Can't decide on skt939 chipset .

imported_geofftech

Junior Member
Jan 15, 2005
4
0
0
Could some of you fellas clarify the pros and cons between the two chipsets.? I'm planning an upgrade with my tax refund when it comes. Thanks.
 

perdomot

Golden Member
Dec 7, 2004
1,390
0
71
Of all the reviews I've seen, the nforce mobos overclock a little better. The advantage the Via mobos have is the 8237 southbridge which makes sata hdds like the Raptor perform much better, particularly on smaller files that Windows uses. I've confirmed this myself just this week. Considering the hdd is the slowest part of the PC, I would go with the solution that makes it perform the best and sacrifice a little on the cpu/ram OC.
 

Yourself

Platinum Member
Jan 3, 2000
2,542
0
71
I have the Neo 2(Nforce 3) and the A8V(KT800) and they perform almost identically. I have overclocked both to about 290 FSB and neither had a problem. Either one will work well for you...


Self
 

Elfear

Diamond Member
May 30, 2004
7,147
770
126
I wouldn't recommend the Abit AV8 if you want to do some serious ocing. They are ok if you want to keep a high multiplier and a reasonable fsb like 11x240-245 or so. The AGP/PCI lock seems to get klugie after 250-255Mhz fsb. That and the fact that I've gone through three sets of good ram (OCZ EB series, HyperX, and Ballistix) and all had compatibility issues with the board.
 

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
0
81
Originally posted by: perdomot
Of all the reviews I've seen, the nforce mobos overclock a little better. The advantage the Via mobos have is the 8237 southbridge which makes sata hdds like the Raptor perform much better, particularly on smaller files that Windows uses. I've confirmed this myself just this week. Considering the hdd is the slowest part of the PC, I would go with the solution that makes it perform the best and sacrifice a little on the cpu/ram OC.

No they dont. What are you talking about. I suppose you are referring to native SATA support. Well yeah this is an advantage however the difference is barely anything. Also you are incorrect as the Nforce 3 supports SATA in the south bridge and is faster.

Go Nforce 3, or if you have the money Nforce 4.

-Kevin
 

Pohemi

Lifer
Oct 2, 2004
10,029
14,285
146
I say Bah... SIS sucks. I must admit I don't know much about ULi though.
 

christopherzombie

Senior member
Jan 18, 2005
431
0
0
nForce 3 or 4

and either Asus or MSI

I went with the MSI NF3, AGP 6800 Ultras are much cheaper, and I'll never have enough cash to get an SLI setup. Plus, I migrated from an Asus A7N8X and already had the eVGA 6800U.
 

justly

Banned
Jul 25, 2003
493
0
0
Originally posted by: Pohemi420
I say Bah... SIS sucks. I must admit I don't know much about ULi though.

Well if you can't elaborate on you SiS comment then it would seem you don't know much about SiS either.
 

Pohemi

Lifer
Oct 2, 2004
10,029
14,285
146
What do you want, a market-wide report stating the obvious? All I know is that out of my friends that have boughten an SIS mobo in the past (four now), they have all had problems with mobo drivers and controlability for overclocking. Is it coincidence that SIS is not as widely used and is usually cheaper than Nforce or Via boards? My opinion is that if you are an enthusiast who likes to play with their machine, stick with Nforce or Via.

EDIT: I didn't mean that comment as a personal attack, justly (unless you design the SiS chipsets :p) I would just never recommend an SiS board to a friend unless they drastically change their chipsets. There are much better options available.
 

hundesau

Member
Dec 25, 2004
157
0
0
Wow, ur friends had problems with there hardware? maybe take a look into the lobby, bet u will find more people having problems with their hardware of nvidia and via. ;)

and btw: Uli who belongs to ALI...yeah its sum funny names, but they been building good chipsets and there will be Soyo board with Socket 939 and Uli Chipsets. Has it the potentila to become as famous as nforce? NO! too many choices confuse the unexperienced buyer he will stick to what everybody else is buying. Does that mean the Chipset and cheaper boards are crap? No.
 

Spikesoldier

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2001
6,766
0
0
Originally posted by: Pohemi420
What do you want, a market-wide report stating the obvious? All I know is that out of my friends that have boughten an SIS mobo in the past (four now), they have all had problems with mobo drivers and controlability for overclocking. Is it coincidence that SIS is not as widely used and is usually cheaper than Nforce or Via boards? My opinion is that if you are an enthusiast who likes to play with their machine, stick with Nforce or Via.

EDIT: I didn't mean that comment as a personal attack, justly (unless you design the SiS chipsets :p) I would just never recommend an SiS board to a friend unless they drastically change their chipsets. There are much better options available.

SiS had some pretty good chipsets in the 533MHz FSB p4 days
 

justly

Banned
Jul 25, 2003
493
0
0
No offence taken.

Just because your freinds have had problems doesnt mean that the CHIPSET is the blame. The only thing that is obvious is that motherboards made with the SiS are usally NOT designed with the overclocking enthusiast in mind. In fact most people that purchase inexpensive motherboards (like the ones SiS chipsets are known to be in) usually skimp on other components that are more prone to cause problems (did your friends use the cheapest memory or power supplies they could find?).

Also you don't specify what SiS chipsets you are basing this opinion on, or what componets your "friends" used in conjunction with these chipsets.

If you look at reviews of almost any motherboard based on the SiS chipset over the last few years you would have seen that most (if not all) only have one complaint, the limited overclocking options in the BIOS.

If you look at Neweggs ratings motherbords based on SiS are usualy 4 or 5 stars (same as nVidia based boards) again most people buying these boards are not expecting the overclocking options to be the the same as a high end board but it does show that there are not signifigant problems with SiS.

We could also look at Anandtechs latest SiS review
FIRST LOOK: SiS 755FX for Socket 939 Athlon 64 - Our Take
"If we look at this review as an evaluation of the SiS 755FX chipset, we have to say that we remain impressed with what SiS has done in the Athlon 64 chipset market"
"This is basically the same chipset that we tested almost a year ago and it still holds its own against the latest nForce 4 and updated VIA chipsets"
"For the capabilities it does have in overclocking, the Winfast is rock solid"
"Disappointment comes into play in considering overclocking and what might have been with the Winfast. The lack of a clock generator that supports more than 233 and the missing memory voltage adjustments limit a board that could have been so much more. The 755FX is so good to 233 that we are severely disappointed that it doesn't have the stuff to let us see where the SiS755FX chipset can really go"

There are plenty of reviews (when you can find them) that show SiS chipsets are worthy of consideration as long as extreme overclocking is not the most important thing (and the blame for poor overclocking is quite probably the motherboard or the BIOS not the chipset).

I probably should have listed the pros and cons of ALL these chipsets for the OP but I didn't feel like writing a documentary that lists every chipset for every manufacturer, especially when you consider that there are currently 4 companies that make A64 chipsets and over a dozen individual chipsets to chose from between these manufactures. Thats not including the ATi chipsets that are due out sometime this year. Even if I was willing to do all that it wouldn't mean much since Asus and PCchips can both make a motherboard using the same chipset with different levels of stability, features and capabilities.

 

Pohemi

Lifer
Oct 2, 2004
10,029
14,285
146
Originally posted by: hundesau
Wow, ur friends had problems with there hardware? maybe take a look into the lobby, bet u will find more people having problems with their hardware of nvidia and via. ;)

and btw: Uli who belongs to ALI...yeah its sum funny names, but they been building good chipsets and there will be Soyo board with Socket 939 and Uli Chipsets. Has it the potentila to become as famous as nforce? NO! too many choices confuse the unexperienced buyer he will stick to what everybody else is buying. Does that mean the Chipset and cheaper boards are crap? No.


You have a point, but...as far as more people having problems with Nvidia and VIA products...maybe you should look at it as percentage of units sold that end up being faulty products. A lot more Nvidia and VIA chipset boards are sold, so the total number of problems/RMA's might be higher. I have no proof that SiS or any other chipset is less reliable than Nvidia or VIA, it's just my personal opinion according to what I have seen with my own eyes.
 

hundesau

Member
Dec 25, 2004
157
0
0
of course i know that and all i wanted is to show that the cheaper chipsets for the budget sector not necessarily must lead to higher percentage of bad products. i once had to RMA a lcd monitor three times in a row until i received a perfectly working modell, still it was one of the best and most reliable brands. Sometimes its just bad luck but on the other hand each brand will from time to time produce a bad series, i agree.