VIA Vs. Intel
VIA and Intel have two South Bridge solutions each:
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| Header Cell - Column 0 | Intel | VIA |
|---|---|---|
| UltraATA/66 | ICH (82801AA ) | VT82C686A |
| UltraATA/100 | ICH2 (82801BA ) | VT82C686B |
Besides their excellent modularity, VIA chipsets are very popular for their attractive prices. Today motherboards with Intel's 815 chipset can be up to $ 50 more expensive than products with a VIA chipset!
In addition, the 815 is not capable of working with two CPUs - only the 'shop-soiled' BX is. In contrast, VIA's 694X supports one or two Pentium III CPUs.
Dual Athlon systems are still not quite available yet. AMD presented a first working system a few weeks ago, but we don't expect systems to be available until Q1/2001.
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| South Bridge | Intel ICH2 (82801BA) | VIA VT82C686B |
|---|---|---|
| combined with: | 810 (PC100 SDRAM) , 815 (PC133 SDRAM) , 820 or 840 (each RDRAM) for Intel Pentium III, Celeron or VIA Cyrix III | Apollo Pro 133A (VT82C694X) for Intel Celeron, Pentium III, VIA Cyrix III or Apollo KT133 (VT8363) for AMD Athlon, Duron socketed or Apollo KX133 (VT8371) AMD Athlon slot model |
| IDE Interface | UltraATA/100 (ICH1 only ATA/66) | UATA/100 (VT82C686A only ATA/66) |
| Multiprocessor Support of North Bridge | i820, i840 | Apollo Pro 133A (VT82C694X) |
| Package | BGA chip | BGA chip |
| ECC-Support | No/Yes (820+840 w/ RDRAM only) | Yes |
| FSB Clock | 66, 100, 133 MHz | 66, 100, 133 MHz |
| PCI | PCI 2.2, max. 6 Slots | PCI 2.2, max. 6 Slots |
| I/O | 2x serial, 1x parallel | 2x serial, 1x parallel, floppy, keyboard, mouse, LM78 |
| USB | Up to 4 Ports | Up to 4 Ports |
| Pricing | approx. $ 45 | approx. $ 28 |
