First S3 Savage XP Benchmark

[Athlon4all]

here. Not too shabby, although he doesn't provide a link. just thought I'd pass it along. Too bad it won't perform this well in an integrated solution due to the lack of memory bandy. In cause you don't know what Savage XP is, it is the previously known as, Zoetrope core from S3/VIA. It will be integrated in future Hammer chipsets,along with KM333, and P4M333.

 

[Booster]

It will be integrated in future Hammer chipsets,along with KM333, and P4M333.

No, it won't. I'm not getting another VIA chipset. It's all SiS for me.

 

[kLezViruS]

Originally posted by: Booster

It will be integrated in future Hammer chipsets,along with KM333, and P4M333.

No, it won't. I'm not getting another VIA chipset. It's all SiS for me.

*nod*

 

[jm0ris0n]

It'd love to play with this thing for $40 !

Would go great in one of the shuttle flex-atx mobo/case combos.

 

[MadRat]

<<No, it won't. I'm not getting another VIA chipset. It's all SiS for me.>>

SiS hasn't done anything special to warrant my business. I'll stick to the reviews at the time for my decision. Brand name means nothing to me when I shop; its all about maximum bang for the buck. VIA has more than a few times been that bang. They may or may not offer that bang in the future.

 

[Athlon4all]

It'd love to play with this thing for $40 !

Well, that sounds good, but to be honest, it would be kinda tough for me to get it even at that price because i can get a Radeon DDR for the same price. But anyway

<<No, it won't. I'm not getting another VIA chipset. It's all SiS for me.>>

SiS hasn't done anything special to warrant my business. I'll stick to the reviews at the time for my decision. Brand name means nothing to me when I shop; its all about maximum bang for the buck. VIA has more than a few times been that bang. They may or may not offer that bang in the future.

Well said Madrat. You wanna know what? I've got 2 SiS systems (sis 735 and 630S), but wanna know why I got them? Because K7S5A was practically a free upgrade from my previous VIA KM133 board while giving me DDR and 266fsb support. Notice SiS brand name wasn't even mentioned. Same with the 630S. The price was right, and the board I have had an on-board modem which I found useful. So, never does brand name come into factor. Its all about performance, price and reliability, and SiS chipsets have yet to disappoint in any of these areas, and again, neither has nVidia or VIA either

 

[Pabster]

Sorry guys, comparing VIA's low-end chipset solutions to SiS 730/735/745 is laughable. VIA can't even begin to compete -- in any area. I don't know what so many people have against SiS, but the fact is, boards based on these SiS chipsets offer a price/performance ratio second to none -- with solid core logic that doesn't leave the end user fumbling for 4-in-1 driver sets, BIOS updates, latency patches, etc. Or spending half the night swapping PCI slots, manually assigning IRQs, and praying for rain.

 

[Athlon4all]

Sorry guys, comparing VIA's low-end chipset solutions to SiS 730/735/745 is laughable. VIA can't even begin to compete -- in any area. I don't know what so many people have against SiS, but the fact is, boards based on these SiS chipsets offer a price/performance ratio second to none -- with solid core logic that doesn't leave the end user fumbling for 4-in-1 driver sets, BIOS updates, latency patches, etc. Or spending half the night swapping PCI slots, manually assigning IRQs, and praying for rain.

K7S5A has it's own fair share of BIOS updates (lieke for fixing the W2000 Floppy disk corrupt issue), and SiS chipsets need drivers too. As for the performance/price, I disagree. First of all, there are plenty of KT333 boards that are in the $75 price range, and they produce better performance (by 5-15%, see here).

I will say that comparing VIA's integrated chipsets to SiS 650/740, I I agree, is no match. SiS'S 315 core totally swipes the floor from under VIA's ProSavage solution, but this may end up changing with Savage XP. We shall see.

 

[Lord Evermore]

Dunno why people hate VIA's 4-in-1 driver sets so much...I've never had to "fumble" to get them, and with one click I can install optimized drivers for every base component of the chipset (they should include audio and video drivers but don't seem to), and I've never had trouble with needing to use older versions due to problems with newer ones.

I do still prefer SiS chipsets now, as they're used on cheaper boards in the feature range I look for, and performance is great. But I still go for VIA when I need a particular thing, if a VIA chipset fills the bill.

 

[Athlon4all]

Dunno why people hate VIA's 4-in-1 driver sets so much...I've never had to "fumble" to get them, and with one click I can install optimized drivers for every base component of the chipset (they should include audio and video drivers but don't seem to), and I've never had trouble with needing to use older versions due to problems with newer ones.

Agreed. On the one VIA board I've owned with my very limited experience, I never had any trouble with it, or the 4-in-1's.

 

[Pabster]

Athlon4All wrote:

"K7S5A has it's own fair share of BIOS updates (lieke for fixing the W2000 Floppy disk corrupt issue), and SiS chipsets need drivers too. As for the performance/price, I disagree. First of all, there are plenty of KT333 boards that are in the $75 price range, and they produce better performance (by 5-15%, see here)."

The floppy bug was an bug only on early revision K7S5A's and it was quashed quickly. Since then, there have been very few issues with the K7S5A. There is no evidence to this day of bugs in SiS 735. It's a damn shame VIA was able to manipulate board manufacturers' away from producing mainstream boards with solid core logic. KT333? Give me a break. At the $150 price point you'll get no more from a KT333 solution than at the $75 price point ... you get the same buggy core logic and issues which continue to plague users on a daily basis. Open your friggin' eyes, guys. How many VIA chipset related problems and issues are posted to GH daily? Think about it. VIA's track record on compatibility, stability, and reliability is dismal. Performance is -- generally -- very good, but who cares if the rig can't run for 15 minutes? Those who somehow believe KT400 will magically correct these issues are, IMHO, in for a major disappointment.

"I will say that comparing VIA's integrated chipsets to SiS 650/740, I I agree, is no match. SiS'S 315 core totally swipes the floor from under VIA's ProSavage solution, but this may end up changing with Savage XP. We shall see."

That's what I was referring to, specifically. But the fact is, K7S5A doesn't just trounce over integrated VIA boards. It trounces VIA boards across the board. You can quote synthetic benchies all you want ... makes no difference. I know I'm not alone in saying that I'd gladly sacrifice a few percentage points in a benchmark for rock solid system stability. On the graphics side, no bones about it. SiS 315 is an incredible performer. ProSavage doesn't even make it on the chart.

I'm still utterly amazed at the blindness of certain members' here. Day after day, we see the same issues with VIA-chipset based mainboards. We see new deficiencies in VIA core logic unveiled regularly. Yet some still refute the evidence and continue to accuse anyone who questions VIA of being a "VIA hater" or what have you. Time to wake up, smell the coffee, and pour yourself a big, tall glass.

 

[Mem]

Sorry guys, comparing VIA's low-end chipset solutions to SiS 730/735/745 is laughable. VIA can't even begin to compete -- in any area. I don't know what so many people have against SiS,

You got that backwards since the flamers here alway have a go at VIA,if you want to see how easy it`s to build a VIA based PC with very good stability and also how easy it`s to install VIA 4 in 1 drivers then I`ll be more then happy to show you,however my time is expensive so will have to charge you for it,looks like Pabster and his disciples are out in force today ,as to SiS, I`ve used them as well and have had no problems with them ,infact all my Intel,SiS,VIA boards have been rock stable .

I'm still utterly amazed at the blindness of certain members' here. Day after day, we see the same issues with VIA-chipset based mainboards. We see new deficiencies in VIA core logic unveiled regularly. Yet some still refute the evidence and continue to accuse anyone who questions VIA of being a "VIA hater" or what have you. Time to wake up, smell the coffee, and pour yourself a big, tall glass.

Pabster your the one with the problem, time and time again you have a go at VIA or members that have VIA boards,no chipset is perfect and if members or anyone wants to buy a VIA chipset then they`re entitled to,remember it`s their money and their choice so you don`t even come into the equation, why don`t you go and get laid or drink more beer but remember to take off your SiS T-shirt first .

 

[ScrapSilicon]

get laid

..most excellent suggestion of the day

 

[Athlon4all]

The floppy bug was an bug only on early revision K7S5A's and it was quashed quickly. Since then, there have been very few issues with the K7S5A. There is no evidence to this day of bugs in SiS 735.

I agree that for the most part if setup properly K7S5A is very problem free. But that can be said for most VIA boards (with the exceptions of major compatibility issues like SB Live/Audigy, but those have been solved by the newer VIA southbridges). I now have a K7S5A, and I say that it is just as stable as my old KM133 setup was.

It's a damn shame VIA was able to manipulate board manufacturers' away from producing mainstream boards with solid core logic. KT333? Give me a break.

Agreed. But this is finally changing because we have 2 of the biggest mobo makers (MSi and Asus) producing SiS 745 boards.

At the $150 price point you'll get no more from a KT333 solution than at the $75 price point ... you get the same buggy core logic and issues which continue to plague users on a daily basis.

Not true. Plenty of people have very stable systems using VIA chipsets, I was one of them when I was running KM133 (and VIA has gotten even better since that chipset).

Open your friggin' eyes, guys. How many VIA chipset related problems and issues are posted to GH daily? Think about it. VIA's track record on compatibility, stability, and reliability is dismal. Performance is -- generally -- very good, but who cares if the rig can't run for 15 minutes? Those who somehow believe KT400 will magically correct these issues are, IMHO, in for a major disappointment.

The way I feel about this is that it is simply a lack of knowledge and improper setup for the most part (and I believe this is the case with K7S5A, how ppl bash it as well, their problem is improper setup). I don't think KT400 will magically correct these issues because there aren't any really at least on VIA's end. Thats how I feel.

That's what I was referring to, specifically. But the fact is, K7S5A doesn't just trounce over integrated VIA boards. It trounces VIA boards across the board. You can quote synthetic benchies all you want ... makes no difference. I know I'm not alone in saying that I'd gladly sacrifice a few percentage points in a benchmark for rock solid system stability. On the graphics side, no bones about it. SiS 315 is an incredible performer. ProSavage doesn't even make it on the chart.

See above, and I will comment again on performance of SiS 735/745. SiS 735/745 is slower than KT333 in real world apps. From Anand's KT333 review:

SYSMark 2002 ICC: SiS 735: 195, KT333: 218 12% advantage for KT333
SYSMark 2002 Office: 735: 129, KT333: 143. 10% advantage for KT333
Serious Sam: 735: 81.5 fps, KT333: 92.0. 12% advantage for KT333

Ok, so that should be settled. Numbers from real world benchmarks don't lie.

I'm still utterly amazed at the blindness of certain members' here. Day after day, we see the same issues with VIA-chipset based mainboards. We see new deficiencies in VIA core logic unveiled regularly. Yet some still refute the evidence and continue to accuse anyone who questions VIA of being a "VIA hater" or what have you. Time to wake up, smell the coffee, and pour yourself a big, tall glass.

My experience tells me that VIA chipsets are not the junk that you think they are. I think that (and you should be able to concur) we can say that VIA's recent DDR chipsets have improved significantly compared to the early Athlon and K6-2 Chipsets (MVP3 to KT133A). And here is a person(me) who has used for almost a year one of the older VIA chipsets (KM133), and I am not complaining so if anything its gotten better. I admit that I have never used KT266A/KT333 ok, but I think that the evidence points to VIA has gotten better.

EDIT: Not to add more gas to an open flame, but I came across a article at X-Bit Labs (see here) comparing Integrated Pentium 4 chipsets (650, 845G, P4M266) and I was quite suprised by the results. And while they use almost all synthetic benchmarks (Villagemark, and 3Dmark2k1), they did run Serious Sam TSE, and in it, SiS 650 was beaten by P4M266 (using the same core as KM266) at all resolutions in both speed and quality detail levels anywhere from arouns 10-25% in 640x480 and 800x600 resoultions, and at 1024x768, in speed P4M266 takes the lead by 6% but in quality the 650 wins by 49% (however keep in mind here that you here are not even getting 10fps from 65 just to keep that in mind). So, I just thought I'd pass that along. Certainly increases my opinion of the P4M266. They also did image quality tests as well, and p4M266 didn't do too well with multi-texturing