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]

Flakk,

I share your pain. I have most of the components for my new system already purchased and am a bit ticked-off that I paid the higher prices at the time. Two months ago, several of the manufacturers assured us that motherboards containing the Granite Bay (E2705) chipset would be released in late December, and price estimates were hoovering around $190-230. Today, I called both Asus and Gigabyte to ask for an updated release date (since information like this is not to be found on their websites that I could find), and both companies told me that their technical support departments had not even received one of these boards to examine. Gigabyte's representative sounded irritated by this fact and stated that he had been told that the board would not be released for another 3-5 weeks.

I am not surprised by a delayed launch by the hardware industry, and a delay of 1-2 months probably would not classify as extreme. We have all seen this happen before. However, I find it borderline irresponsible of these manufacturers to not communicate information regarding product release dates to those of us who plan ahead for whatever reason. If I were an IS manager ready to perform a changeover, I might be a little more upset about the time that the VP came around the corner to ask for a progress update.

Like you, I had planned to purchase a Granite Bay board as a stepping stone to the SiS 655, but considering the cost of the boards and the untimeliness of their release, I am now considering "older" boards, compatible with the components that I have already purchased. These components are listed below. If anyone has already researched this option and can tell me which boards might work with these components, please comment. Thanks.

Processor: Pentium 4 3.06GHz (I would like a board that can utilize HT technology) $653
Memory: Corsair CMX512-3500C2 (DDR 433) 2x $202 = $404
Audio: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum $172
Video: All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro (AGP 8X) $386
HDDs: 2x Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 (ATA-133...yes this was REALLY dumb, considering that the ASUS board doesn't support IDE drives without a converter that decreases performance and the serial ATA (S-ATA) drives are coming out in late February...supposedly) 2x $314 = $628
Power Supply: Vantec VAN-520A (520W) $128
Case: Kingwin KT-436BK-WM (ATX) $164

P.S. As you can see, I have added an option to "wait for the SiS 655" on our poll. This might be a VERY long wait...or not. Whatever the case, I am obviously in a situation where I can not wait any longer for a motherboard, and if the 01-05-03 ETA does not turn out to be valid, I would appreciate any suggestions for fitting alternatives.

 

[Flakk]

haha, liked your addition "Angry about delay..." to the little rhyme. Perhaps if we have enough people chanting "What they hey? Where's my Granite Bay!" someone will hear our cries and respond (no, i dont believe that either )

However, I find it borderline irresponsible of these manufacturers to not communicate information regarding product release dates to those of us who plan ahead for whatever reason.

much agreed.. all they have to do is communicate and it would fix a heck of a lot of problems. But they tell us nothing, and I don't know why, but it kind of ticks me off in a passive, long-term kind of way. I actually purchased the board from a site that said they were getting it in in a few days (I emailed them and they said "we're expecting it in 2-4 days") I'm beginning to get worried that that was a falsehood. But we shall see.

I have all my hardware as well, although not quite the beastly parts you have

Processor: Pentium 4 2.4GHz (I have had this processor since early December now ) $180
Memory: Samsung 256mb (DDR 400) 2x $67 = $128
Audio: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 $115
Case: Skyhawk Jupiter aluminum case with see thru window with 3 neon lights (one on power supply, one on motherboard-- 8inxp hehe, and one blue neon light)

I even bought some arctic silver and noise dampening material for my case I was so excited. My excitement waits...

It seems weird that Gigabyte's very own tech support would not have a board in stock. That makes no sense.... I mean, there are a few people out there who HAVE the board right now. One guy sold his Gigabyte 8inxp this morning to someone in these very forums (Sale/Trade forum). They're out in a trickle... a very meager one.

All this waiting...... bleh.. It's just my luck that when I decide to upgrade after 2 years, my choice is a product that ends up being delayed for months and months.

I am reallllyyy hoping they are coming out within the next week. I seriously thought they were. Everything seemed to indicate that they were: release dates on many sites all saying 1-6-02 and 1-15-02.. around there... Oh well, I think I'm going to go cry now.

 

[jpetermann]

I am the lucky guy who got the 8INXP in the FS/FT this morning. I am anxiously awaiting it. My vote was for the p4g8x, but who knows when it would have actully come out. Maybe this week, maybe next month. Newegg told me they expected the Gigabyte by the end of the month.

Flakk, if you need to "buy now" I would get a PE based board. That will support all of your equipment. I like the Asus, I was tempted to try the IT7 Max2 ver 2 as well. Either of these would be great.

And the wait continues...

PJ

 

[ArborBarber]

PJ....yeah, yeah,yeah....at least there's light at the end of your tunnel! I was checking the status of some of my orders...one customer rep was telling me alot of it has to do with the long shoreman strike...that their receiving department is but a trickle of what it usually is. He said it has gotten better(alittle) since the government got involved. I guess that means you now have pissed off union dock workers working REAL slow....all of us seem to be in the same boat. This only reflects the current problems in the technology sector, software coming to market with bugs, hardware being released with bugs in bios and firmware. I said this before, the more hype built into a product only increases the level of possible disappointment for the consumer. Most of us wouldn't be so fed-up if they were up front with us to begin with.

 

[optimistic]

Waiting for SIS655. $160+ for a motherboard?!?! too much:|!:disgust:

 

Just got my ax4r plus up and running. I love this thing and its already feeling alot faster than my p4b-533! Benchmarks have to wait till friday.

 

[mechBgon]

For another three-way comparison between i845PE, i850E and E7205, check FiringSquad. Too bad they didn't OC the i845PE to see if it could compete with the OC'ed E7205 numbers.

 

[Frangelina]

I am in scsi 160 and have a third backup external firewire HD. My only IDE device is the burner on the secondary master. I never buy raid MB and I change MB 3 times a year since the last 5 years. I love MSI but I think I will go with Asus. After downloading and looking at asus manual, I want that stupid power on by keyboard or mouse option. I missed that feature that I do not have anymore on my 845ebg2. When you have dogs and kids, you have a case with a door and away from you. That power on feature is so likeable.

 

[Yourself]

Originally posted by: optimistic
Waiting for SIS655. $160+ for a motherboard?!?! too much:|!:disgust:

But can any SIS chipset reliably O'clock past 150 FSB? The answer to that question is what's stopping me from getting excited about this chipset. My C1 1.8 needs 167 fsb for the promised land(3G) and I have yet to hear of any SIS chipset that can do that. At least the 2 SIS 648 boards I tried awhile back couldn't


Self

 

[butch84]

I picked the last option cause it rhymes . .. . but seriously, i just cant afford to drop $220 on a mobo. If im gonna spend that kinda cash, it will be on a dually board, So, SIS 655 here i come!

Butch