New AMD DDR chipset

[Basher]

Check out this article (http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1520) there is a new chipset out for the athlons, sis made a ddr/sdram chipset that performs well acroding to anandtech. It is really cheap too. Here is a link to the ECS Socket A K7S5A SiS® 735 chipset motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=22&manufactory=1414) it runs $65 and performs like the AMD 760 :D :D :D :D :D :D

[TC]

But nobody will use it in a motherboard. It's been around for several months.

[chawken]

Originally posted by Basher
Check out this article (http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1520) there is a new chipset out for the athlons, sis made a ddr/sdram chipset that performs well acroding to anandtech. It is really cheap too. Here is a link to the ECS Socket A K7S5A SiS® 735 chipset motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=22&manufactory=1414) it runs $65 and performs like the AMD 760 :D :D :D :D :D :D

$65.00 is a good price for a motherboard - but that is the performance value that you will get with a SiS. They have always been low end - and if you want a power system, spend the extra money.

[TC]

Actually by all accounts so far, the Sis chip outperforms every other DDR chipset available, but nobody will use it because of their old reputation.

[chawken]

Originally posted by TC
Actually by all accounts so far, the Sis chip outperforms every other DDR chipset available, but nobody will use it because of their old reputation.

I might try one - just for the hell of it - but you're right, they do have a reputation for being a low end economy chipset. I'll put them up against the AMD 761 and the KT266 and see how they fair.

[Basher]

Originally posted by chawken


$65.00 is a good price for a motherboard - but that is the performance value that you will get with a SiS. They have always been low end - and if you want a power system, spend the extra money.

Well read the article on anandtech, the sis chipset did very well against via and amd and under heavy loads it beat them pretty convincingly.

[TC]

I thought about trying it out, but from what I've read the performance gain is probably so small it's not worth fooling with. It did beat the other chipsets, but we're only talking about maybe 1 or 2% at most. Keeping that in mind with their past reputation I don't think I'll bother, but if you get one let us know how it does.

[Richard]

I have the ECS K7S5A motherboard. I had to pick up a golden socket from plycon in order to change the multiplier. Other than that, it's a fantastic motherboard.

The out of the box experience is a joy compared to anything else I've used. Performance is top notch and I haven't had a blue screen yet. (2 weeks)

I paid $62 for the board + $50 for the golden socket. Therefore, it ended up running $112 (pre shipping). Which still places it as a bargain in my book.

The only perceivable caveat is the limited overclocking aspect. Although, after having played around with other boards I must say super high FSB settings are over-rated. Sure, it's nice seeing those high benchmarks, but in the end if none of your USB devices work and/or you run the risk of killing your hard drives... Is it worth it?

I'd definitely have no qualms with recommending this board to anyone. Unless of course you're dead set on overclocking. Then you should wait for some of the other Sis735 motherboards. MSI's board should be hitting the retail market any day now.

[TC]

Originally posted by Richard
I have the ECS K7S5A
The only perceivable caveat is the limited overclocking aspect. Although, after having played around with other boards I must say super high FSB settings are over-rated. Sure, it's nice seeing those high benchmarks, but in the end if none of your USB devices work and/or you run the risk of killing your hard drives... Is it worth it?

That is a very tempting price, but you're talking to the extreme overclocker here :D Mainly because I want to get every ounce out of my seti boxes. Would I take those risks for my everyday machine with important data - of course not. For Seti I want to shave off every second I can.

How do you like the golden socket?

[Richard]

The Golden Socket was pretty easy to install. I just used a pair of tweezers to change the dip-switches. It can be an inconvenience needing to take the CPU out of the socket every time to alter the multiplier, but I can do it in all of about 2 minutes. If anything the heatsink is easier to take off and put back on thanks to the increased height of the socket.