The Granite Bay Wars: Asus P4G8X v. Gigabyte GA-8INXP v. Tyan S2662 v. AOpen AX4R Plus v. MSI GNB Max-FISR (MS-6565)

[Alphi]

Greetings!

We have a few weeks left before the Granite Bay boards hit the market. I would like to know which board everyone is gearing up to buy for what reasons they are making their decisions. Please complete this poll and send suggestions for followup polls. Thanks!

Edit: Added AOpen AX4R Plus and MSI GNB Max-FISR (MS-6565) as a options on 12-18-02.
Edit: Due to popular demand, added option to wait for SiS 655 - the "desktop version" of the E7205 chipset on 01-03-03. See this thread, posted by Flakk, for more discussion: What the HEY? Where's my Granite Bay!?!

 

[Flakk]

I'm going for the Asus granite bay board just because I only buy a new computer every year or two, and I want to be happy with my purchase for that time, not riddled with bugs or instabilities. I think Asus is the brand to deliver performance and quality.

 

[Kowan]

I'm going for the Gigabyte granite bay board just because I only buy a new computer every year or two, and I want to be happy with my purchase for that time, not riddled with bugs or instabilities. I think Gigabyte is the brand to deliver performance and quality.

Hehe, seriously I'm going to get the GA-8INXP because of the added IDE support over the Asus board. Once Springdale comes out, the GB will go in my secondary setup.

 

[Elvis2]

Gigabyte for me as well.

I've pretty much stuck to Asus boards but the last one I had, the P4S8X, definitely was not a pleasant experience. I rma'd it for this Gigabyte 8SG667 and have been quite happy with it's stability and performance for less money.

The upcoming GA-8INXP has a lot of features (some seem kinda gimmicky) including RAID which is what I'm looking for.

 

[Alphi]

Thanks for casting your vote! So far, we seem to have a well-balanced contribution to our thread. Please elaborate on the "bugs and instabilities" that you are most worried about: BIOS updates, RMA, hard-wired performance issues, etc.? Remember that Asus and Gigabyte are reading this too! I will make sure of this by sending a link to both manufacturers. If we are specific about our likes and dislikes, we can help each other with our purchases, and perhaps next time around, we will see more of what we like and less of what we don't want to pay for. Preferences do not have to be highly technical. Low-cost additions, such as colors, may give us the effect we want and make installation easier for the DYI end-user. On the other hand, costly high-tech "gimmicks" increase the cost and price of the board. So far, we have been looking at the following items of differentiation between these boards:

Stability Issues: Previous experiences with these manufacturers, more?
Colors: Modification effects, DYI convenience, more?
IDE Support: Gigabyte includes the Promise IDE RAID controller, in addition to the Silicon Image SATA RAID controller. Can we use it? Do we like it? More comments?
IEEE 1394 Firewire Support: Can we use it? Do we like it? More comments?
Dual Power System: Since this is rather new, WHAT IS IT? Can we use it? Do we like it? More comments?

 

[mrman3k]

From what I read I really like the Asus board. The Gigabyte is good, but I still like the Asus better. Just if Asus could make more spiffy colors, I mean even Intel is making their boards look appealing, not a barf color.

 

[ArborBarber]

I like the GA-8INXP mobo. It has alot of redundancy built into its' system which is a good thing. I think they(Gigabyte) offer more bang for your buck(which at this point is too much buck!) I am not happy with the GA-8INXPs' lack of support for firewire(there are other consumers who use firewire, it is not just the Asian market that uses it!) You would think that with all the modding that ppl do these days to their systems that more manufactures would make their offerings a little more visually appealing(GA-8INXP has done a really nice job in this area.) I mean, don't get me wrong, nobody wants a mobo that looks great but sucks...Asus,Gigabyte, and other manufactures will do well not to release products that aren't ready for market. Consumers are getting tired of having to do bios updates just to get their mobos to do what the manufactures said it will do when they first bought them. Speed,Stability,Support, and Features make for a great mobo. All these manufactures will have to start addressing the OC'er market as consumers are now becoming more computer literate and this feature has become desireable. The more hype that goes into a product the higher the margin for disappointment. I'll be waiting before I buy any GB mobo, I want to see "real world" reviews. Say what you mean and not want you think people WANT to hear!

 

[Vette73]

Add a option |Wait for the SiS655|

 

[Alphi]

Marlin 1975,

Please read the question once again: "If you plan to purchase a Granite Bay motherboard, which will it be?" I would be happy to hear about the SiS655 if you would like to start a new thread. Thanks for your input.

 

[Flakk]

As I said before I am waiting for the Asus P4G8X Deluxe board, but I have definitely considered the Gigabyte board. Really the only thing that keeps me coming back to Asus is the confidence in stabillity that I haven't yet aquired in Gigabyte products (purely because I have never owned one-- not because I have heard bad things-- in fact I have heard they are quite good stability-wise...). I'm just not willing to take a risk with that kind of money.

Colors: As far as board colors go, I would never base the decision on what board to buy on that, but it is definitely nice to be sporting a nifty board color (Especially since my case has a clear side door and an attractive color would actually be seen).

IDE Support: This was the most significant difference between the two boards for me. I really would have liked to see IDE RAID in Asus's model. In fact, if I do end up going Gigabyte, this will be the reason right here. Right now I'm just hoping the Serial RAID provided on Asus's board will satisfy me.

IEEE 1394 Firewire Support: Some people may use this, or think highly of it. I really dont care that much. Since I don't own any firewire devices, and now that USB2.0 is SO much faster than USB1.0, I will be happy with just the new USB support. Gigabyte's board didnt take that big of a hit for lacking firewire in my books.

Dual Power System: Sounds nifty, but not a major buying point for me. All my previous computers have had only single power and I've never wished I had more. Seems like a nice, but not necessary, feature (and if it makes the board cost more, then I'd definitely rather do without it).

Another subject of importance to me is...
Availability If one board comes out considerably earlier than the other board (the gigabyte before the asus for instance).. I probably will go that route because we have been waiting forever now. The boards really are not that different and I just want to be up and running!!

--------------------------------

When are these boards hitting shelves already?? I am hearing early January. Is it possible we will see these boards at the end of December?

 

[Alphi]

Another subject of importance to me is...Availability If one board comes out considerably earlier than the other board (the gigabyte before the asus for instance).. I probably will go that route because we have been waiting forever now. The boards really are not that different and I just want to be up and running!! - Flakk

Nice point, Flakk! The Asus board is due out in two weeks or less, according to MyInfinity.com. The Gigabyte board is due out in 3-4 weeks, according to several of their resellers. I have no data regarding the Tyan board.

 

[Aldaris2002]

About the availability of the Tyan board, i just found this on TechDepot. Don't know if it means anything. Seems they're saying it's in stock and will ship in 2-3 weeks....

http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productID=1457498&info=Tech#tabs

 

[touchmyichi]

I think i'll go for the gigabyte, very nifty features and good ocing. I have been very satisfying with most gigabyte stuff. Also its probably cheaper. BTW how much should the gigabyte one cost?

 

[Aldaris2002]

It's so hard to know. With no retailers actually having the boards in stock, its impossible to know whether their prices are real or if they are just overinflating prices for pre-orders. Originally, as far as I know, the expected price for any of the GB boards was anywhere from $190 to $200, but who knows. When you see places like dartek.com that are selling the Gigabyte 8INXP for $284.61 you just have to laugh and pity the poor people who get sucked into preordering from them!

 

[touchmyichi]

suckers lol. 190.... I hope its really worth it..... I was thinking more 150-160....but 30 bucks might be worth it.

 

[Kowan]

ASUS P4G8X Deluxe
"The A7G8X further offers DDR voltage adustments from 2.5 to 2.7V. When we measured the actual voltages on the DIMM slots, though, we found 2.738V at the 2.5V setting. Increasing VDDR in the BIOS to 2.6V gave us 2.738V and upping the voltage one more notch to 2.7V gave us ..... exactly 2.738V.

The BIOS further contains a few settings that we have not seen in a number of revisions of ASUS BIOS, that is, we have the possibility to enable or disable the CPU L1 and L2 cache. Fortunately for Intel, though, these settings fall into the same category as the memory voltage adjustments, that is, they are bar any functional value."

"Other reviews of a variety of Granite Bay-based boards have shown screenshots of original BIOS revisions and some of those revisions did not feature any memory latency options. Suddenly, the next revisions looked like everything was put back in place. We have not, however, seen anybody checking whether the new-found-again options were actually functional. In so far, we can excuse some of the broken settings, however, the recommendation to ASUS is to either fix the bugs or take out the entries. We have come across similar situations with ASUS boards in the past, the A7M266 was just one example but ASUS have always come through with BIOS revisions that addressed the issues and we are confident that the appropriate fixes are on their way here, too."

His final words;
"We could have gone through another few weeks of testing all different sorts of application but I think the message is clear, Granite Bay is the most powerful solution for the P4 at the moment and the P4G8X is an excellent board for anybody interested in the current platform, pending the appropriate fixes for the bugs we found. If the hardware upgrade is not absolutely imminent, it still may be advisable to wait for the next chipset due early next year."

I hope the other GB boards do better and that Asus fixes the BIOS adjustments.

Edit: He has the board listed as P4B8X in the title, so I changed it to the correct P4G8X

 

[TroutFish]

I agree, I want the IDE RAID feature. Too bad the ASUS doesn't have it. I guess it'll be the Gigabyte board.

 

[oldfart]

There is another board that I dont hear too much about as well. The AOpen AX4R Plus

edit Now IN STOCK @ Newegg

 

[Flakk]

Well that's interesting, I didnt know there were other granite bay options (Aopen AX4R Plus)
I just checked Newegg and it appears to be out of stock now.. I'm guessing it was mistakenly put "in stock" earlier. It's going for about the same as the other boards, $215.

I favor the boards as such: Asus first, then Gigabyte, Aopen, and lastly Tyan (due to lack of features)

 

[Alphi]

oldfart,

I have read your helpful comments on other threads and am glad to see that you found your way to this one! Thanks for the info! I am not sure that it will let me update the choices at this point, but I will try to add it to the selection.

 

What about the MSI board?

 

[ThaiStix]

Originally posted by: Elvis2
Gigabyte for me as well.

I've pretty much stuck to Asus boards but the last one I had, the P4S8X, definitely was not a pleasant experience. I rma'd it for this Gigabyte 8SG667 and have been quite happy with it's stability and performance for less money.

The upcoming GA-8INXP has a lot of features (some seem kinda gimmicky) including RAID which is what I'm looking for.

don't blame asus for the SiS chipset...P4PE Gold worx just fine

 

[res08joe]

When is the scheduled release date for the ASUS P4G8x (Deluxe)?

If it has already out, where can I buy one?

 

[oldfart]

don't blame asus for the SiS chipset...P4PE Gold worx just fine

What was Asus' excuse for the rather poor i815 (xUSL2). i845D (P4B266) and 850E RIMM 4200 (P4T533) boards? They turned things around with the 845E (P4B533) and 845PE (P4PE). From what I can see so far, the P4G8X looks like a good one. Dont always think one mfgr including Asus will always make a good board. They each have their good ones and bad ones.

 

[Alphi]

Phocas,

Thanks for the tip! I believe this is the one you were pointing out, right? MSI GNB Max-FISR (MS-6565) I will add it to the selection options immediately.

Any information or updates regarding the release dates on these products would be greatly appreciated. I will be running another check with manufacturers and distributors on each of these motherboards tomorrow. Until then, let's keep up the good work by remaining as specific as possible with our posts. Many thanks to all who have contributed!