VIA PT Series: VIA PCI Express for Intel
by Wesley Fink on January 31, 2005 12:01 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
The New VIA Chipsets
Today's introduction consists of three new VIA chipsets, targeted at different market segments.
The PT880 PRO is aimed at current Intel 865/875 users looking for a processor upgrade to Socket 775. However, the new Socket 775 is the only new purchase that you have to make with the board. Users can bring their existing AGP graphics card and memory with them - and still have an upgrade path to PCI Express graphics and DDR2 memory. The PT894 and PT894 PRO are aimed at the Enthusiast market and support only PCI Express graphics. The PT894 additionally supports dual PCIe graphics in an x16/x4 configuration.
| Platform Summary - Discrete P4 Chipsets | |||||
| PT880 Pro | PT894 | PT894 Pro | |||
| Processor Bus | 533/800/1066MHz | 533/800/1066MHz | 533/800/1066MHz | ||
| Memory Support | Dual Channel DDR-1 400/333/266 &/OR DDR-2 400/533/667 | Dual Channel DDR-1 400/333/266 &/OR DDR-2 400/533/667 | Dual Channel DDR-1 400/333/266 &/OR DDR-2 400/533/667 | ||
| Graphics Support | Universal Graphics Interface: PCI Express or AGP 8X OR PCIe + AGP 8X | PCI Express | VIA DualGFX Express (Dual PCI Express) | ||
| Chip Interconnect | Ultra V-Link | Ultra V-Link | Ultra V-Link | ||
| South Bridge | VT8237 | VT8237/VT8251 | VT8251 | ||
| Sampling | Early February 2005 | Now (January 2005) | Late February 2005 | ||
| Retail Market | Late Feb/Early March 2005 | Late February 2005 | Late March/Early April '05 | ||
All three chipsets support either DDR1 or DDR2 or both memory types on the same board (depending on what the manufacturer chooses to implement. The three new VIA chipsets are the first on the market to officially support DDR2-667 memory. FSB speeds to 1066 are also supported on all 3 chipsets.
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ChineseDemocracyGNR - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
#14,we don't even know if the PT894 Pro will be more expensive than the PT894, or if it's just a name to help motherboard companies promote their DualGFX products. The nVidia nForce4 SLI is $20 more expensive than the Ultra.
As far as "restoring VIA's reputation", they're not going to focus on that when releasing new products. I have worked with their recent chipsets (PT880, PT800, KT880, KT600, K8T800, K8T800Pro) and I don't think there's anything else they could other than continue to bring good chipsets at low prices to make people that had a bad experience with them 5 years ago change their minds.
quanta - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
If the nForce4 Ultra/SLI mod is of any indication, the PT894[Pro] will be a crippleware scam! Unlike NVIDIA, VIA no longer have any marketing lead to afford ripping off motherboard makers. Support for DDR memory isn't going to restore VIA's reputation, especially with the emerging NVIDIA chipset on Intel platform...ChineseDemocracyGNR - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
Just for the curious, PCPer has pictures of PT880 Pro and PT894 Pro boards. So what? Well, the PT894 Pro is using the VT8251 southbridge. :)http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=114&type=...
These two look very much like Jetway boards from the color scheme. ABIT's PT880Pro is also there.
MS - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
"Amd socket 939 = socket 754 + 184 pin = 938 pin "That's not exactly how it works, there are a number of power and ground pins that are not tied to the CPU at all. In other words, the calculation comes out somewhat close to reality but that is just coincidence. Otherwise, the Socket940 which needs to use 8 extra data lines and additional clock input would have a much higher pin count than just one over 939.
Wesley Fink - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
ALL - We apologize for the confusion this morning. The article posted at 6AM when the VIA NDA was 12 Noon EST (9AM PST). As soon as we realized this the article came down and went back up at the correct NDA time.#6 - Corrected
Dranzerk - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
Wow, this will make for a nice upgrade path for people. If they show up on market fast enough, and ample supply they should do well.Jep4444 - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
Socket 754 and 939 have a few useless pins. I believe 939 has an extra useless pin.I'm not sure if thats how it works though.
nserra - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
The power of the DDR dimm is drained by the amd processor, or by board? If its the board how many pins are needed? Thanks in advance.#avijay thanks but you didnt answer my question:
- Amd socket 939 = socket 754 + 184 pin = 938 pin
avijay - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
#5 skt939 has dual channel memory controller, not single channel like skt754. I think you can add that for the extra pin in the pin count.avijay - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link
As always, a very nice article! Just one thing to point out:(Page 6) table:
VIA PT894 Reference Board Specifications
CPU Interface Socket 939 Athlon 64 ???
shouldn't that be skt 775!
you might like to correct that wesley.