User manual VIA P4X333 WHITE PAPER

[. . . ] In the past, advances in one area of system performance have frequently been held back by I/O and connectivity bottlenecks, but with the advent of the VIA Apollo P4X333, every aspect of performance is addressed, delivering end user experiences that meet the high expectations of today's consumers. The VT8235, with USB 2. 0 integrated into a chipset for the first time, enables peripheral devices to send and receive data at 480 Mbps, 40 times faster than the previous USB standard. This data can then be sent to the North Bridge through the new Double-Speed V-Link chip interconnect which offers 533MB/s of bandwidth, twice as much as Intel Hub Architecture, making sure the ultra fast processor and DDR333 memory subsystem is supplied with all the data it needs minimizing system delays and offering the smoothest system performance you will ever have experienced. [. . . ] DDR SDRAM was developed to keep pace with newer, more powerful PC processors like the AMD AthlonTM XP and Intel® Pentium® 4 which require faster access to the system memory to deliver to their full performance potential. Compared to PC100/133, DDR doubles the effective clock rate by transferring data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock. Also, due to its evolutionary, parallel technology, the latency of DDR is quite low compared to competing serial memory technologies like RDRAM. Page 3 VIA Apollo P4X333 Chipset White Pape r All grades of DDR SDRAM operate at 2. 5 volts, as opposed to 3. 3V for PC100 and PC133. This lowered voltage allows DDR to penetrate power sensitive applications, such as notebooks and 1U servers. Lowered power consumption translates directly to lowered heat dissipation, again increasing the effectiveness of DDR in mobile and server applications. These basic specifications of SDRAM technologies are summarised below. Clock Rate PC100 PC133 DDR200 DDR266 DDR333 100MHz 133MHz 100MHz 133MHz 167MHz Effective Clock Rate 100MHz 133MHz 200MHz 266MHz 333MHz Memory bandwidth 0. 8GB/sec 1. 05GB/sec 1. 6GB/sec 2. 1GB/sec 2. 7GB/sec Voltage 3. 3 3. 3 2. 5 2. 5 2. 5 DDR333 offers the greatest memory bandwidth yet, a 25% increase over DDR266, offering performance benefits in every type of application but especially in memory intensive 3D graphics and gaming. With new and more demanding software applications and faster processors being developed all the time, the extra bandwidth gives DDR333 based systems much needed performance headroom. VIA DDR333 Validation Programme To ensure the reliability and stability of DDR333 memory m odules and devices, VIA is conducting an independent validation programme in conjunction with Advanced Validation Labs and SMART Modular Technology. The VIA DDR independent validation programme is essential in making the transition to new memory technologies smooth and ultimately successful. The validation process will ensure DDR333 modules and devices are fully compatible with VIA DDR333 chipsets and comply with the DDR333 specification set out by JEDEC, the semiconductor industry standards body. DDR333 modules & devices produced before February 2002 do not meet this specification. For more information on the VIA DDR333 Validation Programme visit www. viatech. com and click on the DDR333 logo. AGP 8X: A New Dawn in Graphics Performance The new AGP 3. 0 specification is a first to market implementation in the VIA Apollo P4X333 North Bridge. AGP 3. 0, known as AGP 8X, doubles the speed of the Accelerated Graphics Port interface to 533MHz delivering 2. 1GB/s of bandwidth, enabling the graphics engine to leverage the fast DDR333 system memory and transfer data to and from the processor, twice as fast as before. This in turn allows the graphics engine to store larger texture maps than in the frame buffer memory, helping today's faster graphics processors render more images in a shorter time frame. [. . . ] VIA Apollo P4X333 North Bridge also has a flexible ECC Memory Controller that supports up to 32GB of DDR200/266/333 SDRAM with concurrent CPU, AGP and Double-Speed V-Link access. Allied to the new leading edge connectivity features in the VT8235 South Bridge, the VIA Apollo P4X333 is the ultimate chipset solution for Intel Pentium® 4 platform. Appendix The reference systems tested for the benchmark figures were based on the following configurations: Chipset Processor Memory Graphics HDD Operating System VIA Apollo P4X333 Intel® Pentium® 4 2. 0GHz 256MB PC2700 (Samsung) Elsa GeForce 3 IBM 40GB Windows® 2000 VIA Apollo P4X266A Intel® Pentium® 4 2. 0GHz 256MB PC2100 (Samsung) Elsa GeForce 3 IBM 40GB Windows® 2000 Page 8 VIA Apollo P4X333 Chipset White Pape r Trademarks Intel®, the Intel® logo, Pentium®, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Intel® Corporation. [. . . ]