What is better: I845PE@266 or SIS648@333 ???

[Infernoken]

Hello,

I have a Pentium4 2000A system with slow ASUS P4B SD-RAM mainboard.

I want to change the mainboard with a MSI 648-Max or a MSI 845PE-Max...
I would take the 845PE for sure if it wasn't limited to DDR266 (PC2100) with the 400 MHz FSB of my Intel 2000A CPU. The SIS648 support DDR333 (PC2700) even with my FSB of 400MHz.

Now my question:
Does the SIS648 DDR333 gain much in performance compared to the I845PE DDR266? Or is DDR333 possible with a 400MHz FSB ???
I always used intel chipsets in the past because they are rock solid, but are now tempted to go for the SIS648...

What would you advise ???

Thanks,
Infernoken

 

[Regalk]

I have the MSI 845PE Max and a 1.8A & DDR266 (Crucial). I can run at 2.5G and memory at 3:4 and this translates in memory running at around 185. Sandra gives me 2800s+. Board is fast and stable but undervolts the P4 a tad. I have it at auto and the vcore fluctuates around 1.47-1.50. The only SiS 648 i would look at (if I were on the market) would be the Aopen and Gigabyte versions - they are the best from what I have seen. But I prefer the PE chipset.
The MSI board has an odd quirk - when you stretch the CPU a bit and reset it powers off and the on again. Happens when I go into bios and save & exit. Strange but otherwise its stable.

 

[bluesky]

Is there any review for Aopen board?

 

[Infernoken]

Sure,

just look at the following websites:
Tomshardware
Active-hardware
Hardware-test

I can get the Gigabyte GA-8SG677, MSI 648-Max & MSI 845PE-Max all for the same price.
If I read the review at Tomshardware, the MSI 648-Max seems to be the best, even better than the AOpen & Gigabyte one...

Now I just have to look if my vendor also includes the Gigabit Ethernet and Bluetooth interface with the MSI, because there are several version on the market...

Thanks for the replies,

Infernoken

 

[Convergys]

I have the MSI 648 Max. No problems yet...

 

[Viper96720]

Why not get the 845PE board and up your fsb from 100mhz to 133mhz. Most P4A northwoods can handle the 33mhz increase no problem. Then you can use 4/5 divider and have your memory running at 166mhz.