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In our original review of the SIS 645 chipset, we concluded that this chipset was finally a proper implementation of DDR for the Pentium4, offering similar bandwidth in streaming applications as RDRAM and superior performance in applications with more random accesses. Whether the entire chipset is a pet project of some Intel engineers handed down to SIS because of legal issues is not up to us to judge, suffice it to say that the perfectionism and the features outlined in the beginning of this review point this way. By no means is this meant to belittle the efforts and accomplishments of the SIS engineering group, having ideas is one thing, weeding out all the bugs is another, completely independent issue. It still appears as if the SIS 645 chipset is the child of a symbiotic (parasitic?) relationship between Intel and SIS but whatever it is, it is good. It is not any superlative, but it is good, very good, particularly if it is paired with the appropriate hardware and a functional BIOS. The latter two categories are the contribution of ASUS to make a perfect triad of the theoretical knowledge, the technical know how and putting everything into production and, boy, they did a great job here.

For the consumer, the question is different. Even with WindowsXP, there is relatively little incentive to go higher than 512 MB total system memory density and this can be achieved easily with unbuffered, unregistered DIMMs, even using older 128 Mbit DRAM technology.

In this case, it comes out as a wash and the decision will boil down to a matter of personal preference. Needless to say that in this scenario, Intel's own i845D chipset will only play a wallflower role when it comes to performance. In terms of reliability and stability, the data currently available are too young to derive at any conclusive statement at this time.

Within the group of SIS645 chipset-based boards, we predict a leading role for the ASUS P4S333, that is, for as long as the platform lasts anyway. That means that the next revision of the chipset with the suffix "DX" is already knocking at the doors with the official support for the 133 MHz FSB that we will see entering the market pretty soon. The successor for the P4S333 has already be named P4S533, with the numbering scheme switching from memory data rate to the new and improved FSB data rate of 533 mbps (Megabit / pin and second, which will pretty soon the new standard)

Until then, however, the P4S333 is certainly one of the top boards in the field for anybody looking for a top performing and reliable platform for the Pentium4.

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