Springdale/Canterwood vs Sis 655

[Anthony1234]

Is the only real diff between Sis655 and the expected
Springdale/Canterwood that the latter allows 800MHz?

What are the implication of this? That it will allow upgrading to newer CPUS that have a 800mhz bus speed? (Are the newer CPUS expected to have this bus speed?) Or simply allow better overclocking of 533mhz bus speed CPUs??

I can't keep waiting because new stuff keeps coming out! If I'm like this I will NEVER upgrade.

EDIT: Ok I just read up and now I know they will come out with the 800mhz p4s ARGHHH!! This has gotta stop! I mean they gonna have the machines take over the earth and the terminator will look like a pencilneck compared to my gaming rig. Anyway, I also read that stuff about HYPERTHREADED 2.4, 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4s they plan to introduce?? Is that so? If so, what bus speed? 533 or 800??

Any insider info about expected price of a Canterwood/Springdale Motherboard?

With regards to the anticipated price cuts of the Intel CPUS in feb and march, does that include all the current 533mhz CPUS? The HT P4 3.06 Ghz one?

Actually I guess I can get a sis655 because by the time the 3.06ghz CPU is too slow for games I upgrade again the whole 800mhz FSB thing would be irrelevant? Or do you think they will stick to it for a while (years)?

Please, I know I'm rambling but someone say something about each thing I've said above to calm me down a bit!!!

 

[Anthony1234]

You know now I think about it screw 800mhz fsb how long ago was it they went from 400mhz bus speed to 533? How many MONTHS?

BY the time I upgrade again they probably have 10 channel DDR and 10000Gig bus speed CPUs. RIGHT???? I'm not thinking straight.

 

[Civilized]

one big thing to consider is the price coming with the new 800fsb processors

<font color=green>Cars are for people who are scared of riding on two wheels</font color=green>

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

yep, it finally means I may actually have a decent P4 processor available at a price I can afford! WHOO HOO!!

Pack up da' kids ma! We're goin' ta' KALIFORNA!



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[Anthony1234]

More opinions! I need reassurance before I spend money! Or if this is bad idea then tell me so I can save instead.

Are the Springdale/canterwood chipsets expected to be significantly more expensive than Sis 655?

 

[Schryver]

Okay, to clear a few things up for you:

Certain versions of the Springdale (such as the PE) DO support 800 FSB. The <i>only</i> difference between the Springdale and Canterwood chipsets is "turbo mode," or what Intel is now calling PAT. This uses various methods to reduce latency times between the processor and memory. Rumors are that it has impressive results on improving performance.

The catch? PAT only works with 800 MHz FSB processors. So there's no reason to get Canterwood if you don't have a 800 FSB. Of course, Intel is going to be introducing 800 FSB processors that are HT enabled down to 2.4 GHz, if you're interested in that kinda thing.

So what should you do? If you're getting a 533 FSB, go with the SiS; I doubt Springdale will be any improvement for you.

As for 800 FSB... well... I'd wait for the Canterwood, because that chipset is going to be top-o'-the-line for a while. Plus, it will support the Prescott core, which Intel will release at the end of the year.

All I know about pricing is that Intel is going after the 'enthusiast' market with Canterwood; it will therefore be priced appropriately. I interpret this as being in the $250 range.

I think that covers the basics... if you need more info just holler.

 

[Anthony1234]

Thanks for the info on the chipsets to come out. However you're kinda answering my question in reverse because of course I could get a sis 655 if i was getting a 533fsb CPU nd if I get a 800fsb CPU the of course I'd wait for canterwood (how can I not?). But I need to make a decision in reverse, first decide what CPU I am going to get and perhaps consider FUTURE upgrades, THEN decide the mobo chipset.

Just looking for advice. I thinking along the lines that maybe if I do a system upgrade again in a few years, I just want to get a faster CPU, I can buy one and slot it in. But if they aren't coming out with anything faster than a 3.06ghz for 533bus speed CPU, and all newer CPUS will have a bus speed of 800 bus speed or higher, I couldn't be able to do that with a SIS655. If however they plan on intriducing higher speed CPUs with a 533 bus speed, then I would (they aren't are they?)

But then again, if I upgrade in about 3 years time, the whole 800 bus speed CPU thing would probably be irrelevant as they may have a different technology by then, making me have to buy a whole new motherboard/system anyway.

So I'm trying to decide like that.

 

[bigOX]

I would wait for the Canterwood/Springdale boards to come out. (Even though I'm skeptical, that's what I'm doing..) That way you'll know for sure what to get because it looks like there won't be anymore "defining" motherboard standards coming anytime soon.

You really shouldn't be worrying. The new boards sound great, because you can be assured that you can upgrade to an Intel 800 MHz bus CPU down the line sometime (without worrying about compatibility) and buy an Intel 533 MHz bus CPU right now, which isn't a bad deal. By the time the new boards are released, you'll have even more money and can spend even less on a new 533 MHz bus CPU.

On the other side of the coin, I'm a bit skeptical about the Springdale/Canterwood boards because of all the attention they're getting. Something has to give, there is never such thing as still water in the computer industry - who knows what they'll release after Canterwood/Springdale. They sound very promising (and I've never heard so much excitement in a long time!), but always be aware of the fact these new boards may have bugs and we might even end up waiting even more. Wait for the reviews. Do research on computer parts - it will help greatly.

Anthony1234, btw, your posts crack me up - that just about sums up my hunt for computers, as well. Hang in there.

 

[bob_dn]

If you want to increase your chances of a migraine why not throw the Abit SI7/SI7-G boards into the mix, based on the SiS 658/963 chipset combo. Full support for 4 channel 32 bit PC 1200 RDRAM, 8xAGP, SATA etc.

Abit was supposed to release the SI7 and SI7-G (Gigabit LAN version) in the USA by the end of February (not here yet though) and by Q3 this year SiS is supposed to release the 659/964 chipset combo with full PC1200/1333 RDRAM support, theoretical memory bandwidth of 9.6 GB/sec.

OCZ technology has announced their full support for PC 1200 and PC 1333 RDRAM. They have PC 1200 available now although it's OC'd PC 1066 (just as PC 3200 DDR is OC'd PC 2700). Abit and Asus are supposed to develop boards and Samsung is involved as well.

Might give dual channel DDR a run for the money.

Just thought I'd confuse the situation even more.

Good luck, my upgrade is on hold too. I'm waiting at the very least until Canterwood/Springdale release to sort this out.

<A HREF="http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/SI7-G/index.php" target="_new">SI7-G</A>
<A HREF="http://www.ocztechnology.com/press/pressrelease.php?id=39" target="_new">OCZ Technology</A>
<A HREF="http://www.sis.com/news/press/sisr659.htm" target="_new">SiS 659</A>

 

[livedistortion]

I was thinking of waiting for Springdale/Canterwood as well, but I don't think I really need top 'o the line so I'm going to buy now. Should I go with 845PE or SIS655, what would be the mail differences, I think SIS has 8x AGP right? But when is 8x really going to be a big improvement? It doesn't seem to help much right now, but maybe it will soon? I heard it doesn't make a big difference because modern cards can have so much info in their RAM, any ideas?

 

[bob_dn]

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1786&p=1" target="_new">Anandtech</A> reviews MSI, Gigabyte and Asus' SiS 655 boards.
<A HREF="http://www.abit-usa.com/" target="_new">Abit</A> has good 845PE boards, the IT7-Max 2 and the BE7-RAID. They recently released the BH7 but I haven't been able to find it retail yet.

If I was buying now I'd go with SiS 655 chipset. I've read about some problems with the GA-SINXP1394's 6 phase power daughter card on these boards but from reviews I've read the SiS 655 boards are the fastest P4 boards available right now. MSI's is the fastest of the bunch.

AGP 8x doesn't make a difference now, but as you said it will in the future.

 

[Crashman]

OK, Let's run through the entire mess:

SiS 655 is a great chipset, I doubt the Springdale/Canterwood will offer better performance for the "533" bus CPU.

The Springdale/Canterwood are still quite a ways off. SiS is releasing a NEW REVISION of the 655 chipset (maybe called the B1?) that will also support 200MHz system bus (QDR800). I expect the new revision SiS chipset to come out BEFORE the Intel chipsets, and to offer similar or better performance. So now you have EVEN MORE CHOICES, since SiS is introducing "800 bus" chipsets first!

Of course you could bypass all of that and get an SiS 658 chipset board, the 658 supports PC1200! And word on the street is, it's faster than the i850E, which should make it equal to or faster than the 655!

And then there's the SiS 659 chipset, which will use a pair of modules like the traditional i850E solution, but in this case it will be a PAIR OF 32-BIT RIMMS for Quad Channel mode, offering 8.4GB/s bandwidth! It will also be compatable with the "800MHz" bus.

If you really want something now, get the 655. If you keep stalling, you'll never get anything!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[Twitch]

One of the reasons I'm still stalling on my system purchase is that I am anxious to see how Canterwood performs. Not only do I like the idea of 800 FSB, but the Canterwood is supposed to have native SATA support on the southbridge. Now, I don't even really know how good of a thing that is. I've read speculation that SATA, which has been something of a letdown performance-wise, will really shine once SATA support is integrated into the southbridge. I envision my next system possibly having SATA RAID, so I want to see how good native SATA RAID is.

I'm normally not an early adopter, but for some reason, I really like the idea of SATA, thin cables, and better airflow throught the case. And maybe I'm guilty of a little bit of irrational exuberance, but I've always hated flat IDE cables with a passion. If I can pick up a couple megs/sec transfer and lower my CPU usage by 10%, why not? Not to mention my case has windows, and SATA will make it neater to those who behold it.



<-----Insert witty sig line here.


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Twitch on 03/07/03 10:24 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Crashman]

I can't seem to get it through ANYONE'S thick skulls that no matter how "fast" the interface is, the electromechanical aspects of hard drives will still limit their transfer rates, usually to 50MB/s or less!

Seagate makes a drive that's SATA, 10k RPM, 8MB cache, etc, that will make SATA look better than IDE, but it's still the performance of the DRIVE ITSELF that's the deciding factor.

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[Twitch]

Supposedly there are some inherent advantages with SATA. I'm not a tech or an engineer, so maybe they are purely theoretical. I've read that there should be access-time benefits and lower CPU overhead. In other words, I don't know if you're correct. There's more to HD performance than pure bandwidth, isn't there? Anyway, I base some of my anticipation on the following from Anand's review of IDF:

"Intel's ICH5:

The beauty of native Serial ATA in ICH5 is that the interface does not clog up the PCI bus nor is it limited by the 133MB/s bandwidth limitation of current 32-bit/33MHz PCI, which in theory will lead to better performance for Serial ATA devices." [Yes, I know, current hard drives don't touch the 100MB/s of ATA 100. But I like the idea of one less thing on the PCI bus. It just sounds like it'll be more efficient.]

"ICH5 features two Serial ATA 150 channels as well as two conventional Parallel ATA channels:

Another feature of this new ICH is Intel's new Serial ATA RAID; what's special about Intel's Serial ATA RAID is that, for starters, it is built into the ICH and will interface perfectly with Intel's Application Accelerator. Quite possibly the most attractive feature of the solution is that it will allow you to upgrade a single drive to a dual drive RAID-0 array, without reinstalling your OS."



The process is simple; you first setup your system with a single Serial ATA drive. When you're ready to move to RAID-0 you just add the new drive, and tell the Intel Application Accelerator utility that you'd like to create a RAID-0 array. Intel's software will take over and create the new striped array without causing any dataloss, which is something that we would've expected to see in the past from other IDE RAID vendors.

With Intel providing Serial ATA RAID support in their forthcoming ICH5, you can say goodbye to solutions from Silicon Image, Promise and Highpoint on motherboards. Interestingly enough, ICH5 will only support RAID-0 at launch."


Anyway, it all sounds interesting to me.

<-----Insert witty sig line here.

 

[juin]

yes canterwood will be faster that anyone on any benchmark even at 533 FSB expect few expection that I850 will still be faster

[-peep-] french

 

[livedistortion]

Anyone have a guess on how much a full featured Canterwood board will cost? If it's as much as Granite Bay, I'll just Stick with Abit or an Intel Blue Mountain 2 for now. It's still a fast system and when it isn't in a couple years I'll upgrade then and all this stuff we're talking about now will seem old too. Anyone else here frustrated with trying to be able to afford to keep up with the new technology? Right now I use a P2400mhz, so anything I buy will seem lightning fast. I guess it all depends on what your doing, I mean isn't an 845PE with 512mb of ram and a P42.4 or 2.53 fast enough for Photoshop and gaming? I'm not doing DV or MPEG encoding. Is there any real advantage to waiting for Canterwood and also spending the extra cash that's involved with that?

Thanks

 

[LumberJack]

First of all, new stuff comes out all the time so you shouldn't always say your going to wait. I beleive that the best way to get your money's worth is to spend little on each component, but upgrade frequently. I just upgraded my mobo to a Granite bay E7205 chipset, Which brings my comp back in contention. I say you need a comp now, spend the money. You can't always wait for other stuff. Also, upgradability is a big issue so make sure you consider it carefully.

To err is human... to really screw things up you need a computer!

 

[wolvereen]

So is there an estimated time frame on the following?

When is the first Canterwood core MB due to ship?

When is the second revision of the SIS 655 chipset due to ship?

THanks...

 

[bigOX]

Canterwood - April 14th (Sprindale 4 weeks after)http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8186 According to the Inquirer.net
SIS 655 - early April (?)



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by bigOx on 03/10/03 06:52 PM.</EM></FONT></P>