SiS 655 *2-18-03 UPDATE* MSI, Gigabyte and ASUS Done

[kapster]

anyone else notice the Gigabyte GA-8SQ800 (sis655) for only 112 at newegg?

It seems to lack lan/sata/firewire/raid. But i will repeat the price, 112?!?!

 

[Feldenak]

Yeah, I noticed that but I think I'm going to try and hold out for the Ultra2

 

[Elvis2]

anyone else notice the Gigabyte GA-8SQ800 (sis655) for only 112 at newegg

Thanks for the heads up
I went ahead and ordered one. I was looking for this "basic" board since I already have top quality RAID, NIC, and Firewire addoncards. I mean, what are those pci slots for anyway? Besides, for less than half the cost of the Ultra2, it was a no brainer for me.

 

[ArborBarber]

Feldenak...I will post the vendors link as soon as I order it. I'm deciding on whether or not to order through this vendor. I don't mean to hold back on the link, but I 've been trying to put together this system since November, so before I say anything more, I'd like to order it first...hope you understand. Also this vendor is a little vague in its' description of the exact model, I want to make sure first it's the SINXP1394 model before ordering and relaying any further information, I don't want to give false information to anyone.

Computers4Sure Link

It has it listed as $255, but when you order it, it will come up as $205.95. The ordered item will also list the manufactures # as GA-SINXP1394, so it is the GA-SINXP1394 (Ultra II). Sorry to hold back a bit, just wanted to insure my order and the correct model of mobo.
This company is an Office Depot company, so maybe they'll have some buying pull....I HOPE!

 

[Feldenak]

Originally posted by: Elvis2

anyone else notice the Gigabyte GA-8SQ800 (sis655) for only 112 at newegg

Thanks for the heads up
I went ahead and ordered one. I was looking for this "basic" board since I already have top quality RAID, NIC, and Firewire addoncards. I mean, what are those pci slots for anyway? Besides, for less than half the cost of the Ultra2, it was a no brainer for me.

Isn't that the A0 board requiring a BIOS hack/fix to support HT?


P.S. - Thanks Arbor

 

[Elvis2]

Isn't that the A0 board requiring a BIOS hack/fix to support HT?

Possibly. No big deal tho...

 

[ArborBarber]

Elvis2...Why you slick dog you!! As Lynard Skynerd once sung, "It keeps me searchin..." Looks like you've been searchin....see I knew you wanted it! LOL !!!

 

[Elvis2]

....see I knew you wanted it! LOL !!!

I couldn't pass it up. Gotta get that FIX

 

[Tsubasa]

hi,

"While the MSI 655 Max-FISR motherboard tested in this review uses an A0 stepping SiS 655 North Bridge and A2 stepping SiS 963 South Bridge, the new MSI 655 Max-FISR we just received uses a B0 stepping SiS 655 North Bridge and B1 stepping SiS 963UA South Bridge"


As from the review of the msi mb had shown, just want to clarify, will all the GB SINXP1394 with B0 stepping oso come with B1 southbridge too? Oso how to differenciate a b0 stepping when buying?
izzit true tat SINXP1394 confirm comes with B0 one?

thanks...

 

[kapster]

you will have the option to enable HT if its a b0 board. Anand's review seemed to indicate the only way to tell was to check the bios..

 

[Demian666]

Finally I got my GA-8SQ800 yesterday and I have to say, I like this motherboard very much !
It`s very fast and it seems to be rocksolid, even when using DDR400 in Dual-Channel-Mode (but I had to use two matching Corsair PC3200 RAMS, two GEIL PC3500 RAMS forced Bluescreens...)
Now I have one question which I hope someone of you can answer:

At system-startup you see the following message: "Single 128 Bit Mode".
Does this mean system is running in Dual-Channel-Mode ???

The two corsair RAMs are placed in the orange-colored DIMM-Slots (DDR4 and DDR2).


Demian666

 

[Demian666]

Correction:

The two Corsair RAMs are placed in the two blue-colored DIMM-Slots.

Demian666

 

[Booter]

Edit: *double post deleted*

 

[Booter]

At system-startup you see the following message: "Single 128 Bit Mode".
Does this mean system is running in Dual-Channel-Mode ???

dunno, but you should be able to see if it's enabled in bios.

 

[Yozza]

Originally posted by: Demian666
At system-startup you see the following message: "Single 128 Bit Mode".
Does this mean system is running in Dual-Channel-Mode ???

Yes, this means the chipset is combining the two 64 bit channels in to a single 128 bit wide uber-channel. AFAIK, the other option is to operate them as 2 separate channels, but this yields lower performance than the former option.

 

[Demian666]

Thank you !

I was quite sure running the the system in Dual-Channel-Mode.
Sisoft Sandra Memory Benchmarks are 3484/3486 (P4 2.4 GHz).

Next week I`ll quit testing GA-8SQ800 with P4 2.4 GHz and start testing it with P4 3.06 GHz and Hyper-Threading.

Anyone interested in those results ?

Demian666

 

[Yozza]

That would be great!

I've got an Asus P4G8X Deluxe E7205 motherboard on order for my 3.06GHz HT P4, but it could be a while before that arrives due to poor availability. The Gigabyte 8SQ800 (and Ultra) is available now from various UK retailers, so if the A0 stepping North Bridge supports HT, I might well get one (providing the thing overclocks well at 4:5 and 3:4 memory ratios)

Have you checked which NB stepping your 8SQ800 has? A0 purportedly supports HT through a BIOS workaround, whereas the newer B0 stepping supports HT officially without the need for any BIOS specific workaround.

 

[neilm]

Originally posted by: Yozza
That would be great!

I've got an Asus P4G8X Deluxe E7205 motherboard on order for my 3.06GHz HT P4, but it could be a while before that arrives due to poor availability. The Gigabyte 8SQ800 (and Ultra) is available now from various UK retailers, so if the A0 stepping North Bridge supports HT, I might well get one (providing the thing overclocks well at 4:5 and 3:4 memory ratios)

Have you checked which NB stepping your 8SQ800 has? A0 purportedly supports HT through a BIOS workaround, whereas the newer B0 stepping supports HT officially without the need for any BIOS specific workaround.

I'm waiting for the ultra2, no word from it yet... anyone know if there is a big difference between the ultra and ultra2?

 

[Yozza]

The Ultra2 (SINXP1394) has over the 8SQ800 Ultra:
IEEE 1394 Firewire
DPS (6 phase VRM instead of 3 phase)
Intel 82540EM 10/100/100 Mbps Ethernet NIC (instead of 10/100 Mbps Ethernet NIC - probably Realtek RTL8100 or similar)

 

[Demian666]

My GA-8SQ800 also has Firewire-Controller onboard !
There`s a card, which you can plug into a special connetor on the board.
Not bad ! It works fine...

Demian666

 

[Yozza]

Ahh yes, my bad. All 8SQ800 series boards have Firewire

Seems the only difference between the Ultra and Ultra 2 are the DPS 6-phase VRM and Gigabit Ethernet NIC.

 

[Demian666]

Originally posted by: Yozza
That would be great!


Have you checked which NB stepping your 8SQ800 has? A0 purportedly supports HT through a BIOS workaround, whereas the newer B0 stepping supports HT officially without the need for any BIOS specific workaround.

No I haven`t checked that yet.

In the mainboard-manual there are several explanations about HT-support.

My GA-8SQ800 came with bios-version F3.
I flashed the newer F4-version, but after that and optimizing bios-settings there was no way booting the system - until removing the CMOS-battery...


Next week I`ll be able to give you detailed information.

Demian666

 

[ArborBarber]

Demian666...Where did you get the mobo and how much was it? Thanks!

BTW...are you a fan of the "Omen"? (evil bastard!!....LOL) J/K...although I am a little envious....

 

[Demian666]

Originally posted by: ArborBarber
Demian666...Where did you get the mobo and how much was it? Thanks!

BTW...are you a fan of the "Omen"? (evil bastard!!....LOL) J/K...although I am a little envious....

Hello ArborBarber,

no, I`m not a fan of the "Omen" - I`m a special fan of Herrmann Hesse.. Demian is the title of one of his famous books...

But back to our thread:

I ordered the mainboard here in Germany at http:\\www.cyberport.de
More GA-8SQ800 will be available within the next 3 - 7 days as they told me...

Bye

Demian666

 

[Callesen]

Hey Demian666 - can you remember when you ordered yours from cyberport.de ?

I've placed an order there as well but gotta admit I'm not sure I made it before the changed the stock from sofort liefbar to Liefbar in 3 -7 tagen - (LOL excuse my poor deutch - you know have we Dane's are )

How's the service from Cyberport btw. - I'm a little dissapointed about the lack of order tracking..

Hope to hear from you buddy - and hope even more that I'll recieve a mobo like yours this week