which sis648?? Epox 4SD45+ or Gigabyte 8SG667

[phsf98]

which mobo is better ??
Seems that Epox mobos are seldom being review at anandtech...
anyone have successfully ran any DDR400 with this epox mobo?
Any idea about the price ?? better performance and value than 8SG667??

thanks ..

 

[yippykiyaa]

I just bought the 4SDA5+. Have OC'ed up to 150Mhz with a 1.6a & just vcore 1.57v & 2,5,2,2,1T on 512mb Corsair PC3200 XMS memory w/o conflicts on rebooting into the Bios. I didn't go further because most people were not able to go past 130Mhz. Have NOT loaded Win XP & stress tested board because I received an error message upon loading Win XP Oem;

"File dxmasf.dll was not copied correctly. The file "Setup" placed on your harddrive is not a valid Win XP system image. If you are installing from a CD, there maybe a problem with the Win CD."......Now, when booting w/ Win 98 Startup floppy, I get a NTLDR missing report.

If anyone has a solution to the above, please let me know as I cannot continue the installation.

It looks as if this board can OC rather well, but will know more after solving Setup problem. BTW, I disabled the LAN,USB 2.0, & Firewire because of problems with DDR400 & 8X. I thought that the instability with Sis 648 & Via 400 boards just might be from these items. I will add these items back on, one at a time, to see which one, or all, might be the culprit in limiting overclocking

 

[First]

Gigabyte 8SG667. You can't lose.

 

[BubbaJudge]

Thx Evan for the gigabyte plug ,

that pretty much seals it for me, I'm gonna order mine now with a new C1 stepping 2.5 P4 from mwave

i just got rid of a GA-IEXP and a 2.53 533 because of the inablity to run ddr333(i scored a gig of samsung @$28/256 at CC in a PM rebate and i gotta use it, heh)

i luv the 'hidden ctrl+F1' memory timings in the bios, very nice, but the lack of voltage controls certainly is disconcerting, have you heard anything about that planned BIOS upgrade with voltage adjustments?

regardless, its a great little board for a great price, until i see what dual channel can do

thx again your excellent review and the post

 

[Inspect52]

Just built my new rig last Thursday after finally receiving the Gigabyte 8SG667. A number of people have asked for more ?real-world? testing info with this motherboard, (now can be purchased on newegg.com). If there is a test or benchmark you'd like me to run (and you can tell me where I can get the utility to want to test) - let me know. I am not planning to overclock this system at this time.

Gigabyte 8SG667 Motherboard
Intel P4 2.4Ghz - Retail
Windows XP Pro, SP1
Corsair CMX256-3200C2 256MB PC3200 400Mhz (CAS 2)
VisionTek GeForce2 Ultra - 4xAGP (Going to replace sometime soon)
- Did not install the AGP drivers that came with the motherboard. Some people cited problems with more than a few games-

I've been using the Final Reality demo to test stability (http://www.remedy.fi/fr/). The benchmark is outdated, but this demo has worked very well for me over the years. My testing on previous systems (overclocked or not) has shown if this demo hangs for any reason within the first 2 hours there is something not configured properly. So far I've had it running for 5 hours without a glitch. Played Jedi Outcast for about an hour last night with no problems as well.

I've heard some rumors that the Corsair RAM that I bought would not work with the 8SG667. I have it set at DDR400 (well 402 - the only setting the MB allows around 400) and have not had a problem yet. The documentation does state that AGP 2x cards won't work on this motherboard, but I can't say I've experimented with one.

Big thanks to anandtech.com and these forums for all the good advice.

 

[Quantrel]

I just purchased a GA-8SG667 and have to tell you that the "promised" upgrade in BIOS never appeared per the Anandtech review.
No voltage settings or latency control or AGP size. Mine came with the ver 2 BIOS which I had to flash to version 3 which was the one Anandtech did the review on with promises of a new version when shipped.
Look elsewere for a good motherboard with real control not promises.

 

[Inspect52]

Originally posted by: Quantrel
I just purchased a GA-8SG667 and have to tell you that the "promised" upgrade in BIOS never appeared per the Anandtech review.
No voltage settings or latency control or AGP size. Mine came with the ver 2 BIOS which I had to flash to version 3 which was the one Anandtech did the review on with promises of a new version when shipped.
Look elsewere for a good motherboard with real control not promises.

Do a Ctrl F1 in the main menu to set latency, DDR speed, FSB and AGP settings. Your right, there is no voltage settings, but maybe they'll fix that in a future BIOS update.

11 hours of FInal Reality went without a problem. For me, so far, this has been a rock-solid board.

 

[SonicFlux]

There will be NO BIOS update to allow voltage adjustments on the 8SG667, at least for the first revision...

from another thread:


Quote
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rev. 2 Update
Here's an update on the Rev. 2 with ITE IT8705. It appears that Sandra is indeed wrong. This is the email I received:

Thank you for your interest in our product .
Your answer is quite correct. Please kindly note that :

1- GA-8SG667 Version 1.0 is with a ITE IT8700 Super I/O chip do not support a Hardware Monitoring, nor voltage change.

2- GA-8SG667 Version 2.0 is with a ITE IT8705 Super I/O chip support a Hardware Monitoring, and voltage change.

I will inform you as soon as possible for the release date for the GA-8SG667 Rev. 2 . Thank you.

Best Regards,
Majid Boussihmad
FAE
Gigabyte Technology B.V.
Tel. : 0900-GIGABYTE ( 44422983).
Fax. : +31 (0)40-290 20 89
Email : Majid@giga-byte.nl.
http://www.giga-byte.nl
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[senior guy]

You might also want to check-out the AOpen AX45-8XN (a much more fully-featured board than the Gigabyte). It's the subject of a thread over at asusboards.com, AOpen AX45-8XN - SiS648 GEM!!.

 

[Oakenfold]

Currently running a 1.6A on the Gigabyte 8SG667 @ 2.43GZ
DDR is above 350/ FSB is @ 152
No idea on my temps...woohoo!


Edited, forgot I'm using Corsair XMS PC 2700 CL 2

 

[BubbaJudge]

well poop

i guess i will wait for the rev 2 board, but then dual channel will tentatively be out nov 4




thanks for the BIOS/Rev news Sonic

 

[BubbaJudge]

ok, just talked with mwave and they have the revision 2 8SG667 boards in stock. unfortunately they cannot guarantee the warehouse will pull the right board, but they said they have more rev 2's than rev 1's

so i ordered one. i figure from looking at everyones success stories with the board over at asusboards that even if i get a rev 1, it will still OC at standard voltages, and if i am really needing the rev 2, i can rma at mwave

also, i saw this article today about 648 chip shortages, and the US ITC ruling about a lockout of SIS chips from the US in 45 days so i figured i would get one while i can



cant wait to get the board http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article3.asp?datePublish=2002/10/15&pages=04&seq=18

 

[Inspect52]

Originally posted by: BubbaJudge
ok, just talked with mwave and they have the revision 2 8SG667 boards in stock. unfortunately they cannot guarantee the warehouse will pull the right board, but they said they have more rev 2's than rev 1's

so i ordered one. i figure from looking at everyones success stories with the board over at asusboards that even if i get a rev 1, it will still OC at standard voltages, and if i am really needing the rev 2, i can rma at mwave

also, i saw this article today about 648 chip shortages, and the US ITC ruling about a lockout of SIS chips from the US in 45 days so i figured i would get one while i can



cant wait to get the board http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article3.asp?datePublish=2002/10/15&pages=04&seq=18

Good news to hear. Hopefully you get the rev 2. I'd like to hear about your experiences with it once you get your hands on it.

I've been impressed so far on the stability of this board (rev 1) out of the box. I've had a mess of trouble with VIA chipsets in the past - that's why I decided to go with SIS just to see if my luck was better.

I am curious if anyone can shed some light on the AGP driver issues. I avoided installing it based on conversations in other threads.

 

[theprat]

hey there BubbaJudge

please let us know if you get lucky with a rev.2 board. i would like to get one of these GA - 8SG667 boards myself, and if the rev 2 boards are beginning to surface, i am gonna get one.

Thanks

 

[phsf98]

wothout the VGA driver can i still use the graphic card??

 

[Oakenfold]

Originally posted by: phsf98
wothout the VGA driver can i still use the graphic card??

Do you mean the AGP driver for the sis chipset or do you mean your actual videocard driver?
Either way yes, xp will install something for you, I haven't found the need to update too many sis chipsets when working with AMD, via is the rule, sis is the exception.


Inspect52
LMK if you get a revision 2 and if it has any kind of temp monitor in the bios or hardware monitoring capabalities.
Got a revision 1 now that I am happy with but would like to know what temps' I'm at!

 

[phsf98]

ya i mean the AGP driver for the Sis chipset..... what is the different without this driver ... just the graphic card driver installed will work ??

 

[Maverick]

I wonder if gigabyte will replace my board with a rev2 if I try to RMA it...

 

[wingtel]

There is a review on Epox4sd45+ at tech report

 

[o1die]

I recommend against installing any sis drivers. My p4s533 runs better without them, and sandra scores are almost identicle.

 

[wingtel]

Sorry guys it should have been tweak town.review on EPOX4SD45+

 

[BubbaJudge]

well i got the SG667 board and it was a rev 1, a major bummer, but i went ahead and installed it, and i will probably wait a week or two and rma it for a rev 2.

now crazy as it seems, i run a dual boot win 98/XP box soley to play counter-strike on 98 because of superstitions of better frag performance on 98, lol.

now XP accepted the board easily and i busted out a 12500 3d bench, running stock settings with the new 2.5 400 P4 running nicely at 2.85ghz

the win 98 installlation was a nightmare, and the end result is apparently there are no IDE drivers for that chipset compatible with 98, therefore I cant get 98 to recognize primary and secondary channels. 98 sees them as intel ultra ata. i looked all over SIS and other vendors websites for a driver. i found one at aopen that said it was 98 compatible, but it will not install.

if anyone knows if 98 drivers exist, please let me know.

running a dual boot 98/XP box has been a hassle, and this may force me to take the easy road and blow away the 98, and learn to play CS on XP.

i havent really had a chance to play with the board but i am satisfied with it so far.

 

[Ken830]

Are Rev 2 boards even available? Besides BubaJudge's conversation with mwave, I haven't even heard of a reseller with them in stock. I hope, eventually, these resellers will have a specific stock number for the rev2 boards, so that we will know what we are getting for sure.