While it's a bit early to declare the SiS 655TX the new
P4 chipset performance leader, one thing is certain, consumers now have a
real alternative to Intel's high priced i875P chipsets. You no longer have to
pay "Intel dollars" to get top performance as the SiS 655TX based
Gigabyte GA-8S655TX Ultra has shown us. The board was not the best overclocker but it
was not built for that.
We're not sure how much the GA-8S655TX Ultra will retail
for but we do expect it to be competitive as Gigabyte
motherboards usually are. The board is pretty well
equipped with 5.1 audio, Gigabit LAN, IDE RAID and dual BIOS's. If you feel you
need room for more, the five PCI slots should give you ample expansion options. It's
not a hardware feature but we're always happy to see Gigabyte bundle Norton
Internet Security 2003. Goes to show you that they're trying to make your
computer experience as easy as possible.
The layout of the motherboard is very good, the ports from IDE to power, USB
and even IEEE 1394 are in their most ideal locations near the edge of the
motherboard. This helps keep cables out of the way of the other system devices
and helps with case airflow. Novice users do not have to worry about installing
the motherboard as everything is well labelled and clear. If you do have
problems Gigabyte's detailed users manuals will be able to guide you.
We were pleased with the older SiS' 655FX performance
but I guess it wasn't up to SiS' standards. With an improved memory controller,
the SiS
655TX has the ability to pull the performance crown
away from Intel's i875P. Complete Prescott compatibility is another nice
feature. =)
It looks like SiS is starting to gain momentum and their reputation for delivering the
goods can only get better if they continue to release chipsets of the same
calibre as the 655TX. With a good manufacturing partner in Gigabyte, Intel may
have to start worrying soon!
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Related
Articles
Here are a few other articles that you might enjoy
as well...
1. SiS 655FX Chipset
Reference Motherboard
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