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Comparison: 12 Different Chipsets For P4
This table lists all chipsets for the Socket 478 platform. Along with the ones that are soon to come, there is a total of 12 different Pentium 4 chipsets from Intel, SiS and VIA. With regard to the best performance, the Intel chipsets are positioned quite well, while VIA, which, to be exact, does not have a P4 bus license, is at a bit of a disadvantage with its P4X component. The development at SiS is interesting: the manufacturer has a license and is working on SiS 648, which is the first of its chipsets to use a Rambus memory interface.
| Chipset | Intel 850E | Intel 845G | Intel 845E | SiS 648 | SiS 645DX | SiS 645 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | May 2002 | May 2002 | May 2002 | November 2002 | March 2002 | November 2001 |
| Processor Plattform | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 | Socket 478 |
| Supported CPU | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 |
| Chipset Northbridge | Intel KC82850E | Intel RG82850E | Intel RG8245EES | SiS 648 | SiS 645DX | SiS 645 |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel 82801 BA "ICH2" | Intel 82801 DB "ICH4" | Intel 82801 DB "ICH4" | SiS 961 | SiS 961 | SiS 961 |
| Front Side Bus Clock | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 400 MHz/533 MHz | 100/133/166 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 400/533/600 MHz | 100/133/166/200 MHz | 100/133 MHz |
| Asynchronous Memory Clock | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| max. # DIMM-Slots | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| max. Memory | 2048 MB | 3072 MB | 3072 MB | 2048 MB | 3072 MB | 3072 MB |
| SDRAM Support | no | yes | yes | no | yes | yes |
| DDR SDRAM Support | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| VC SDRAM Support | no | no | no | no | no | no |
| RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no | no |
| Dual Channel RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no | no |
| Ultra-DMA/33/66/100 | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes |
| Ultra-DMA/133 | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| Max. # USB | 4 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| USB 2.0 | no | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Max.# PCI Slots | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Integrated Graphics | no | yes | no | yes | yes | yes |
| AGP 1x / 2x / 4x | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| AGP 8x | no | no | no | yes | no | no |
| ACPI Features | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Chipset | Intel 850 | Intel 845D | Intel 845 | VIA P4X266 | VIA P4X266A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | January 2001 | December 2001 | July 2001 | August 2001 | December 2001 |
| Processor Plattform | Socket 423/478 | Socket 478 | Socket 423/478 | Socket 423/478 | Socket 478 |
| Supported CPU | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 |
| Chipset Northbridge | Intel KC82850 | Intel 82845 | Intel 82845 | VIA VT8753 | VIA P4X266A |
| Chipset Southbridge | Intel 82801 BA "ICH2" | Intel 82801 BA "ICH2" | Intel 82801 BA "ICH2" | VIA VT8233 | VIA VT8233A |
| Front Side Bus Clock | 100/133 MHz | 66/100/133 MHz | 66/100/133 MHz | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
| Memory Clock | 400 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz | 100/133 MHz |
| Asynchronous Memory Clock | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| max. # DIMM-Slots | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| max. Memory | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | 4096 MB | 3072 MB |
| SDRAM Support | no | no | yes | yes | yes |
| DDR SDRAM Support | no | yes | no | yes | yes |
| VC SDRAM Support | no | no | no | yes | yes |
| RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Dual Channel RDRAM Support | yes | no | no | no | no |
| Ultra-DMA/33/66/100 | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes | yes/yes/yes |
| Ultra-DMA/133 | no | no | no | no | yes |
| Max. # USB | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| USB 2.0 | no | no | yes | no | yes |
| Max.# PCI Slots | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Integrated Graphics | no | no | no | no | no |
| AGP 1x / 2x / 4x | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes | yes / yes / yes |
| AGP 8x | no | no | no | no | yes |
| ACPI Features | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
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