The King of the Heap: 4 Chipsets for the Athlon64

An Overview Of All Chipsets

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BrandALinVIDIA Corp.SiSVIA Technologies
NorthbridgeM1687564 Ball BGA0.22 µmnForce3 1501309 Ball BGA0.15 µmSiS 755FX698 Ball BGA0.22 µmK8T800578 Ball BGA0.22 µm
SouthbridgeM1563444 Ball BGAintegratedSiS 964VT8237539 Ball BGA
InterconnectHyperTransport1.6 GB/sStreamThruMuTIOL 1 GB/smit HyperStreaming8X V-Link 533 MB/s
AGP3.0 / AGP 8x3.0 / AGP 8x3.0 / AGP 8x3.0 / AGP 8x
Fixer AGP-/PCI-Takt für Overclocking?yesyesno
System Speed / Hyper Transport16 Bit, 800 MHz Up & Down8 Bit, 600 MHz Up ; 16 Bit, 800 MHz Down16 Bit, 800 MHz Up & Down16 Bit, 800 MHz Up & Down
AGPAGP 8xAGP 8xAGP 8xAGP 8x
Memory TypeDDR SDRAMDDR SDRAMDDR SDRAMDDR SDRAM
Memory SpeedDDR266/333/400DDR266/333/400DDR266/333/400DDR266/333/400
Max. Memory4096 MB4096 MB4096 MB4096 MB
PCI Slots6x 32 Bit PCI 2.36x 32 Bit PCI 2.3RAID 0+1 (Pro 250 only)6x 32 Bit PCI 2.36x 32 Bit PCI 2.3PCI-X using VIA VPX2
IDE Interface2 Ports U-ATA/1332 Ports U-ATA/1332 Ports U-ATA/1332 Ports U-ATA/133
Serial ATA-4 Ports (Pro 250 only)2 PortsDriveStation Controller, 2 Ports SATA-150 & SATAlite Interface for 2 additional SATA ports
RAID-RAID 0, RAID 1RAID 0, RAID 1RAID 0, RAID 1 (SATA only)
USB Ports6x USB 2.0/1.1480 MBit/s6x USB 2.0/1.1480 MBit/s8x USB 2.0/1.1480 MBit/s8x USB 2.0/1.1480 MBit/s
AudioAC97AC97AC97AC97 or PCIVIA Vinyl Audio
Network10/100 MAC Interface10/100/1,000 nVIDIA MAC10/100 MAC InterfaceVIA Gigabit Ethernet Interface
DriversDedicated AGP & IDE driversnForce Unified Driver & ForceWare SuiteDedicated AGP & IDE driversUnified Hyperion 4-in-1 Drivers

Test System

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Processor
CPUAthlon 64 3200+ (Socket 754)2.0 GHz 128/1024 kB
CPU CoolerThermalTake Silent Boost K8
Memory
DDR400 (200 MHz)1 x 512 MB / 5nsCorsair TwinX XMS32005, 1.2
Common Hardware
Graphics CardnVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 UltraChip clock : 450 MHzMemory clock : 850 MHz DDR
Hard DriveWestern Digital WD800JB, 7.200 U/Min, 8 MB Cache, Single Platter
DVD/CD-ROMPioneer DVD-106
Network Interface3COM 3C905TX-B PCI, 100 MBit/s
Software
System driversALi Integrated 2.05nVIDIA nForce Drivers 3.13SiS AGP 1.16A, IDE 2.03VIA Hyperion 4in1 4.49
nVIDIA GraphicsDetonator Ver. 53.03
VIA K8T800Hyperion 4in1 14.49
DirectXVersion : 9.0b
OSWindows XP, Build 2600 SP1