Our friends over at VIA Hardware have got a preview up of the new SiS 648 chipset for the Intel Pentium 4 which brings full AGP 8x, 533FSB, onboard ethernet, USB 2.0, Firewire and more.

With the launch of the 648 chipset, SiS hopes to build on the momentum they've established in the past year as a quality "alternative" chipset provider and become the primary option for any high-performance buyer looking for a top-shelf product. That's an ambitious goal for any company, but particularly so for a designer that hopes to challenge the established product bases of both VIA and Intel. On the other hand, SiS has already demonstrated an ability to offer a much-improved product line while keeping overall consumer costs low-a definite plus in a depressed, cost-conscious, market. Will the SiS 648 be the chipset to own for the Pentium 4 as it moves towards 3 GHz?