will SiS 648 mobos ever start using an AGP/PCI bus lock?

[Sunny129]

i am very impressed with the performance and features of this chipset. but one of the few things missing so far is the utilization of an AGP/PCI bus lock for OCers. of all the board makers that have a SiS 648 mobo on the market so far (ASUS, ABit, and Shuttle), none have this feature. i was wondering if one is coming along, or will it never be a feature included with this chipset?

 

[wingtel]

Where have you been man? Check sharky extreme's abit sr7-8x review.

 

[Sunny129]

hey could you link me? i seem to be having trouble finding the review there...

 

[wingtel]

Link-www.sharkyextreme.com and take a look at *august high end gaming pc buyer guide.Also go to CPU3D.com check review abitsr7-8x linking to HardOcp.com test,though sometimes site is busy server down.

 

[Sunny129]

hey did you read that HardOCP review? not many good things were said about it. in fact, i can't even say that the good far outweighs the bad. i'd say its about average. it seems as though ABit didn't take full advantage of the chipset's capabilities, and on top of that, didn't include many extra features. i don't think it comes equipped with serial ATA connectors, but the article didn't say anything about SATA anyways. anyways, if ABit can include an AGP/PCI bus lock on their board, i'm sure some other board makers will do the same in the near future, and we'll probably see more of it when the SiS648DX chipset hits the market...whenever that is...

anyways i hope its soon, b/c the mobo is the only part i'm holding off on to complete my system upgrade.

 

[wingtel]

yes,but abit mob only a1 version bios revision needed. i am going for asus p4s8x (..s-ata

 

[Athlon4all]

Guys, check out Anandtech's new Abit SR7-8X Review. Here's a quote you may find interesting:

One very nice overclocking feature the ABIT SR7-8X brings to the table is an AGP/PCI lock. All you have to do is go into the BIOS and find the option for "fixing" the AGP/PCI ratio at 2:1. From there, your AGP/PCI buses will run at 66MHz/33MHz no matter how high the FSB is set. Interestingly enough, ABIT also gives you the ability to set your AGP/PCI buses to other higher settings than just 66MHz/33MHz. You could, for example, lock the AGP/PCI buses at 68MHz/34MHz and have the FSB set as high as you want. A pretty nifty feature if you ask us.

Praise the Lord it does have AGP/PCI Locking!!!! Praise God!!!

 

[wingtel]

But abit sr7-8x fsb limited to 144mhz so as i said before a bios revision is needed .I am waiting for asus p4s8x to decide what to buy.

 

[Sunny129]

at HardOCP, they blame the fact of not being able to OC past 143MHz fsb on the chipset itself, or the BIOS and/or driver set. sure they proved beyond a doubt that the CPU wasn't holding them back. we can safely say that the AGP and PCI buses don't pose a problem b/c they have been locked at a 2:1 default ratio of 66MHz:33MHz, or one not far fropm default that still allows the system to post with no problems. what about the memory? there's no doubt that theCorsair XMS3200 is high qualoty RAM, but if the incorrect fsb:RAM ratio is used, then even the best of memory will keep a system from posting. they didn't mention the memory in the OCing conclusion section at the end of the article. besides, the chipset itself has already proven to be a good OCer on other SiS 648 boards that have come out. 143MHz fsb certainly isn't a limitation on other obards. so i'm not so sure its the chipset itself. BIOS?...i dont know about that. sure the BIOS can be revised to increase performance by allowing such things as higher Vcore and FSB settings. but that doesn't necessarily increase stability and reliability. so i'm not sure how a BIOS revision will make this board OC past 143MHz fsb. i mean you already have the option of raising the FSB to 200MHz in 1MHz increments. maybe ABit is responsible for the chipsets less-than-par performance, not SiS, for reasons such as poor implementation and low quality PCB. who knows at this point. but i cant purchase this baord with hope that a simple BIOS revision will fix it all. i'd have to see it happen first. well i'm about to read the AnandTech review now, so i'll be back in a bit...

 

[Sunny129]

well i just got done reading the AnandTech review of the ABit SR7-8X. even if a BIOS revision fixed OC performance to the levels we're used to seeing from ABit, i don't think this is the board i want. of all the features incorporated into the chipset itself, ABit hardly takes advantage of them. Serial ATA, IEEE 1394 are not used, although there is plenty of "left-over" PCB to put these features into realization, but ABit chose not to. and what good does an AGP/PCI bus lock do if you cant push past 143 or 144MHz fsb? that frequecny and higer was achieved on other SiS 648 boards w/ out that feature. oh well, i guess i'll be waiting to see what kind of OCing happens with a BIOS revision.

 

[wingtel]

Yes,I agree that a bios revision woudn't do anything regarding stability,fsb,.But cpu,memory,voltage increase would help i think and also other things needed.I also agree with you that this mob is not intended for OC.plus no raid,s-ata,5.1 ch sound,

 

[wingtel]

Msi has put out a sis648 based mob.waiting for asus too,

 

[Sunny129]

yeah but i think the MSI is also lacking an AGP/PCI bus lock like most other SiS648 boards out right now...