FIRST LOOK: SiS 755FX for Socket 939 Athlon 64
by Wesley Fink on December 16, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Basic Features: Winfast 755FXK8AA
| Winfast 755FXK8AA Specifications | |
| CPU Interface | Socket 939 Athlon 64 |
| Chipset | SiS 755FX Northbridge - SiS 964 Southbridge |
| BUS Speeds | 200MHz to 350MHz in 1MHz Increments |
| PCI/AGP | Fixed at 33/66 |
| Core Voltage | Default, -0.1V, -.075V, -.05V, -.025V, -0.1V, +.025V, +.05V |
| CPU Clock Multiplier | Default, 4x-25x in 1X increments |
| HyperTransport Frequency | 1000MHz (1GHz) |
| HyperTransport Multiplier | 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X |
| DRAM Voltage | NO Adjustments |
| HyperTransport Voltage | NO Adjustments |
| Memory Slots | Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 4GB Total |
| Expansion Slots | 1 AGP 8X 5 PCI Slots |
| Onboard SATA/SATA RAID | 2 SATA Drives by SiS964 (RAID 0, 1, JBOD) PLUS 2 SATA by Sil3112A (RAID 0, 1) |
| Onboard IDE/IDE RAID | Two Standard ATA133/100/66 (4 drives) |
| Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 | 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by SiS964 2 Firewire 1394a by Agere |
| Onboard LAN | Gigabit PCI LAN by Realtek 8110S-32 |
| Onboard Audio | AC '97 2.3 8-Channel by Realtek ALC850 |
| BIOS Revision | Award 11/20/2004 |
The Foxconn BIOS provides a wide range of BIOS control options, particularly considering Foxconn's history of very limited overclocking controls. The only notable omission is the lack of any memory voltage adjustments at all. Foxconn tells us that future board designs will provide for memory voltage control, but memory voltage is not adjustable on the 755FXK8AA.
It is nice to see Gigabit LAN, the 8-channel Realtek LAC850 audio, CPU ratios, HT ratios, and even Firewire on a board designed to sell for such a low price. If Foxconn could just do a bit more to satisfy the enthusiast, this would likely be a top-selling Socket 939 motherboard.
Boards designed for value often take short cuts in board design to minimize costs. However, no one will accuse Foxconn of that in the 755FXK8AA. The layout is generally excellent - much better than boards costing much more than the value priced Winfast. The 20-pin ATX is ideally located, and while the 4-pin 12V is between the CPU and rear IO, it is well clear of the CPU socket and HSF. IDE and floppy connectors are in our preferred upper right edge location, and IO headers are grouped along the bottom of the board where they will not interfere with slots.
The 4 memory slots are also well clear of the AGP 8X slot, so changing memory doesn't require removing a large AGP video card. The board is also a 3-phase design, instead of the 2-phase that we often see on boards designed to a price point. Frankly, if we had to guess the price of the Foxconn based on features, quality, and layout, we have guessed a higher price than this board actually sells for. This means that Foxconn/Winfast did a great job of providing more than you might expect in a board selling for less than $100.
The rear ports include 5 audio jacks, 4 USB, Firewire, SPDIF coaxial connector, parallel port. Gigabit LAN, serial port, and PS2 mouse/keyboard ports.
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nserra - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
The sis chipsets are very good, with the right bios configuration and drivers will do well. At least my ME and XP installation is already 3 years old and didn’t have to reinstall them because of problems.The biggest Sis problem is that the mobo maker’s dont use good quality components on the (sis) boards, at the same level of the intel based ones. When every one says intel is the best, or that sis sucks, etc... Take that into account OK.
I noted the Soltek comes on top too many times, I wonder why is that, especially over the other ones, maybe they are socket 754 based?
#6 I had the same problem you have, and now it is solved. The startup time is really fast, not as fast as the ME, but good :)
jmke - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
Why is DOOM3 (opengl) in the DX9 gaming category? ;)Gnoad - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
Any word on if it would be capable if running above 233 if a program like clockgen was used?Calin - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
I have bought a ECS K7S5A with SIS 735 chipset. It is still working, and is going good (except a very long startup time in WinXP).I won't stay away from SiS chipsets, especially at that price point for a mainboard
FFS - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
Ooops...missed t in "Switzerland" Sorry...
FFS - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
Good article... hope to see more boards in retail...Competition is very good.
SiS 755 was very good... in reviews...
But we never could find any SiS mobo in the shops (at least in Swizerland)
But I just do not trust SiS after I had way too many problems with SiS 648 (also was very good in reviews at it's time)
But check this out:
nSISt on nVIDIA
I a not a fun of nVIDIA although nF3 Ultra looks very atractive to me (nF4 not, since I have already good 6800GT AGP board...)
Well, too bad that Intel do not make chipsets for AMD... :)))
Poser - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
In the article he wrote, "The board is also a 3-phase design, instead of the 2-phase that we often see on boards designed to a price point" which made me wonder -- what's the difference? Both in a technical sense, and in a performance sense. Does the number of phases a board uses have any influence on what's the best power supply to mate it with, or am I wandering off in the wrong direction entirely? Anyone have a good link where I could dig a bit deeper?esun - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
Wow, this board looks like an excellent value. Here's hoping that they'll fix those minor problems, and perhaps I'll pick one up myself.Saist - Thursday, December 16, 2004 - link
just wanted to comment that I picked up ECS's 755-A2 board some time back and it is now pretty much the value board that I pick when someone doesn't want to shell out $100+ for a mother board. I'm pretty much pleased to see that SiS is continuing this with the 755FX. Hopefully it will mean a Socket 939 A64 will be joining the 3 current 754 boards.