AMD, Intel, VIA, SiS - Exposed.. Q1 2004 Review

[DR]

Following on from their dual-channel P4 chipset, PT880, VIA's Q1 (early Q2 most likely, but it could be close) chipset plans for Pentium 4 run to PT890. It basically mirrors what Intel are releasing with i925X. PT890 is a dual-channel chipset supporting Prescott and Northwood processors (including Extreme Editions), DDR and DDR-II memory and PCI Express.

Where i925X (including ICH6) seems to only implement a 16x lane for graphics and a 1x lane for peripherals, VIA will implement 16x for graphics in the PT890 bridge but also push their board partners to use VT8251 which carries two 1x peripheral lanes. More on the southbridge later.

URL: http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews...JsX3BhZ2U9MQ==

[TiG]

Just like to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, Its great to get this sort of review in a single place, I shall keep it bookmarked as an easy to follow guide to all the socket madness coming up.

Well written Rys.

TiG

[[jF]]

Nice article - Could u possibly confirm rumours I've been hearing about that when the Athlon64 goes to the 9nm shrink it will also bring with it a HyperThreading-type core-enhancement?

Cheers

Si

[Rys]

Chip multi processing with two cores on the same die/package? Hammer was designed for that from day one, I wouldn't be surprised if they did roll it out. CMP is the next big thing in x86 land.

A form of HyperThreading though? Nope, 'fraid not.

Glad you like the article, it's just had an update to mention the name changes on AMD's upcoming Socket 939 chips.

Rys

[DR]

Intel touted Hyperthreading as a solution to not having an integrated memory controller.