recommendation this time is the Soyo SY-P4S Dragon Ultra – it is fast and comes with a large list of features, starting with IDE RAID and a full-out sound system with digital connectors (optical and coax), up to 100 Mbit LAN controller and overclocking features. It leaves no stone unturned, except for USB 2.0.

In terms of performance, MSI’s 645 Ultra and Soltek’s SL-85DRS2 are at the top. The P4S333 from Asus is also in the upper midfield. All three should be given credit, considering that they all reach their performance without FSB overclocking – this is an indicator for thoroughness and quality. Epox wanted to reach the best performance level by increasing the FSB clock with its motherboard, but in the end, that didn’t manage to change anything.

Another aspect shown in this review: regardless of whether it’s hardware or software add-ons, the market wants flexibility. Soyo shows a perfect example of what a retail motherboard should look like. In the business sector, each add-on that makes the motherboard more expensive is usually uninteresting and automatically decreases the demand. A manufacturer should be able to address both types of users.

In the future, we would like to see more useful add-ons such as USB adapters or anti virus software. Let’s see how the companies set their priorities.

Feature Tables

Feature Tables, Continued