Chipsets A Breakdown of the Evolution Types and

Chipsets A Breakdown of the Evolution, Types and Functions of the Boss of the Motherboard By: Adrian Romano Andrew Kennedy Pat Robertson

Introduction • What is a chipset? – The chipset is what defines the motherboard’s capabilities. – Defines the entire system’s capabilities – Every major component in the computer, including the CPU itself, is reliant on the functional capabilities of the chipset – Just as the computer is useless without the motherboard, the motherboard is useless without a chipset • Designed around the specifications for a given CPU – CPU is designed before the correlating chipset(s) – Defines the computer system – Controls a large number of tasks itself

Evolution of Intel Chipsets • 1995 - Triton 430 FX – PCI 2. 0 specification – EDO memory configurations of up to 128 MB – Pipelined burst cache and synchronous cache • Lacking: - SDRAM support, USB and Concurrent PCI - Led to its replacement in 1996

Evolution • Triton 430 TX – Came after the 430 HX and 430 VX – Supported • • Concurrent PCI, USB, EDO RAM and SDRAM Newly developed MMX chips Designed for both desktops and laptops Used two chips: System Controller (MTXC) and 82371 AB PCI/ISA IDE Xcelerator (PIIX 4).

Evolution • 430 LX (Triton name was dropped) – Designed for new Pentium II processor • Supported – SDRAM and Ultra DMA support – New: Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) solved bottlenecking from the graphics controller and system memory, to the CPU. – AGP: fast, dedicated bus directly from the graphics controller to the CPU – Fast, high-quality 3 D graphics. • November of 1999 - 820 chipset – Supposed to come out with the Pentium III in the spring • Hit roadblock with RDRAM development – Utilized the 133 MHz system bus of the Pentium III – RDRAM - 1. 6 GBps – twice of 100 MHz SDRAM – Used three-chip hub architecture • Memory Controller Hub, an I/O Controller Hub, and a Firmware Hub

• Determined that RDRAM wasn’t going to come down in price • Designed a Memory Translator Hub (MTH). • Went between the MCH and the RDRAM slots • Translated the RDRAM memory protocol into SDRAM protocol. • Bug was discovered that caused the system to reboot intermittently or hang during operation

Intel-based Chipsets • Intel 845 – Low-end Pentium 4 chipset – Uses SDRAM memory the 845 -D offers DDR SDRAM support at a higher price – Stable, inexpensive chipset • Intel 850 – Intel’s most popular Early Pentium 4 Chipset – Also utilizes DDR RAM

Intel Server Chipsets • E 7505 – Designed Specifically for Xeon processors – Includes PCI-X support to double the bandwidth of PCI devices – Designed for multiple processor uses • 875 P – Adapted for Xeon use as a low cost alternative – Supports SATA support with RAID 0/1 – Not traditionally as stable as the E 7505

Additional Intel-based Chipsets • Intel 845 -G – First Intel integrated graphics chipset for the Pentium 4. – Solution for business and low-end machines searching for Intel stability • Si. S 645 - First Intel-based chipset that supported DDR-333 RAM – With all Si. S chipsets, stability is a significant issue • VIA P 4 X 266 – Due to legal issues with Intel, VIA had create it’s own line of motherboards to sell their chipsets – Includes V-link architecture which theoretically doubles memory bandwidth

AMD-based Chipsets • AMD- instead of being the lead producer of chipsets, AMD fosters competition and often has chipset producing “partners” • n. Vidia n. Force 3 150 – Includes powerful integrated graphics – As in all AMD 64 offerings, no memory controller present • VIA K 8 T 800 – Supports multiple processors in the entire line of AMD 64 chips – Supports PCI-X technology – Includes SATA support

Functions of the Chipset • Chipset is the “traffic cop” of the motherboard • Many separate chips eventually integrated into only 1 or 2 chips • Chipsets support features for processor, cache, memory, and peripheral devices • Also include important embedded functions

Functions of the Chipset • Processor Support – Control circuitry designed so the motherboard can properly support ways the processor accesses memory, cache, etc. – Delegates processor speeds the motherboard can handle – Contains capabilities for Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP)

Functions of the Chipset • Cache Support – Chipset determines size and type of cache the system can support – Determines method of writing memory to cache – Amount of cacheable memory is fully dependent on chipset • Memory Support – Chipset dictates type of RAM and size of allowable RAM – Acts as a go-between for the processor and main memory

Functions of the Chipset • Peripheral and I/O Bus Support – Chipset determines what I/O bus standards the motherboard can support – Dictates what speed the I/O standards can run at and any compatible extra features – Chipsets also include bridging functions between the I/O busses (i. e. PCI-to-ISA) • Embedded Functions – – ATA interface DMA Plug and Play USB

THIS IS THE END, MY FRIEND • Chipsets are crucial to overall system performance; can NOT be upgraded • Last 9 years of chipset development: improved bus speeds, greater clock multipliers, increased memory bandwidth, and integrated video • With next-gen CPU manufacturers moving memory controllers to CPUs, chipset manufacturers are free to develop faster devices, busses, integrate more components, and create a more stable chipsets