Chipset Architecture: On-board Flexibility

Here it is, the P4X333 Northbridge with attractive features (see diagram above)...

... and its counterpart, the VT8235 Southbridge.

Apart from the technical specs and the performance evaluation, the P4X333 introduces a new Southbridge, the VT8235. In addition to the standard features (AC97 sound, serial and parallel ports, IR port, keyboard and mouse controller, PCI bridge), this chip introduces USB 2.0 and UltraATA/133 to the VIA chipset family. Note that both the P4X333 and the VT8235 are pin-compatible with their predecessors P4X266/A and VT8233A, thus making them easily interchangeable.

As a result, motherboard manufacturers can quickly switch their production to accommodate P4X333 without having to make expensive modifications to the production process or to the motherboard layout.

The VIA P4X333 Reference Board

The reference motherboard is equipped with the maximum hardware features that are directly supported by the chipset. That is six PCI slots, an ACR slot, three DIMM sockets for DDR266 or DDR333 DIMMs, AC97 sound system, 100 MBit network adapter and the UltraATA/133 interface. It's very likely that this motherboard will be available soon with only a few modifications, if any.