Summary Table of the Chipsets' Parameters for the
Modern Processors and Low-level Memory Test Results
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First of all, let me make a comment on the NVIDIA
nForce 415-D chipset. There is almost nothing we can add to our
review.
Theoretically, the north bridge of the nForce 415-D doesn't contain
a graphics core, that is why it's called not an IGP(128) - Integrated
Graphics Processor but an SPP - System Platform Processor. The only
architectural difference doesn't provide for a difference between
these chipsets in operation with an external video card, and especially
in low-level memory tests, that is why the new-comer wasn't tested
in the Cachemem and Wstream.
Characteristics of modern chipsets for Pentium
4
| Chipset |
ALi ALADDiN P4 |
i845D |
i850 |
SiS 645 |
VIA P4X266A |
| Links |
ALi
ALADDiN P4 |
i845D |
i850 |
SiS
645 |
VIA
P4X266A |
| North bridge |
M1671 |
82845 MCH |
82850 MCH |
SiS 645 |
P4X266A |
| Processor support |
Socket 478, Intel Pentium 4 |
| FSB |
400 MHz Quad-Pumped Bus (3.2 GBytes/s) |
400/5331 MHz Quad-Pumped Bus (3.2/4.3 GBytes/s) |
| Memory support |
Up to 3 GBytes PC100/133 (0.8/1.07 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266/333 (1.6/2.1/2.7 GB/s) DDR SDRAM |
Up to 2 GBytes DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s)
DDR SDRAM |
Up to 2 GBytes PC600/800 (2.4/3.2 GBytes/s)
RDRAM |
Up to 3 GBytes PC100/133 (0.8/1.07 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s) DDR SDRAM
Up to 2 GBytes DDR333 (2.7 GBytes/s) DDR SDRAM |
Up to 4 GBytes PC100/133 (0.8/1.07 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s) DDR SDRAM |
| ECC support |
- |
- |
+ |
- |
+ |
| AGP mode |
4x (1.07 GBytes/s) |
| Connection with south bridge |
PCI (133 MBytes/s) |
Intel Hub Link (266 MBytes/s) |
Intel Hub Link (266 MBytes/s) |
SiS MuTIOL (533 MBytes/s) |
VIA V-Link (266 MBytes/s) |
| South bridge |
M1535D+ |
82801BA ICH2 |
82801BA ICH2 |
SiS 961 |
VT8233/ VT8233C |
| IDE mode |
ATA133 |
ATA100 |
ATA100 |
ATA100 |
ATA100 |
| PCI devices support |
7 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
| USB support |
6 USB 1.1 |
4 USB 1.1 |
4 USB 1.1 |
6 USB 1.1 |
6 USB 1.1 |
| AC'97 sound/modem support |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Integrated network controller |
- |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet
1/10 Mbit/s HomePNA |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet
1/10 Mbit/s HomePNA |
| Hardware monitoring |
+ |
+ |
+ |
- |
+ |
Characteristics of modern chipsets for Athlon
XP
| Chipset |
ALi MAGiK 1C |
AMD 760 |
NVIDIA nForce 420-D |
SiS 735 |
VIA KT266A |
VIA KT333 |
| Links |
ALi
MAGiK 1C |
AMD
760 |
NVIDIA
nForce 420-D |
SiS
735 |
VIA
KT266A |
VIA
KT333 |
| North bridge |
M1647 |
AMD 761 |
IGP128 |
SiS 735 |
KT266A |
KT333 |
| Processor support |
Socket 462, AMD Duron, AMD Athlon,
AMD Athlon XP |
| FSB |
200/266 MHz EV-6 DDR (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s) |
| Memory support |
Up to 3 GBytes PC100/133 (0.8/1.07 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s) DDR SDRAM |
Up to 4 GBytes DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s)
DDR SDRAM |
Up to 1.5 GBytes PC100/133 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266 (3.2/4.2 GB/s) DDR SDRAM |
Up to 1.5 GBytes PC100/133 (0.8/1.07 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GB/s) DDR SDRAM |
Up to 4 GBytes PC100/133 (0.8/1.07 GBytes/s)
SDRAM or DDR200/266 (1.6/2.1 GBytes/s) DDR SDRAM |
Up to 4 GBytes DDR200/266/333 (1.6/2.1/2.7
GBytes/s) DDR SDRAM |
| ECC support |
- |
+ |
- |
- |
+ |
+ |
| AGP mode |
4x (1.07 GBytes/s) |
| Connection with south bridge |
PCI (133 MBytes/s) |
PCI (133 MBytes/s) |
HyperTransport (800 MBytes/s) |
SiS MuTIOL (1200 MBytes/s) |
VIA V-Link (266 MBytes/s) |
VIA V-Link (266 MBytes/s) |
| South bridge |
M1535D+2 |
AMD 766/ VIA 686B3 |
MCP-D |
SiS 735 |
VT8233/ VT8233C |
VT8233A |
| IDE mode |
ATA133 |
ATA100 |
ATA100 |
ATA100 |
ATA100 |
ATA133 |
| PCI devices support |
7 |
5 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
| USB support |
6 USB 1.1 |
4 USB 1.1 |
6 USB 1.1 |
6 USB 1.1 |
6 USB 1.1 |
4 USB 1.1 |
| AC'97 sound/modem support |
+ |
-/+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Integrated network controller |
- |
- |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet
1/10 Mbit/s HomePNA |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet
1/10 Mbit/s HomePNA |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet
1/10 Mbit/s HomePNA |
10/100 Mbit/s Ethernet
1/10 Mbit/s HomePNA |
| Hardware monitoring |
+ |
-/+ |
- |
- |
+ |
+ |
Notes:
- 1 - bus support doesn't imply a support of the processors which
are not available yet on the market;
- 2 - ATA133 support appeared since the A1 revision;
- 3 - the official south bridge of the chipset is AMD 766, but
all actually use VIA 686B.
Test results
The i850/RDRAM shows the best write speed; it's
also a leader in reading. However, all systems for the Pentium 4
platform have excellent results. Among the Athlon-oriented systems
we have outsiders - AMD-760 and SiS 735, though the ALi MAGiK 1C
doesn't shine either. The nForce outscores all the Athlon systems
in the write speed, and the VIA KT333 leads in the read speed.
The Pentium 4 team wins at the expense of the Rambus.
The i850/RDRAM is a leader again, among the Athlon
systems the VIA chipsets (especially KT333) and nForce take turns
in leading. And exactly in this test the nForce outdid the rest.
I think that the Wstream is not a simple test like the Cachemem,
it doesn't just read and write into the memory; it makes some calculations.
Maybe the prefetch mechanism turned out to be its ring-buoy. The
i845 performs quite good among Pentium 4+DDR systems.
The Prefetch mechanism is vital for the Wstream
test, however the Pentium 4 is in better form. The ALi 1671 proves
that it is a low-end solution for the high-end processor.
Conclusion on the low-level memory tests
It's obvious that all systems on the Intel Pentium
4 work with the memory faster than the AMD Athlon based ones. Well,
the Pentium 4's bus has a twice wider bandwidth than the 266 MHz
EV-6. Among the P4 systems the leader is the i850/RDRAM.
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