Comparison: All Chipsets For The Pentium 4
| Chipsatz | Intel 850 | Intel 845D | Intel 845 | SiS 645 | VIA P4X266A | VIA P4X266 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction | January 2001 | December 2001 | July 2001 | November 2001 | December 2001 | August 2001 |
| Supported Processors | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 | Intel Pentium 4 |
| SMP-Support | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Northbridge | Intel KC82850 | Intel 82845 | Intel 82845 | SiS 645 | VIA P4X266A | VIA VT8753 |
| Southbridge | Intel 82801 BA | Intel 82801 BA | Intel 82801 BA | SiS 961 | VIA VT8233CE | VIA VT8233 |
| Memory Clock | 400 MHz RDRAM | 100/133 MHz DDR-SDRAM | 100/133 MHz SDRAM | 100/133/166 MHz DDR-SDRAM | 100/133 MHz DDR-SDRAM | 100/133 MHz SDR/DDR |
| Asynchronous Memory Clock | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Max. No. of Memory Slots | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Max. Amount Of Memory | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | 2048 MB | 3072 MB | 3072 MB | 4096 MB |
| Memory Support | RDRAM (PC600, PC800) | DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600) | SDRAM (PC133) | DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600, PC2700 ) | DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600) | DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600) |
| No. Of Memory Channels | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Max. Memory Bandwidth | 3200 MB/s | 2133 MB/s | 1066 MB/s | 2666 MB/s | 2133 MB/s | 2133 MB/s |
| 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 | No | Yes | No |
| No. Of USB Ports | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| USB 2.0 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| max. No of PCI-Slots | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
This table shows all chipsets for the Pentium 4 platform. The latest one is VIA's P4X266A which will be upgraded soon with USB 2.0 and UltraATA/133 (both by coming with a new south bridge chip).
The table above lists all chipsets for the Pentium 4. Intel's 850 is the flagship product using RDRAM memory. As a result, it is both the most expensive but also one of the fastest P4-chipset. The i845 is available in two versions. There is the 'old' 845 for PC133 SDRAM as well as the today released i845D for DDR-SDRAM. Don't think that these two are different products. As a matter of fact, they are the same silicon. According to rumors and conspiracy theories, the reason for the late introduction of DDR support is a license agreement between Intel and Rambus Inc.
