Intel 845e: Intel’s New DDR Chipsets — 845E & 845G

Intel’s new 845 chipsets | ZDNET

A PC’s chipset may be low on your list of essential specifications when buying a computer, but Intel’s latest 845 chipsets actually give you something to think about. The 845 has gone from the middle of the computing road to taking up every lane on the highway. You’d think that the consolidation would make PC buying decisions a little easier — but, of course, it doesn’t.
One chipset, many flavours
With flavours such as 845E, 845G, and 845GL, you’ll now find some variant of the chipset in Intel-based systems for all market segments. The 845E chipset will populate the higher end of the Pentium 4 market in fast systems. The 845G will serve the mid-range segments of the market in consumer-orientated systems. Finally, the 845GL chipset will be used mainly in budget and corporate desktops where performance is a lower priority.

Intel’s 845-series chipsets
Chipset


845E


845G


845GL


Target market performance PC, mainstream PC performance PC, mainstream PC value PC
Processor Pentium 4 Pentium 4 Celeron
System bus (MHz) 533/400 533/400 400
Processor package mPGA478 mPGA478 mPGA478
Number of processors 1 1 1
Memory controller hub 82845E MCH 82845G MCH 82845GL MCH
Memory modules 2 double-sided DIMMs; DDR 2 double-sided DIMMs; DDR or SDR 2 double-sided DIMMs; DDR or SDR
Memory type DDR 200/266 DDR 200/266, PC 133 SDR DDR 200/266, PC 133 SDR
Max. memory (GB) 2 2 (DDR or SDR) 2 (DDR or SDR)
External graphics interface AGP (1.5V) AGP (1.5V) n/a
Integrated graphics type n/a Intel Extreme Graphics Intel Extreme Graphics
Dynamic video memory (MB) n/a 64 (if >= 256MB RAM), 32 (if <= 128MB=»» RAM)<=»» FONT=»»/> 64 (if >= 256MB RAM), 32 (if <= 128MB=»» RAM)<=»» FONT=»»/>
I/O controller hub type ICh5 ICh5 ICh5
PCI support PCI 2.2 PCI 2.2 PCI 2.2
IDE ATA/100 IAA ATA/100 IAA ATA/100 IAA
USB ports/controllers 6 x USB 2.0 6 x USB 2.0 6 x USB 2.0

Choosing the right chip
According to our performance testing, if we had to boil our recommendations down to bullet points, they’d go something like this: you’ll get the best price/performance with 845E or 845G-based systems using one of the new Pentium 4 (at the high end) or Celeron (at the low end) processors. If you must get integrated graphics, make sure you choose an 845G-based system with an AGP slot (845GL systems really belong in a corporate ‘never-to-be-upgraded’ world), and always get at least 256MB of memory to compensate for what’s stolen by the graphics subsystem.
A closer look at the 845 chipset
The new 845 chipset combines some forward-looking improvements with some frustrating limitations. All versions of the 845 come with the new ICh5 SouthBridge chip, which — unlike the ICh3 in the 850E chipset — provides support for up to six USB 2.0 ports. But like the 850E, the 845 still lags behind the times in its memory and disk I/O bandwidth: it can only use up to 266MHz DDR SDRAM rather than the latest 333MHz, and it incorporates an Ultra-ATA/100 drive interface rather than Ultra-ATA/133.

The 845G chipset, aimed chiefly at mid-range PCs, can support either integrated graphics or an external AGP card.
What’s old, what’s new
Thanks to support for the top-speed 533MHz frontside bus (FSB) in addition to the existing 400MHz FSB, the 845E can run both the older Pentium 4 processors as well as the new 533MHz FSB-capable 2. 26GHz, 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz chips that were announced with the RDRAM-based 850E chipset. The 845E officially supports only 200MHz and 266MHz DDR SDRAM, however — a disappointment because 333MHz DDR is becoming widely available.
The 845G chipset will serve the low to mid-range market segments. It supports the slower 266MHz DDR SDRAM and 133MHz SDRAM memory types, and it offers integrated graphics, dynamically allocating up to 48MB of system memory for use in the display subsystem (rising to 64MB with the new Extreme Graphics Driver 11.1, available in June). Motherboards using this chipset will also provide AGP slots for discrete graphics cards.
What’s borrowed: graphics memory
Systems based on the 845GL are limited to a 400MHz FSB (and thus older Pentium 4 or the new 400MHz FSB Celeron CPUs) and the choice of using either 133MHz SDRAM or 200/266MHz DDR SDRAM. The 845GL’s memory-dependent (up to 48MB) graphics will slow gaming/3D performance to a crawl, but that’s typical for the low-end and corporate systems in which this chipset will reside. The 845GL will eventually replace the 810 and 815 chipsets currently common in this segment.
What makes us blue
Because the different 845 chipset flavours vary so widely in their capabilities, they’re certain to confuse all but the most technically-knowledgeable users. All means that buyers are going to have to pay a little more attention to specifications. Furthermore, the jump to 1.7GHz and a 400MHz FSB for the Celeron means that its speed overlaps with that of low-end 1.6GHz Pentium 4 systems.
At the high end, 845E-based systems with DDR SDRAM put pressure on 850E-based competitors with RDRAM because the latter are limited to PC800 (rather than PC1066) memory. We do see the expected 30 percent gap between RDRAM and DDR SDRAM in memory subsystem performance, but it doesn’t (and probably won’t) translate into significantly faster application performance — even in CPU and memory-intensive MPEG-2-encoding tests, RDRAM-based systems are, at most, 10 percent faster than DDR SDRAM-based systems.
What’s slow: integrated graphics
In addition to confusing buyers, the 845’s contribution to integrated graphics is dubious. Application scores remain in the same ballpark as, say, systems using an nVidia TNT2 64 card. However, with the 845G/GL chip you lose up to 48MB of your system memory to graphics, rendering games unplayable. We couldn’t run 3DMark2001 Pro (which tests DirectX 8 performance) on any integrated-graphics system, while Quake III performance leaped from around a useless 10fps for 810-based systems to a still-dismal 16fps with the 845G/GL. One thing at least is clear: never buy a system with integrated graphics if you want decent games performance.

Intel Chipset Drivers — philscomputerlab.com

intel_piix_bus_master_ide_driver_w95_version_3.00.zip

Download File


1997 dated drivers.

The system must contain a supported Intel processor and chip set configuration:      

Chip set:  Intel 430FX, 430HX, 430TX, 430VX and 440FX chipsets.

Processor: Intel Pentium(R), Pentium(R) with MMX(TM) Technology, Pentium(R) Pro, and Pentium(R) II devices ONLY. 

3.20.1008.zip

Download File


2001 drivers, supporting Windows 9x, 2000 and XP.

The software included with this distribution package is designed to operate with the following chipset configurations:

       Intel(R) 440BX AGPset                            
       Intel(R) 440DX AGPset                            
       Intel(R) 440EX AGPset
       Intel(R) 440GX AGPset
       Intel(R) 440LX AGPset
       Intel(R) 440ZX AGPset
       Intel(R) 440MX Chipset
       Intel(R) 430TX PCIset
       Intel(R) 810  Chipset      
       Intel(R) 810E Chipset
       Intel(R) 810E2 Chipset      
       Intel(R) 815 Chipset       
       Intel(R) 815E Chipset
       Intel(R) 815EM Chipset
       Intel(R) 815EP Chipset
       Intel(R) 815P Chipset       
       Intel(R) 820 Chipset       
       Intel(R) 820E Chipset
       Intel(R) 840 Chipset       
       Intel(R) 850 Chipset
       Intel(R) 860 Chipset
       Intel(R) 830MP Chipset  
       Intel(R) 815G Chipset
       Intel(R) 815EG Chipset  

4. 10.1012.zip

Download File


2002 drivers, supporting Windows 9x, 2000 and XP.

The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility contains support for the following Intel Chipsets:
Intel® 810 Chipset
Intel® 810E Chipset
ntel® 810E2 Chipset
Intel® 815 Chipset
Intel® 815E Chipset
Intel® 815EM Chipset
Intel® 815EP Chipset
Intel® 815P Chipset
Intel® 815G Chipset
Intel® 815EG Chipset
Intel® 820 Chipset
Intel® 820E Chipset
Intel® 830M Chipset
Intel® 830MG Chipset
Intel® 830MP Chipset
Intel® 840 Chipset
Intel® 845 Chipset
Intel® 845E Chipset
Intel® 845G Chipset
Intel® 845GE Chipset
Intel® 845GL Chipset
Intel® 845GV Chipset
Intel® 845MP Chipset
Intel® 845MZ Chipset
Intel® 845PE Chipset
Intel® 850 Chipset
Intel® 850E Chipset
Intel® 860 Chipset
Intel® E7205 Chipset
Intel® E7500 Chipset
Intel® E7501 Chipset
​Intel® E7505 Chipset

5. 02.1003.zip

Download File


2003 drivers, supporting Windows 9x, 2000 and XP.

The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility contains support for the following Intel Chipsets:

Intel® 810 Chipset
Intel® 810E Chipset
Intel® 810E2 Chipset
Intel® 815 Chipset
Intel® 815E Chipset
Intel® 815EM Chipset
Intel® 815EP Chipset
Intel® 815P Chipset
Intel® 815G Chipset
Intel® 815EG Chipset
Intel® 820 Chipset
Intel® 820E Chipset
Intel® 830M Chipset
Intel® 830MG Chipset
Intel® 830MP Chipset
Intel® 840 Chipset
Intel® 845 Chipset
Intel® 845E Chipset
Intel® 845G Chipset
Intel® 845GE Chipset
Intel® 845GL Chipset
Intel® 845GV Chipset
Intel® 845MZ Chipset
Intel® 845PE Chipset
Intel® 848P Chipset
Intel® 850 Chipset
Intel® 850E Chipset
Intel® 860 Chipset
Intel® 852GM Chipset
Intel® 852GME Chipset
Intel® 852PM Chipset
Intel® 855GM Chipset
Intel® 855GME Chipset
Intel® 855PM Chipset
Intel® 865G Chipset
Intel® 865PE Chipset
Intel® 865P Chipset
Intel® 865GV Chipset
Intel® 875P Chipset
Intel® E7205 Chipset
Intel® E7500 Chipset
Intel® E7501 Chipset
Intel® E7505 Chipset

6. 2.1.1001.zip

Download File


2004 drivers, supporting Windows 9x, 2000 and XP.

The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility contains support for the following Intel
Chipsets:
• Intel® 815 Chipset , Intel® 815E Chipset , Intel® 815EM Chipset ,Intel® 815EP Chipset , Intel® 815P Chipset , Intel® 815G Chipset , Intel® 815EG Chipset
• Intel® 845 Chipset , Intel® 845E Chipset , Intel® 845G Chipset , Intel® 845GE Chipset , Intel® 845GL Chipset , Intel® 845GV Chipset , Intel® 845MZ Chipset , Intel® 845PE Chipset 

6.3.0.1007.zip

Download File


2004 drivers, supporting Windows 9x, 2000 and XP.

​The Intel® Chipset Software Installation Utility contains support for the following Intel Chipsets:

Intel® 810 Chipset
Intel® 810E Chipset
Intel® 810E2 Chipset
Intel® 815 Chipset
Intel® 815E Chipset
Intel® 815EM Chipset
Intel® 815EP Chipset
Intel® 815P Chipset
Intel® 815G Chipset
Intel® 815EG Chipset
Intel® 820 Chipset
Intel® 820E Chipset
Intel® 830M Chipset
Intel® 830MG Chipset
Intel® 830MP Chipset
Intel® 840 Chipset
Intel® 845 Chipset
Intel® 845E Chipset
Intel® 845G Chipset
Intel® 845GE Chipset
Intel® 845GL Chipset
Intel® 845GV Chipset
Intel® 845MZ Chipset
Intel® 845PE Chipset
Intel® 848P Chipset
Intel® 850 Chipset
Intel® 850E Chipset
Intel® 852GM Chipset
Intel® 852GME Chipset
Intel® 852GMV Chipset
Intel® 852PM Chipset
Intel® 855GM Chipset
Intel® 855GME Chipset
Intel® 855PM Chipset
Intel® 860 Chipset
Intel® 865G Chipset
Intel® 865GV Chipset
Intel® 865P Chipset
Intel® 865PE Chipset
Intel® 875P Chipset
Intel® 910GL Express Chipset
Intel® 915G Express Chipset
Intel® 915GV Express Chipset
Intel® 915P Express Chipset
Intel® 925X Express Chipset
Intel® 925XE Express Chipset
Intel® 6300ESB Controller
Intel® E7205 Chipset
Intel® E7210 Chipset
Intel® E7220 Chipset
Intel® E7320 Chipset
Intel® E7500 Chipset
Intel® E7501 Chipset
Intel® E7505 Chipset
Intel® E7520 Chipset
Intel® E7525 Chipset
Mobile Intel® 910GML Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GM Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GMS Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915PM Express Chipset

Intel’s 845PE and 845GE chipsets

AT LONG LAST, Intel is bringing DDR333 memory support to its chipsets for the Pentium 4. That means Intel’s dizzying array of P4 chipsets is about to grow by two. Say hello to the 845PE and 845GE chipsets, successors to the 845E and 845G core-logic chips, respectively.

Now, you may be a little perplexed, because VIA and SiS have had DDR333 for what seems like ages now. However, Intel isn’t one to jump the gun on memory standards, to say the least. They like to hang back, make sure all the standards are finalized and the interoperability is there before they do anything. Then they like to sip lemonade and kick back in the hammock for a few months. When Intel does move, however, the whole PC market moves with it. Put it this way: if you bought a Pentium 4-based system from Dell or HP before today, you probably had your choice of DDR266 or RDRAM. Now that these new chipsets has arrived, DDR333 memory will probably become the industry standard in a matter of weeks.

There’s not much more for me to tell you about the 845PE and GE chipsets that you can’t deduce from here. These chipsets add official support for DDR333 memory, though in the case of 845G, the chipset has been unofficially quite capable of running DDR333 memory since its launch. Beyond that, the features are familiar: AGP 4X support, an ATA/100 disk interface, a 533MHz bus, and nothing much new.

But I can tell you quite a bit about Pentium 4 chipsets overall, because we’ve lined up nine different configurations and tested them against one another to see who comes out on top. Can Intel’s new 845PE and GE chipsets match up with the latest chipsets out of VIA and SiS? Can DDR memory finally slay the RDRAM performance dragon once and for all? Would I really spend a perfectly good weekend testing core-logic chipsets and making graphs? Keep reading to find out.

Surveying Blue Mountain
The biggest surprise of this whole experience for me has been playing with Intel’s new 845PE-based motherboard. This board, dubbed “Blue Mountain” internally at Intel, looks like something out of Taiwan, not a typical mobo from Intel’s button-down desktop board division. Traditionally, Intel boards have compromised performance and tweakability for stability and simplicity. They have also been light on the fancy features—perfect for a corporate desktop, but nothing an enthusiast would care to put into his system.

In fact, Intel boards have been something of a problem for us, because their relatively low performance has made chipset comparisons like this one difficult. For instance, we reviewed the original 845 chipset with DDR support using an Intel board and weren’t too impressed with the performance. Then, shortly thereafter, we were forced to reconsider once we got our hands on Abit’s 845 implementation.

Survey the Blue Mountain, and you know things have changed. This mobo comes with an array of on-board multimedia and I/O features unparalleled this side of Vegas, including Firewire, USB 2.0, Serial ATA RAID (courtesy of a Silicon Image controller chip), Ethernet, six analog sound ports, and optical and coaxial digital audio outputs. On a black PCB, for gosh sakes. There’s even an optional dancing midget.

(OK, I admit it: I made up the part about the Firewire ports. But you get the idea.)

Blue Mountain’s backplane: more ports than the California coastline

Most importantly, perhaps, both Intel’s 845PE and GE boards now offer BIOS options for manual tuning of memory timings. With memory timings set aggressively, I’m happy to report that these boards perform quite well. That gives us the chance to see how the 845PE and GE chipsets really compare to the competition. Intel says these expanded BIOS options are here to stay, too, so Intel boards should be a little more adjustable from here out.

A fancy 845PE motherboard like this makes sense, because the 845PE chipset is, like its predecessor the 845E, Intel’s entry in the performance desktop market. Swanky mobos like Abit’s IT7-MAX are based on the 845E, but those boards have been hampered a bit by the 845E’s lack of support for DDR333 memory. The 845PE chipset addresses this shortcoming.

The ICh5 I/0 controller hub

Getting graphic
Intel’s 845GE board isn’t as flashy as the Blue Mountain board, but this one really is destined for truckloads full of corporate desktop PCs, because it packs Intel’s integrated graphics in the 845GE chipset. Intel’s “Extreme Graphics” are anything but extreme (unless you count “extremely cheap”), but they are adequate for most non-gaming tasks.

The 845GE’s officially faster memory will boost overall bandwidth available for the processor and built-in graphics from 2.1GB/s to 2.7GB/s. To best take advantage of this change, Intel has bumped up the speed of its graphics core from 200MHz in the 845G to 266MHz in the 845GE.

845GE boards usually have a VGA port instead of a second serial port

Like the 845G, the GE can support a discrete graphics card in an AGP slot, so if you have an 845G system, you’re not stuck with pokey 3D gaming forever. Appropriately, then, we’ve tested the 845GE with and without a discrete graphics card, so you can see what impact using the GE’s integrated graphics has on performance.

A block diagram of the 845GE chipset. Source: Intel.

An RDRAM surprise
Beyond the DDR chipsets announcements, Intel has one other bit of news today: the company is finally validating PC1066 RDRAM for use with its 850E chipset. That makes me feel warm and fuzzy, because I’ve been using PC1066 memory for testing for a good while. Now, 850E system configs with PC1066 RDRAM are officially OK with Intel. To keep things interesting, we’ve tested Intel’s new chipsets against 850E systems with both PC800 and PC1066 memory.

Chipset features compared
Before we move on, let’s take a quick look at how the 845PE and GE stack up to other Intel chipsets and to the Taiwanese competition. Below is a soul-sucking table full of core-logic chipset features. Feel free to poke through it until you drool on your keyboard. I think I’ve got everything right.

Intel 845E Intel 845PE Intel 845G Intel 845GE Intel 850E SiS 648 VIA P4X400
Memory types
(DDR only listed)
PC1600 PC2100 DDR SDRAM PC1600 PC2100 PC2700 DDR SDRAM PC1600 PC2100 (PC2700) DDR SDRAM PC1600 PC2100 PC2700 DDR SDRAM PC800 PC1600 RDRAM PC1600 PC2100 PC2700 DDR SDRAM PC1600 PC2100 PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Max. effective memory clock speed 266MHz 333MHz 266MHz (333MHz unofficial) 333MHz 1066MHz 333MHz
(400MHz unofficial)
333MHz
(400MHz unofficial)
Memory bus width 64 bits 64 bits 64 bits 64 bits 2 x 16 bits 64 bits 64 bits
Peak theoretical memory bandwidth 2. 1GB/s 2.7GB/s 2.1GB/s
(2.7GB/s)
2.7GB/s 4.2GB/s 2.7GB/s
(3.2GB/s)
2.7GB/s
(3.2GB/s)
Maximum addressable RAM 2GB 2GB 2GB 2GB 2GB 3GB 3GB
Max. AGP mode 4X 4X 4X 4X 4X 8X 8X
North/south bridge interconnect Accelerated Hub Accelerated Hub Accelerated Hub Accelerated Hub Accelerated Hub MuTIOL V-Link
Interconnect clock speed 266MHz 266MHz 266MHz 266MHz 266MHz 533MHz 533MHz
Interconnect bus width 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 8 bits 16 bits 8 bits
Peak theoretical interconnect bandwidth 266MB/s 266MB/s 266MB/s 266MB/s 266MB/s 1. 06GB/s 533MB/s
Disk interface support up to… ATA/100 ATA/100 ATA/100 ATA/100 ATA/100 ATA/133 ATA/133
USB mode support 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 1.1 2.0 2.0
USB controllers/ports 3/6 3/6 3/6 3/6 2/4 3/6 3/6
IEEE 1394 controllers/ports 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0 2/6 0/0
AC97 audio channels 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Network interfaces 10/100Mbps Ethernet 10/100Mbps Ethernet 10/100Mbps Ethernet 10/100Mbps Ethernet 10/100Mbps Ethernet 10/100Mbps Ethernet
1/10Mbps HPNA
10/100Mbps Ethernet

If you’re still with us, you can probably see that even these newest Intel chipsets don’t have all the latest features supported by the VIA P4X400 and SiS 648 chipsets. Those chipsets both have support for AGP 8X, faster interconnects between the north and south bridge chips, ATA/133 support, and unofficial support for DDR400 memory. Remember what I was saying about Intel being more deliberate about supporting new memory standards? The same goes double for other things in core logic. Not that any of these new features matter greatly now. In the case of AGP 8X and DDR400, the current implementations are somewhat imperfect.

I should follow up that statement by saying that VIA’s AGP 8X implementation worked beautifully with a Radeon 9700 graphics card in our testing. The SiS 648 wasn’t quite as smooth. We saw repeated crashes in 3D applications, and one of them, Unreal Tournament 2003, simply locked up every time we tried to benchmark it. Our attempts to turn off AGP 8X mode in the board’s BIOS didn’t help, either.

Wisely, both VIA and SiS have backed off of supporting DDR400 memory officially. This new memory speed has not been easy to implement successfully, and even with good Corsair XMS3200 memory, we’ve not been able to make it go. Our VIA P4PB 400 board wouldn’t boot with DDR400 memory. The SiS-based Abit SR7-8X would run DDR400 stable enough to produce benchmark results, but the conservative memory timings required for stability dragged on performance. DDR400 scores were consistently slower than DDR333.

So Intel’s conservative approach to chipsets isn’t all bad. Effectively, the VIA and SiS products offer a few extra features, but as you’ll see shortly, those features don’t always add up to better performance.

Our testing methods
As ever, we did our best to deliver clean benchmark numbers. Tests were run at least twice, and the results were averaged.

Our test systems were configured like so:

Athlon XP Intel 845E Intel 845PE Intel 845G Intel 845GE Intel 850E SiS 648 VIA P4X400
Processor Athlon XP 2800+ 2. 25GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz Pentium 4 2.8GHz
Front-side bus 333MHz (166MHz DDR) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped) 533MHz (133MHz quad-pumped)
Motherboard Asus A7N-8X (pre-release sample) Abit IT7-MAX2 Intel D845PEBT2 Abit BG7 Intel D845GEBV2 Asus P4T533C Abit SR7-8X VIA P4PB 400
North bridge nForce2 SPP 82845E MCH 82845PE MCH 82845G MCH 82845GE MCH 82850E MCH 648 VT8754
South bridge nForce2 MCP-T 82801DB ICh5 82801DB ICh5 82801DB ICh5 82801DB ICh5 82801BA ICh3 963 VT8235
Chipset drivers 2. 77 Intel Application Accelerator 6.22 Intel Application Accelerator 6.22 Intel Application Accelerator 6.22 Intel Application Accelerator 6.22 Intel Application Accelerator 6.22 SiS AGP 1.10 4-in-1 4.43
Memory size 512MB (2 DIMMs) 512MB (1 DIMM) 512MB (1 DIMM) 512MB (1 DIMM) 512MB (1 DIMM) 512MB (4 RIMMs) 512MB (1 DIMM) 512MB (1 DIMM)
Memory type Corsair XMS3200 PC2700 DDR SDRAM Corsair XMS2400 PC2100 DDR SDRAM Corsair XMS3200 PC2700 DDR SDRAM Corsair XMS2400 PC2100 DDR SDRAM Corsair XMS3200 PC2700 DDR SDRAM Samsung PC800/PC1066 Rambus DRAM Corsair XMS3200 PC2700 DDR SDRAM Corsair XMS3200 PC2700 DDR SDRAM
Graphics ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB (Catalyst 7. 76 drivers)
Sound Creative SoundBlaster Live!
Storage Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X 7200RPM ATA/133 hard drive
OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS updates Service Pack 1

Thanks to Corsair for providing us with memory for our testing. If you’re looking to tweak out your system to the max and maybe overclock it a little, Corsair’s RAM is definitely worth considering. Using it makes life easier for us as we’re dealing with brand-new chipsets and pre-production motherboards, because we don’t have to worry so much about stability and compatibility.

The test systems’ Windows desktops were set at 1024×768 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.

We used the following versions of our test applications:

  • Cachemem 2.6
  • SiSoft Sandra Standard 2002 SP1
  • ZD Media Business Winstone 2001 1.0.3
  • ZD Media Content Creation Winstone 2002 1.0.1
  • Sphinx 3.3
  • MadOnion 3DMark 2001 SE Build 330
  • Unreal Tournament 2003 demo benchmark
  • Comanche 4 demo benchmark
  • Quake III Arena v1.31
  • Serious Sam SE v1.07

All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.

Memory performance

Sandra’s modified version of the Stream benchmark really cranks, because it uses SSE, MMX, buffering, and the like to move as much data as possible back and forth. As a result, all of the DDR333 chipsets produce similar results, approaching DDR333 memory’s theoretical peak of 2.7GB/s bandwidth. The PC800 and PC1066 RDRAM systems are even faster here, although they’re well off their theoretical peaks of 3.2 and 4.2GB/s, respectively. You also can see how sharing memory with the graphics controller on the 845G and GE chipsets steals bandwidth from the CPU.

Cachemem’s bandwidth tests are probably a little more indicative of real-world performance. RDRAM systems are pulled back to the pack here, and we see especially strong read/write performances out of the P4X400 and 845GE memory controllers. The 845PE, strangely enough, comes out quite a bit slower than the GE in the memory write tests.

Memory access latency is every bit as important to overall performance as those Sandra numbers above, if not more so, and the Intel chipsets beat all comers here. (Our comparison Athlon XP system does quite well, but it’s running its memory synchronously on a 333MHz bus and talking to dual banks of DDR memory in the process. ) Here RDRAM shows its Achilles’ heel: high access latencies. However, higher frequencies with PC1066 memory help reduce latencies considerably.

Business Winstone

The two Winstone tests are important because they measure overall system performance apart from synthetic memory tests, and because they lean heavily on a system’s disk controller. In Business Winstone, the 845PE and GE chipsets outrun even our PC1066 RDRAM rig. Business Winstone has traditionally favored chipsets with low memory access latencies over chipsets with higher latencies and more bandwidth.

Content Creation Winstone

Content Creation Winstone is intentionally very memory bandwidth intensive, and it shows in the results. Incidentally, the low scores for VIA’s P4X400 in both of these tests are unexpected—VIA’s chipsets have been good all-around performers in recent times—but they are not a fluke. We saw the same thing when in our review of the still-born P4X333 chipset, which has since been renamed (and perhaps slightly revised) to P4X400. For whatever reason, VIA’s performance in these tests is relatively poor.

Quake III Arena

The 845PE and GE chipsets tie to lead the pack of DDR333-based systems. Quake laps up the extra bandwidth of RDRAM. 3DMark2001 SE

Despite their AGP 8X support, the P4X400 and 648 can’t keep up in 3DMark. Impressively, the 845PE and GE both beat out the 850E with PC800 RDRAM, too. Serious Sam SE

The story is much the same in Serious Sam, where the PE/GE chipsets run just ahead of the VIA and SiS competition.

Comanche 4

Comanche 4 is mostly limited by graphics card performance, but there are some minor performance differences here. Once again, the Intel DDR333 chipsets perform quite well. Unreal Tournament 2003
As we said before, the SiS 648 system would not complete UT2003’s benchmarking sequence, so we weren’t able to include 648 results.

There’s nothing much new to say here. Again, the AGP 8X chipsets finish below Intel’s new AGP 4X chipsets.

Speech recognition
Sphinx is a high-quality speech recognition routine that needs the latest computer hardware to run at speeds close to real-time processing. We use two different versions, built with two different compilers, in an attempt to ensure we’re getting the best possible performance.

There are two goals with Sphinx. The first is to run it faster than real time, so real-time speech recognition is possible. The second, more ambitious goal is to run it at about 0.8 times real time, where additional CPU overhead is available for other sorts of processing, enabling Sphinx-driven real-time applications.

Intel’s DDR333 chipsets make it in just below the 0.8 mark, while the competition can’t quite cut it. Even in this test, which we’ve always considered very friendly to lots of memory bandwidth, most of the DDR333 rigs beat out the PC800 RDRAM system.

Integrated graphics performance
Now we’ll pause to consider how the 845GE’s extra memory bandwidth and 66MHz higher graphics clock speed boosts performance over the 845G chipset. We didn’t flinch from running Intel’s Extreme Graphics though our extreme set of game benchmarks, and for the most part, it worked. Comanche 4 simply refused to run without hardware T&L, and UT2003 showed a few visual anomalies, but that’s all.

The 845GE does have measurably better performance than the 845G, but I wouldn’t take either to a deathmatch. For business use, the 845GE’s graphics are probably fine, but then again, I didn’t appreciate the ghosting I saw on the Windows desktop. I shouldn’t compare the 845GE in any way to our Radeon 9700 Pro test card, because it’s just not fair, but I couldn’t help notice how much sharper the 9700’s video output is.

Conclusions
The 845PE and GE chipsets put Intel firmly in the lead for Pentium 4 core logic chipsets, despite the feature deficits with SiS and VIA. Across a range of tests intended to stress memory performance, disk I/O, AGP performance, and all-around speed, the 845PE/GE chipsets ran consistently ahead of the competition. Given Intel’s dominance of the chipset market for its flagship processor, and given the fact Intel isn’t shy about muscling out competitors like VIA through intellectual property disputes, the 845PE and GE should become the default choices in Pentium 4 chipsets. Generally when something like this happens, Intel’s chipset competitors can rely on their nimbleness to regain the edge. Given the trouble VIA and SiS have been having with validating DDR400 memory, there may be tough times ahead for third-party chipset makers. DDR400 is slow to ramp, and DDR-II just isn’t going to be ready for some time yet. The next big push for these companies will probably be dual-bank DDR solutions, which we may see on the market before Christmas, if the rumors are true. But dual-DDR solutions aren’t likely to be especially cheap or easy to produce, at least initially. VIA’s QBM initiative is also very promising—essentially “dual-channel DDR on a DIMM”—and potentially easier to implement, but from what I hear, QBM probably won’t reach the market until well into next year.

Don’t forget, also, that Intel has its own dual-DDR solution for desktops in the works.

Intel is widely rumored to be preparing to bring its Hyper-Threading technology to the desktop in a new version of the Pentium 4 coming soon. Intel says all of its chipsets except for one older revision of the 845 will support Hyper-Threading. I’m eager to see how the VIA and SiS chipsets handle this feature. Hyper-Threading performance may add a new wrinkle to the whole chipset performance picture, so we’ll keep an eye on it.

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  Summary of Contents for Intel 845 — DESIGN GUIDE
This manual is also suitable for:

Intel 845 chipset platform for sdr — design guide update 2004Intel pentium 4 processor in 478-pin package — design guide update 2004Pentium 4

Intel’s i845 The MSI 845 Ultra and DFI NB70 DDR Motherboards


 


Intel’s i845 DDR Chipset Debuts
MSI’s 845 Ultra-ARU & DFI’s NB70-SC
DDR Solutions Based On Intel’s New Value Platform

By,
Dave Altavilla
December 17 2001

The market has been waiting for
this one for a long time.   Intel has authorized OEMs to
begin shipping Brookdale (i845) based solutions, now with
DDR SDRAM support.  Finally, an Intel native
alternative to RDRAM, for their flagship Pentium 4 Processor
has arrived.  Current success in the OEM sector, for
Intel’s PC133 incarnation of this platform, has paved the
way for a natural migration path.  With PC2100 DDR
SDRAM on price parity with PC133 solutions, it is the
proverbial «no brainer» for motherboard manufacturers and
system level OEMs, to shift their product offerings to this
higher performance solution at very competitive price
points.  Frankly, why Intel didn’t roll the i845 out
with DDR support initially, is a bit of a mystery that most
likely, only the corporate legal types at Intel and RAMBUS
can completely comprehend.  Regardless, we’re not
looking a gift horse in the mouth. We’re here for the
hardware and not for explaining life’s mysteries such as
these.

Which bring us to our next topic
of discussion, since we have a new higher end DDR based
solution
for the P4, what are the motherboard manufacturers capable
of with respect to building solutions with this new memory
interface on the Brookdale chipset.   Fortunately for
you, we will try to answer that question and more in the
pages to follow, as we look at the features, functionality
and performance of two motherboards, one from
MSI and
one from
DFI. 
We’ll also try to give you a good feel for what these
products can do, against the back drop of our reference
Intel test system, based on their D845BG motherboard, an
i850/RDRAM combination and even a new VIA P4X266A board.

    


i845D
Motherboards
The P4, DDR and all
the trimmings

The i845
Chipset — Block Diagram — Socket 478 System Architecture W/
DDR Support

DFI
NB70-SC

Chipset

Intel 845 /ICh3
CPU Socket
Socket 478
CPU Supported
Intel Pentium 4 processor (Supports 400MHz system data
bus)
Memory
2  DDR DIMM sockets
max. 2GB
PC1600/PC2100 DDR SDRAM
PCI IDE
Dual PIO mode 4 EIDE channels up to 4 IDE devices
UltraDMA/100 transfer rate up to 100MB/sec
Super I/O
2 x NS16C550A compatible UARTs
1 x SPP/ECP/EPP parallel port
External Connectors
2 x USB 1.1 ports, 2 x DB-9, 1 x DB-25, 1 x mouse,1 x
keyboard, 1 x game/MIDI, 3 x Audio jacks
Internal Connectors
1 x connector for 2 additional external USB, 1x IrDA, 2
x IDE, 1x Floppy, 3 x ATX power, 3 x fan, 1 x WOL,1 x
WOR, 2 x internal audio connectors
Power Management
ACPI and OS direct power management
Wake-on event: RTC/USB Keyboard/Modem/LAN/Keyboard/Mouse
Hardware Monitor

System, processor temperature, voltage and fan speed
Expansion Slots
1 AGP slot (Supports 1.5V AGP 4x)
5 PCI slots
1 CNR slot
Audio On Board
AC`97 Audio codec
 

 

Intel
D845BG

Chipset
Intel 845 /ICh3
CPU Socket
Socket 478
CPU Supported
Intel Pentium 4 processor (Supports 400MHz system data
bus)
Memory
2  DDR DIMM sockets
max. 2GB
PC1600/PC2100 DDR SDRAM

 
PCI IDE
Dual PIO mode 4 EIDE channels up to 4 IDE devices
UltraDMA/100 transfer rate up to 100MB/sec
Super I/O
2 x NS16C550A compatible UARTs
1 x SPP/ECP/EPP parallel port
External Connectors
7 x USB 1.1 ports, 2 x DB-9, 1 x DB-25, 1 x mouse,1 x
keyboard, 1 x game/MIDI, 3 x Audio jacks
Internal Connectors
1 x connector for 2 additional external USB, 1x IrDA, 2
x IDE, 1x Floppy, 3 x ATX power, 3 x fan, 1 x WOL,1 x
WOR, 2 x internal audio connectors
Power Management
ACPI and OS direct power management
Wake-on event: RTC/USB Keyboard/Modem/LAN/Keyboard/Mouse
Hardware Monitor

System, processor temperature, voltage and fan speed
Expansion Slots
1 AGP slot (Supports 1.5V AGP 4x)
6 PCI slots
1 CNR slot
Audio On Board
AC`97 Audio codec
 

 

MSI 845
Ultra-ARU

Chipset
Intel 845 /ICh3
CPU Socket
Socket 478
CPU Supported
Intel Pentium 4 processor (Supports 400MHz system data
bus)
Memory
2  DDR DIMM sockets
max. 2GB
PC1600/PC2100 DDR SDRAM

 
PCI IDE
Dual PIO mode 4 EIDE channels up to 4 IDE devices
UltraDMA/100 transfer rate up to 100MB/sec
Super I/O
2 x NS16C550A compatible UARTs
1 x SPP/ECP/EPP parallel port
External Connectors
4 x USB 2.0 ports supported by NEC chipset, 2 x DB-9, 1
x DB-25, 1 x mouse,1 x keyboard, 1 x game/MIDI, 3 x
Audio jacks
Internal Connectors
1 x connector for 2 additional external USB, 1x IrDA, 2
x IDE, 1x Floppy, 3 x ATX power, 3 x fan, 1 x WOL,1 x
WOR, 2 x internal audio connectors
Power Management
ACPI and OS direct power management
Wake-on event: RTC/USB Keyboard/Modem/LAN/Keyboard/Mouse

Hardware Monitor
System, processor temperature, voltage and fan speed
Expansion Slots
1 AGP slot (Supports 1.5V AGP 4x)
6 PCI slots
1 CNR slot
Audio On Board
CMI8738/PCI — 2/4/6 channel audio
IDE RAID (for 845 Ultra
ARU)

ATA133 w/ RAID 0,1 support by Promise PDC20276


Our apologies
for the fine print here but there is a lot of information to
squeeze into one place.   There are a few notables with
respect to the above specifications for the three boards we
tested in this piece.  First amazingly enough, the
Intel board is the only one in the round-up with 6 PCI
slots.  Our first thoughts were, come on now MSI and
DFI, if Intel can do it, so can you!  In the future, we
hope to see more i845D boards with 6 PCI slots.  This
Intel board is the only  one we’ve seen thus far.

 

Other than that,
the  board is a fairly straight forward design with the
typical bells and whistles including hardware monitoring
functions.  On the backside header however, we were
treated to a nice surprise.  There are 4 USB port
connectors bolted on, which eliminates the need for one of
those header cable assemblies we’ve seen in some kits.

Let’s have a
look at our other two contenders here.


DFI’s NB70-SC and MSI’s 845 Ultra-ARU,
Details




 

Intel 845 DDR chipset for Pentium 4 / Motherboards

Starting December 17, 2001, Intel allowed manufacturers to release the i845 chipset with DDR memory. Of course, the official version sounds different. Intel once again took care of the customers by re-released the same product: we already know it as a budget chipset for P4 with support for PC133 SDRAM. Motherboards that support DDR SDRAM are equipped with the «new» Intel 845D. Business is business.

The question now is different: does the consumer need another DDR chipset for the Pentium 4? We have already tested products from Taiwanese companies SiS and VIA. SiS 645 also supports 333 MHz DDR SDRAM memory, and it is a good alternative to the Intel 850 chipset for Pentium 4 systems. Let’s not forget about the «semi-legal» P4X266 and its faster successor P4X266A. The so-called «i845D»
not only doesn’t it have any new distinctive features, but it doesn’t even have better performance. In addition, the prices for it, as usual, are high.

Of course, let’s not forget the good old fans of the Intel brand. However, «do not make yourself an idol.» There are people who will never buy a computer without an Intel processor and, of course, without an Intel chipset. They are usually engaged in corporate purchases. The i845 PC133 simply buried all the advantages of the Intel processor, but its sales are going at a tremendous pace, precisely because of the Intel trademark. The same thing, as we can already state now, will happen to i845D, no matter how SiS, VIA and ALi would like it.

Still, there is a reason why we can welcome the appearance of the Intel chipset for DDR memory. You may not like Intel, but you can’t help but admit that the company is a significant force in the chaotic PC market. If Intel decided to support DDR SDRAM, then this memory has a normal future. Intel has made certain guarantees that we could not obtain from other chipset manufacturers.

For our testing, we took motherboards based on the fastest Pentium 4 chipsets available on the market.

MSI 845 Pro 2 is one of the fastest motherboards based on (far from the fastest) i845 chipset

Pentium 4 chipset comparison

Chipset Intel 850 Intel 845D Intel 845 SiS 645 VIA P4X266A VIA P4X266
Issue date 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
North Bridge Intel KC82850 Intel 82845 Intel 82845 SiS 645 VIA P4X266A VIA VT8753
South Bridge Intel 82801BA Intel 82801BA Intel 82801BA SiS 961 VIA VT8233CE VIA VT8233
Memory frequency 400MHz 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 operation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Maximum number of memory slots 4 3 4 3 3 4
Maximum memory 2048 Mb 2048 Mb 2048 Mb 3072 Mb 3072 Mb 4096 MB
Supported memory RDRAM (PC600, PC800) DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600) SDRAM (PC133) DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600, PC2700 ) DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600) DDR-SDRAM (PC2100, PC1600)
Number of memory channels 2 1 1 1 1 1
Maximum 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
Number of USB ports 4 4 6 6 6 6
USB 2. 0 No No Yes Yes Yes No
maximum number of PCI slots 6 6 6 6 6 5

The table shows all chipsets for the Pentium 4 platform. The last one is VIA P4X266A, which will soon receive USB 2.0 and UltraATA/133 support (all this will be implemented in the new southbridge).

The Intel 850 is the flagship product with RDRAM support. As a result, this chipset is the most expensive, and at the same time one of the most
fast. The i845 is now available in two versions. In the «old» 845 with PC133 SDRAM support, as well as in the new i845D with DDR SDRAM. However, do not think that these are different products. In fact, the same chip is used both there and there. According to rumors (and our feeling), such a belated inclusion of DDR SDRAM support is due to licensing agreements between Intel and Rambus Inc.

Reference board from SiS based on 645 chipset supporting DDR 333 (actually 166 MHz)

We already reviewed the P4X266 some time ago. An updated version of P4X266A has now been released, with a faster memory interface. According to rumors, the interface is technologically very close to the products of VIA’s competitor — SiS. In addition, the P4X266A uses an improved processor bus, with an ICQ depth of 12, like the Intel 845, that can simultaneously store up to 13 instructions on the fly. As VIA promises, the P4X266A supports «future bus frequencies» — 533 MHz, which is the next step for the Pentium 4 bus.

Another interesting product in our testing is the SiS 645 chipset. This is the only chipset that supports 166 MHz DDR memory (333 MHz DDR), which naturally leads to increased performance. In addition, the connection between the north and south bridge of the SiS 645 is twice as fast as competitors (533 MB / s).

VIA P4XB reference board. Uses the new P4X266A chipset from VIA.

Intel 845 (PC133) Intel 845 (DDR) Intel 850 VIA P4X266 VIA P4X266A SiS 645 (266) SiS 645 (333)
Memory type PC133 SDRAM PC2100 (266) DDR SDRAM Dual-channel PC800 Rambus DRDRAM PC2100 (266) DDR SDRAM PC2100 (266) DDR SDRAM PC2100 (266) DDR SDRAM PC2700 (333) DDR SDRAM
Effective memory frequency 133 MHz 266 MHz 800 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz 333 MHz
Memory bus width 64 bits 64 bit 2 x 16 bit 64 bits 64 bits 64 bits 64 bits
Peak theoretical bandwidth 1. 06 GB/s 2.1 GB/s 3.2 GB/s 2.1 GB/s 2.1 GB/s 2.1 GB/s 2.66 GB/s
Maximum addressable RAM 3 GB 2 GB 2 GB 4 GB 3 GB 3 GB 2 GB
Connection type of north and south bridges Intel Hub Architecture Intel Hub Architecture Intel Hub Architecture VIA V-Link VIA V-Link MuTIOL MuTIOL
Connection frequency 266 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz 266 MHz
Bus width 8 bit 8 bit 8 bit 8 bit 8 bit 16 bit 16 bit
Peak theoretical bus bandwidth 266 MB/s 266 MB/s 266 MB/s 266 MB/s 266 MB/s 533 MB/s 533 MB/s

This table shows the differences in memory usage and northbridge and southbridge connectivity. It should be noted that all chipsets support several types of memory. For example, all DDR chipsets work fine with 200 MHz PC1600 memory, and i850 with 600 MHz PC600 RDRAM. But buying such a memory is hardly worth it now.

As can be seen from the table, i850 with RDRAM has the highest theoretical memory bandwidth. However, the delays of this memory are very high due to the «sequential» approach to access.

Intel chipsets are limited in addressable memory. 2 GB may seem like a lot, but for workstations and servers, this amount will soon be the minimum, especially given the low prices for memory.

Pentium 4: SDRAM, RDRAM or DDR SDRAM?

Initially, the only available platform for the Pentium 4 based on the i850 chipset supported only RDRAM memory. Intel’s reaction to RDRAM’s precarious position came too late. The i845 was released only in July, and even then only PC133 SDRAM support was enabled on it.

A month later, VIA finally got bolder and released the first chipset for Pentium 4 with DDR support — P4X266, but the «semi-legal» position of the chipset hinders its wide distribution among motherboard manufacturers.

In autumn, SiS announced the 645 chipset, which not only supports the regular 133 MHz DDR, but also its faster 166 MHz version. In addition to excellent performance, the SiS 645 chipset also wins because of its «legal» position — SiS owns a license for the P4 bus from Intel, so the release of boards based on this chipset will not entail any negative consequences.

To compare different platforms, we ran tests on a Pentium 4 system based on all currently available chipsets. The only question on the agenda is: what is the performance of i845 and i845D compared to SiS645 and VIA P4X266/P4X266A? If we go back to the days of the 440BX and i815, Intel’s chipsets outperformed their Taiwanese counterparts in terms of memory performance. Can the i845D crush the competition’s DDR?

SiS645 Chipset Schematic

Three versions of P4X266 available

Toms Hardware Test

Windows XP test system
Hardware
Processor Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz
Motherboards Shuttle AV40V12 Revision 1. 2 (P4X266) BIOS: AV40902E 09/05/2001
VIA P4XB reference board (P4X266A) BIOS: P4XBS09p 11/15/2001
ASUS P4T-E (Intel 850) rev.1.0 BIOS: 1005 BETA 002 12/11/2001
MSI 845 Pro 2 (Intel 845) BIOS: 1.0B7 08/03/2001
ASUS P4B266 rev.2.01 (Intel 845D) BIOS: 1003 12/06/2001
SiS SS51A reference board (SiS 645) BIOS: 645p14k9 09/19/2001
Memory DDR266: 256 MB, DDR266 PC2100 SDRAM CL2.0, Micron
RDRAM: 2 x 128 MB PC800 RDRAM, Viking
DDR333: 256MB DDR333 SDRAM CL2, Kingmax MPLB62D-68KX3
PC133: 256 MB PC133 SDRAM CL2, Wichman WorkX
Hard disk Maxtor 40 GB 5T040h5 7200 rpm, 2 MB cache
Video card GeForce 3 64MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz/250MHz
Software
Operating system Windows XP, DX8. 1, VIA 4-in-1 v4.35/Intel 3.20.1008, DetonatorXP v23.10
Benchmarks and Settings
Quake III Arena Retail Version 1.16
command line = +set cd_nocd 1 +set s_initsound 0
Graphics detail set to ‘Normal’
Benchmark using ‘Q3DEMO1’
SiSoft Sandra 2001 Professional Version 2001.3.7.50
Newtek Lightwave Rendering Bench SKULL_HEAD_NEWEST.LWS
mpeg4 encoding Flask X4.2A
DivX Codec 4.11
Compression: 100
Data Rate: 1500 Kbit
Format: 720×480 Pixel@25 fps
no Audio
Studio 7 Version 7. 07.1 (MPEG2)
Sysmark 2001 Patch 3
Lame Lame 3.89 MMX, SSE, SSE 2, 3DNow
WinACE 2.04, 178 MB Wave-Datei, best compression, Dictonary 4096 KB
Suse Linux 7.3 Kernel 2.4.13 Compiling

So, this time six systems will compete with each other. All DDR platforms are equipped with CL2 memory. ASUS P4X266 uses VIA chipset, P4B266 is the new i845D. The SiS S551A reference board is a special case. It stands out for its ability to use DDR333 (PC2700) memory (frequency 166 MHz, effective 333 MHz). And, of course, the old veteran — the i850 chipset (ASUS P4T-E board). We added an i845 with SDRAM to the load — an 845 Pro 2 board from MSI.

Overclocking is now included at the factory

this table clearly shows how motherboard manufacturers try to achieve better results through «not very fair» tricks: it’s all about a little overclocking. The board on the P4X266A did its best — it made the processor work at a clock frequency of 2035 MHz! Only the MSI 845 Pro 2 ran exactly at 100.0 MHz FSB, the processor frequency was 2000 MHz.

OpenGL performance: Quake 3 Arena

SiS took the lead in Quake III Arena. Although this 3D shooting game is already two years old, it still remains one of the most effective tests of memory and processor performance. In both 16-bit and 32-bit color, the SiS 645 outperformed the Intel 850 and VIA P4X266A. The high-speed DDR333 interface did its job — now the i850 with PC800 RDRAM is left behind.

Direct3D performance: Unreal Tournament

In Unreal Tournament, the difference between the six platforms is fairly small. And again, SiS 645 overtook everyone. You may also notice that the VIA P4X266A is faster than the Intel 850 with RDRAM. As expected, i845 with RDRAM is at the very end.

MPEG-4 encoding: Flask Mpeg and DivX

MPEG-4 encoding definitely works better on i850 with RDRAM. As you can see, this platform shows the best results in video encoding.

MPEG-2 Encoding: Pinnacle Studio 7

Again, this is the i850’s way. However, competitors are coming very close.

MP3 Encoding: Lame Encoder

In this test, we encoded a 178MB WAV file to MP3 using Lame Encoder. VIA P4X266 is 6 seconds faster than i845 with SDRAM — and you probably thought that encoding is 100% processor dependent.

Testing in SiSoft Sandra: processor and multimedia

This is a purely synthetic test, and it does not quite correctly reflect the real performance.

3D rendering: Newtek Lightwave

The Intel 850 is positioned as a high-end and performance solution. But not everything is clean here, since rendering, for the most part, depends on the power and frequency of the processor. The P4X266A motherboard from Asus runs the Pentium 4 at a slightly increased frequency of 2035 MHz, which allowed it to come out a little ahead. The platform performance (except for i845) is about the same.

Linux kernel compilation: Suse Linux 7.3/Kernetl 2.4.13

When compiling the Linux kernel, the VIA P4X266A platform came out on top — the whole process took 247.6 seconds. As you can see, i845 with PC133 SDRAM turned out to be noticeably slower — 296 seconds. Tangible difference.

Archiving: WinACE 2.04

For compression we used WinACE 2.04 and the same .wav file as in the MP3 compression test. SiS645 came out on top again.

Office productivity: Sysmark 2001

i850 wins office productivity category

3D rendering: SPECviewperf Lightscape

The i850 is slightly ahead in this test.

Testing VIA Hardware

We took the MSI 845 Ultra as an i845D board. The form factor of the board is a full-size ATX, the color of the textolite (as you can see for yourself) is red.

The board has the following characteristics.

  • Supports P4 Socket 478 from 1.3 to 2.2 GHz and above.
  • DDR SDRAM 200/266.
  • 1.5V AGP Pro connector.
  • 2 ATA/133 IDE ports.
  • Optional support for ATA/133 RAID 0/RAID 1.
  • Optional support for up to 4 USB 2.0 connections (using NEC controller).
  • Integrated CMI 8738 hardware audio with 2/4/6 channel output.
  • 5 PCI slots, 1 shared.
  • 1 CNR connector.
  • Includes MSI software type FuzzyLogic III, PC Alert III, LiveBIOS, D-bracket Diagnostic System.

Overclockers will like the variety of options offered in the BIOS: changing the processor voltage, DDR memory and AGP, FSB regulation from 100 MHz to 200 MHz.

Test system based on Windows 2000
Hardware
Processor Intel Pentium 4 1. 7 GHz
Motherboards MSI 845 Ultra-ARU (i845D)
VIA P4XB-RA reference board (P4X266A)
MSI Pro 2 LE (i850)
Memory DDR266: 256MB DDR266 PC2100 SDRAM Crucial
Hard disk WD 200BB 20 GB
Video card OCZ Titan3 GeForce3
Software
Operating system Windows 2000 SP2, DX8.1

Let’s start testing with the synthetic SiSoft Sandra. Despite its artificial nature, this test is very useful and popular, it is often
used for general system diagnostics.

As we can see, the P4X266A outperforms the i845D by 14%, while the i850 outperforms the P4X266A by 13.7%. Switching from i845D to i850 gives a 29% increase in processing power in whole numbers. The results in floating numbers are similar. The i845D is 11.3% slower than the P4X266A, while the i850 is 18% slower than the P4X266A and almost 34% faster than the i845D. But remember, Sandra is a synthetic benchmark. It may be useful for some niche applications, but it does not reflect the performance of regular programs and games.

In 3DMark, the spread between platforms has been reduced. The P4X266A has now overtaken both Intel chipsets. Although 3DMark is heavily dependent on the video card, memory bandwidth should also affect the results, and in theory the i850 could win here.

In this test, the P4X266A is 2.5% faster than the i845 and 1.2% faster than the i850. Of course, this cannot be called a noticeable difference, therefore, we can conclude that the P4X266A and i845 work in games in approximately the same way. Let’s see if it will be so in Quake 3 — a game that depends heavily on memory bandwidth and where the i850+P4 combination traditionally dominates.

In Quake 3 i845 again lags behind the other two chipsets, while P4X266A and i850 go head to head. In the case of the i845, it is 10% slower than the P4X266A, and the i850 is a whopping 0.44% faster than the P4X266A. Such a tiny difference does not exceed the measurement error, so we will assume that the P4X266A and i850 show equal results.

In Unreal Tournament’s «Thunder» demo, we again see the P4X266A take the performance crown from the i850, but again the difference is only 5%. The i845D closed the gap from the P4X266A to 7.6%, but it’s still the slowest of the bunch. A very curious result, given that UT is not as sensitive to memory bandwidth as Quake 3, and the test results should be close. But something is holding back the performance of the i845D.

Sysmark 2001 clearly demonstrates the memory bandwidth advantage of the i850, which is faster than both the i845D (by 22%) and the P4X266A (by 19%). It should be noted a small gap between DDR platforms — less than 2.4%. It’s clear that the i850 is the champion here, but let’s split this test into two parts and see what’s up.

In this test, the spread between platforms was reduced, the difference between P4X266A and i850 was reduced to 10%. DDR boards are still 3% apart.

The office performance test clearly shows the superiority of the i850 over both the i845 and the P4X266A. If both DDR boards show approximately equal results, i850 outperforms P4X266A by almost 20% — a clear victory. It’s not surprising, however, that the i850 performs so well in this test — Sysmark 2001 is known for its high memory bandwidth requirements. It would be interesting to see the results of DDR333 in this test.

Testing Tech Report

Windows XP test system
Hardware
Processor Intel Pentium 4 2 GHz
Motherboards Intel D845WN (i845)
Intel D845BG (i845D)
Intel D850GB (i850)
Shuttle AV40R (P4X266)
VIA P4XB-S (P4X266A)
SiS 645 reference board (SiS 645)
Memory DDR266: 256MB DDR266 PC2100 SDRAM Micron
DDR333: 256 MB, DDR333 PC2700 SDRAM Micron
RDRAM: Samsung PC800 Rambus DRAM
SDRAM133: Infineon PC133 SDRAM
Hard disk IBM 75GXP 30. 5 GB 7200 rpm ATA/100
Video card NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 500 64 MB (Detonator XP 21.83 video drivers)
Software
Operating system Windows 2000 XP

Unfortunately, our P4X266 system was out of testing early. It simply rebooted with any 3D test. We think the problem
is incompatibility between Shuttle AV40R board and Visiontek video board. It can probably be solved with a BIOS update or card manipulation, but we didn’t have time for that.

The following applications were used in our testing

  • SiSoft Sandra Standard 2001.3.7.50
  • ZD Media Business Winstone 2001 1.0.1
  • ZD Media Content Creation Winstone 2001 1.0.1
  • Sphinx 3.3
  • ScienceMark 1. 0
  • SPECviewperf 6.1.2
  • MadOnion 3DMark 2001 Build 200
  • Quake III Arena 3.17
  • Serious Sam v1.02

Memory performance

Let’s start with memory testing, because this is where the maximum differences between platforms are observed. The two main characteristics of memory are bandwidth and latency. They are closely related, but we have the opportunity to test them separately. Keep in mind that a chipset with a high memory bandwidth does not have the smallest latencies, the best combination of features is the best performance.

i850 is the clear leader in bandwidth. More interestingly, look at the significant differences in DDR chipset results. SiS with DDR333 is the fastest DDR chipset, but the P4X266A is not far behind, despite the lower memory MHz. At equal frequencies, the SiS 645 is slower than the P4X266A. Intel 845 is 100 MB/s worse than other DDR chipsets.

The situation here has changed somewhat. The former leader i850 became an outsider in terms of memory access time. Even the PC133 system was faster. Surprisingly, the i845D became the leader, rising almost from the very bottom to the top. P4X266A and SiS 645 with DDR333 seem to be a good combination of low latency and high throughput. Let’s look at performance in applications.

Winstone 2001

Business Winstone tests the performance of simple office applications such as text editors and web browsers. This test can hardly be considered a serious burden for the platforms.

Oddly enough, the i845D won here. It is followed by the i850. Unfortunately, the SiS chipset showed worse results than the i845/PC133 combination.

Content Creation Winstone loads the system much more than its Business version. Here, testing of programs for processing images and sound is added.

The results look familiar — the winner is the SiS chipset.

Quake III Arena

For a long time, the combination of P4 and RDRAM dominated Quake III. Will 3.2 GB/s of RDRAM bandwidth help this time?

Amazing. Three different platforms based on DDR outperformed the i850 with RDRAM. The only DDR platform that turned out worse than the i850 is, of course, the i845D.

Serious Sam

The Serious Sam engine loads the system in a slightly different way than Quake III, despite the similarities between the games.

The i845D chipset once again showed its inability to compete with other DDR platforms. SiS 645 took the lead.

3DMark 2001

3D Mark 2001 should provide another slice of our testing. Let’s see.

The top four platforms are within 100 points of each other, with the top two chipsets leading the way. If we remove DDR333 from SiS645, then it will turn out to be a little slower than P4X266A, but with DDR333 SiS is the strongest. What can we say about i845D? It is faster than i845 with PC133, but 400 points behind the leader.

SPECviewperf

SPEC’s viewperf test suite measures performance in OpenGL CAD workstation class applications and modeling. By its very nature, the test is a good measure of chipset performance because it puts a lot of stress on the AGP bus.

For the most part, the test was no surprise. The most «brake» as usual is i845/PC133, so don’t use PC133 memory in workstations. i850 leads in almost all tests.

Speech recognition

We tested the Sphinx 3.3 speech recognition system. Unfortunately, this system cannot run fast enough on a standard computer for normal recognition. The main limitation is memory bandwidth. Will the SiS 645 with DDR333 pass the real-time test?

Unfortunately, real time has not yet been obtained. It seems to us that with Northwood Pentium 4 paired with SiS645/DDR333 we will cross the threshold of real time.

ScienceMark

Let’s look at the results of this computational test. It measures performance in fairly heavy scientific computing. Like 3DMark, ScienceMark provides an overall score based on multiple tests.

SiS645 with DDR333 is only slightly ahead of P4X266A. If you look at individual tests, the situation is distributed as follows.

While the performance doesn’t change much, the faster chipset and memory do the trick, allowing the processor to run more efficiently.

Conclusion: VIA P4X266A and SiS645 are a better solution than i845D

Asus P4X266B board based on Intel 845D chipset

If we leave the litigation aside, the best platform for Pentium 4 right now is VIA P4X266A. However, we have to wait for more mature motherboards based on SiS645, which will reveal the potential of this chipset, especially since there are no «legal» problems associated with it. However, in addition to the updated memory interface and improved performance, VIA P4X266A will soon acquire support for USB 2. 0 and ATA/133.

In contrast to these chipsets, the i850 is at an impasse. Although RDRAM performs great with fourth generation Pentium processors, this memory technology is too expensive. Both SiS 645 and VIA P4X266A provide almost equal performance at a lower price of both the chipset and memory, plus they have an increased number of functions (see the table at the beginning of the article).

Let’s move on to the «new» Intel 845D. Apart from DDR SDRAM support, there is nothing new in this chipset. Of course, the chipset is very similar to Intel products: it is stable and quite fast, but there is nothing new in it, and it is noticeably more expensive than Taiwanese chipsets (from SiS and VIA). Moreover, i845D couldn’t overtake P4X266A and SiS645. The latter demonstrated simply excellent performance. However, the success of the SiS645 directly depends on the availability of DDR333 (PC2700) memory, which is the basis for such high performance.

It’s hard to believe, but Intel failed — it could not offer an attractive chipset for its own processors. In the days of the Pentium II and III, this was unheard of! Today, Intel will have to rely on enterprise buyers who care more about brand than performance. There are still many such buyers, so it is hardly worth worrying about the fate of Intel.

The next thing we can expect is the Pentium 4 switch to 133 MHz FSB (effective 533 MHz QDR). But it will be a long time before Intel releases its own USB 2.0 southbridge. SerialATA is still too far away, but VIA will start supporting ATA133 very soon.

New chipsets for Pentium 4 processors on the 533 MHz bus: from Intel and VIA

Actually, we already talked enough about the transition of Pentium 4 processors to the 533 MHz bus in the last article. In it, however, we described only one really «hot» chipset, while the rest were announced and started shipping almost half a year ago. Today we have more interesting novelties in our review, moreover, Intel is just announcing its DDR chipsets, and VIA’s product was presented long ago, but the boards haven’t actually been delivered yet (we had a reference sample for testing). It does not make sense to delay the introduction, we immediately move on to new products, since there is something to talk about ..

First, why two chipsets are presented at once. It’s simple: i845E classic chipset, i845G integrated.

However, we must immediately clarify that the i845G is also a classic, classic integrated chipset (that is, the video adapter simply and unpretentiously, following the UMA (Unified Memory Architecture) architecture, accesses the memory in a race with the processor, which naturally leads to a slowdown in the system in in general as opposed to the innovative NVIDIA nForce-420 chipset with its TwinBank architecture). We will not touch on the issue of the chipset’s integrated graphics for the time being, since a detailed article on this topic is expected in the near future it is enough to know that the integrated video adapter needs memory, and a frame buffer up to 8 MB in size is allocated from the RAM for its needs (in the current version firmware).

Now let’s move on to the remaining, general, part of the chipset. The northbridge, called Intel MCH (Memory Controller Hub) or, respectively, GMCH in the case of an integrated graphics core in i845G, continues the line of i845 controllers. The updated version added support for the 533 MHz processor bus, and the memory support of the i845E is limited to DDR200/266, while the i845G can also work with the PC133 (there is no doubt that this is purely a marketing division of the market: the PC133 can supposedly be useful in the office PC sector, where i845G is targeted). However, we will not repeat once again that the Pentium 4 with SDR SDRAM is an extremely ridiculous combination, slowing down, etc., etc., we will only note that we doubt the very possibility of the appearance of boards based on a modern chipset with SDR connectors SDRAM. Curiously, the absence of DDR333 support is also a marketing step, and so obvious (at the beginning of the second half of the year, Intel is going to release two more chipsets that differ from the current pair only in the presence of DDR333 support) that even the Intel (!) motherboard we have on the i845G allows set the memory frequency to 166 MHz (DDR333) in the settings. Much to our surprise, the board from MSI based on i845E, rich in various functionalities and rich in settings, does not allow doing such an obvious thing. However, it is possible that the i845E does not support DDR333 at all, which there is a number of indirect evidence, so before buying a motherboard based on this chipset, be sure to check its documentation to see if this specific model supports this type of memory overclocking, if you want to definitely use the PC2700 «in full force.» We also note that the memory frequency of 333 MHz is available on all tested boards with the i845G chipset only when using the 533 MHz processor bus.

Indeed, a novelty of the chipset, and a long-awaited one at that, was the inclusion of the ICH (I/O Controller Hub) version of ICh5 as the south bridge. So, what is added in the new version of ICH. Perhaps the main innovation should be called support for 6 USB 2.0 ports with an extended host controller interface (EHCI). Recall, just in case, that USB 2. 0 is an evolutionary development of the USB 1.1 bus, characterized by a 40-fold increase (up to 480 Mbps) throughput with full backward compatibility with USB 1.1. We can’t help but mention the improvements in the field of sound: a 20-bit audio controller interface, support for up to three codecs (to simplify the transition to 6-channel audio) and work with Dual DMA blocks to support simultaneous PCM and S/PDIF output. Of course, 6 PCI devices, 2 IDE controllers for 4 ATA100 devices and an interface for connecting to a local network have not gone away. In a word, everything is at a very good modern level, but let’s wait for the performance study to finally decide on our attitude to the chipset.

VIA put off all its best ideas for a long time, new chipsets came out that differed from the old ones only in accelerated memory controllers… But, finally, the company’s engineers threw out everything that could and even could not be expected at once. It’s dazzling in the eyes, so let’s list sequentially what the new product from VIA is capable of.

Pentium 4 (and Celeron based on Willamette-128 core) processors with 400 and 533 MHz bus are supported. Curiously, VIA forgot about its own documentation (you need to clean up your desktop more often!) and now openly declares that P4X333 is the first chipset to support Intel processors on a 533 MHz bus. Well, yes, we remember both the announcement of the P4X266A and its recent testing with the same Pentium 4 on the 533 MHz bus. Okay, let’s move on. DDR333 support. Also not news, the same P4X266A worked fine with DDR333, but at least this was not stated for him in the documentation. More interestingly, the maximum amount of memory supported on the P4X333 is no less than 32 GB! This is against 4 GB for the predecessor and the ridiculous 2 GB for the i845x. It is clear that in reality such a volume is still unattainable (there are no modules of the corresponding volume on the market, maximum 512 MB (without ECC)), but the phrase in the press release looks impressive, you can’t say anything. Last but not least, there is support for the AGP8x mode (corresponding to the AGP 3.0 specification). Probably, it is not worth dwelling on this point in detail now, when no one has yet seen video cards that support this mode, so we will only briefly explain the essence. The goal of the new specification is to speed up the exchange of data between the local memory of the video card and the system’s RAM. The acceleration is doubled due to the increased exchange rate: the frequency of the AGP port remains the same (66 MHz), but now data can be transferred using a quadruple multiplexing scheme (QDR, like on the Pentium 4 data bus). It would seem a wonderful thing: even if you don’t need it now, buy it your children will come in handy, but it definitely won’t get worse. Unfortunately, AGP 3.0 has one not so good characteristic due to the once again reduced supply voltage, the AGP connector cannot remain universal: the AGP8x connector will be backward compatible with AGP4x, but not lower. So if you currently have or planned to purchase an old AGP2x video card just in time for the upgrade, the P4X333 based board will not suit you.

In accordance with the dictates of the times, the chipset uses the VIA VT8235 southbridge. We, at one time, already talked about its advantages, but since, contrary to the original plans, this bridge was actually used only now, it makes sense to briefly list all its features. The first number is, of course, the built-in USB 2.0 controller. A little earlier, the article already cited the differences between the old (USB 1.1) and new (Hi-Speed ​​USB 2.0) versions; The VT8235, like the ICh5, supports up to 6 USB 2.0 devices. The second innovation expected recently is the ATA133. VIA has everything in order here: up to 4 devices are supported, full support for Maxtor FastDrive and BigDrive technologies is implemented. Well, the little things: up to 5 PCI 2.1 Bus Master devices are supported, there is a built-in network controller for 10/100 Mbit Ethernet and AC’97 codec for 5.1 Surround Sound Audio.

As expected, VIA has timed the expansion of its branded V-Link bus linking its north and south bridges with the expansion of functionality and potential increase in data flow from the south bridge. Bandwidth has been doubled to 533 MB/s (data is transmitted over a 133 MHz bus, QDR), and now VIA is on par with SiS (MuTIOL) and twice the Intel Hub-Link in this indicator. In conclusion, it makes sense to mention that, like all other VIA bridges, P4X333 is compatible in terms of wiring with its predecessors (P4X266, P4X266A), and VT8235 with any south bridge of its series (VT8233, VT8233C, VT8233A), which, theoretically , enables motherboard manufacturers to release products based on new chipsets without the cost of rewiring the board.

Production Study

Test stand:

  • Processors:
    • Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz (100×24), Socket 478
    • Intel Pentium 4 2.4b GHz (133×18), SOCKET 478
    • , SOCKET 478

      , SOCKET :

      • Intel D850EMV2 (BIOS version P07) on i850E
      • chipset

      • EPoX 4BDA2+ (BIOS dated 02/05/2002) on i845D chipset dated 03/21/2002) based on the i845G 9 chipset0820
      • Intel D845GBV (BIOS version 1017.D) on i845G
      • chipset

      • SiS SS51B (BIOS version 07b) on SiS 645DX chipset, reference board
      • VIA P4PA-UL (BIOS version 2. 21) on VIA P4X2826A
      • chipset (VTC
      • BIOS version 6877S8A) based on VIA P4X333 chipset, reference board
    • Memory:
      • 2×256 MB PC2700(DDR333) DDR SDRAM DIMM Samsung, CL 2 (CL 2.5 when used as PC3200(DDR400 MB))
      • PC800 RDRAM RIMM Samsung, tRAC 45 ns

      • VIA chipset software installation utility 1.50 beta (used when testing VIA P4X333)
      • VIA AGP 4.11 beta (used when testing VIA P4X333)
      • VIA IDE 1.20a (used when testing VIA P4X333)
      • . =Off)

      • CPU RightMark v1.01
      • Cachemem 2.4MMX
      • Wstream
      • RazorLame 1.1.4 + Lame codec 3.91
      • VirtualDub 1.4.9 + DivX codec 5.0 Pro
      • 0819 WinZip 8.1

      • WinAce 2.11
      • BAPCo & MadOnion SYSmark 2002 Office Productivity
      • BAPCo & MadOnion SYSmark 2002 Internet Content Creation
      • Discreet 3ds max 4.26
      • SPECviewperf 6.1.2
      • MadOnion 3DMark 2001 SE
      • Gray Matter Studios & Nerve Software Return To Castle Wolfenstein v1. 1
      • DroneZmarK

      2 DDR

      3 DDR

      2 DDR

      Board Intel D850EMV2 EPoX 4BDA2+

      SOKKET 478, Intel Pentium 4 (FSB 100/133 MHz)
      memory connectors 4 RDRAM 2 DDR 2 DDR 9 DDR 9 DDR 9 DDR 9 DDR 3 DDR

      DDR 3 DDRD 3 DDR
      Expansion slots AGP/ 5 PCI AGP/ 6 PCI / CNR AGP/ 6 PCI/ CNR AGP/ 3 PCI/ 9 PCI PCI AGP0 / ACR AGP/ 6 PCI / CNR AGP/ 6 PCI / ACR
      I/O ports 1 FDD, 2 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 2 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 2 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 2 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 1 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 1 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 2 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2 1 FDD, 2 COM, 1 LPT, 2 PS/2
      USB 2 USB 2.0 + 1 connector for 2 USB 2.0 2 USB 1.1 + 1 connector to 2 USB 1. 1
      Form Factor, Dimensions ATX, 30.5×24.5 cm ATX, 30.5×24.5 cm ATX, 30.5×23 cm ATX, 24.5×24.5 cm .5×21 cm ATX, 34.7×27.8 cm ATX, 30.5×22.5 cm ATX, 33.6×25 cm

      can look at the photo and examine the data in the pivot table. It is worth noting, however, that the board does not look like a frankly reference, and most likely, after a number of minor revisions, it will be put on sale under the brand name of the VPSD division.

      The Intel D845GBV motherboard successfully passed the full test cycle, but the results shown by it are far from the results of the Chaintech product on the same chipset, so we see no reason to clutter up the test diagrams with unnecessary unimpressive numbers. Still, the main purpose of motherboards from Intel is OEM systems, where performance plays almost no role. Nevertheless, it will undoubtedly be interesting and useful for many readers to get acquainted with the capabilities of motherboards from Intel, which are difficult to find on the counter in everyday life, they can use the description of the characteristics of the Intel D845GBV, available, as usual, at the link from the list of test equipment stand.

      Today we’ll try to complete the assessment of the gain from moving the Pentium 4 to the 533 MHz bus by testing this effect on the last i845D-i845E(i845G) pair. Also, let’s not rush and make sure that the speed of i845E and i845G is really the same. Finally, there is one more curious question related to the i845G: what will be the performance loss when using the chipset’s integrated graphics? We emphasize that even from Intel’s preliminary data, the «non-gaming» orientation of the integrated accelerator is obvious, but we do not set ourselves the goal of comparing it with the GeForce3 Ti500 right now we want to assess exactly how much the UMA architecture will «interfere» with the work of the processor with memory in ordinary office and home (non-game!) tasks. And, of course, it will be very interesting to understand the performance level of the new VIA chipset, the specifications of which look simply bewitching.

      To clarify the overall picture of chipsets for Pentium 4 on the 533 MHz bus, we included the results of the old leaders: i850E+PC800 RDRAM, SiS645DX+DDR333 and +DDR400, as well as VIA P4X266A+DDR333. Data on chipsets from the same manufacturer are shown in the diagrams in the colors of the same gamut (the only exception is the i845G variant with integrated graphics). Let us remind you once again that the results of the Intel D845GBV board are not included in the report, so the «i845G» refers everywhere to the results of Chaintech 9BIF. Let us also remind you that the MSI motherboard we had did not support DDR333 memory, so we had to limit ourselves to DDR266 for the i845E.

      Test results

      One more time, for the last time, we are convinced that the speed of the CPU RightMark equation solver does not depend on the chipset used, but only slightly fluctuates in accordance with the real processor frequency on a particular board. In the future, we intend to use the indicators of this benchmark module only for comparing different processors, including, of course, cases of models with different supported sets of processor instructions.

      The results of testing the visualization unit, on the contrary, allow us to draw several interesting conclusions. First, when moving from P4 2.4 GHz to P4 2.4B GHz, we have a whopping over 20% speedup on the Intel chipset. Bearing in mind the similar testing in the past, we can finally make sure that this test strongly depends on the frequency of the processor bus. Moreover, the relatively modest increase in the SiS 645DX is apparently explained by the mismatch between the frequencies of the processor and memory buses (100->133 MHz at 166 and 200 MHz in memory), while the i845 starts to work in pseudosynchronous mode (133 MHz ( x4 and x2) in case of DDR266). Again, there is no effect from using faster memory (DDR333 on i845G), and the DDR chipsets from Intel and VIA show equal performance in pairs. We can also note a small, but still present slowdown when using the integrated graphics of the i845G.

      The first wake-up call for the i845G integrated graphics is ringing in low-level memory reads and writes the memory performance is slower than that of the i845D, which is 10-20% behind its «accelerated» Pentium 4 counterparts. i845E and i845G confirm its identity, while the i845G in combination with DDR333 breaks into the lead in read speed. Competitors’ products look better when recording, and a pair of SiS645DX+DDR400 and VIA P4X333+DDR333 show the best results among DDR chipsets (i850E is in a league of its own due to a clear advantage) in terms of the total speed of low-level memory processing.

      In MP3 encoding on a processor of the same frequency, all chipsets are approximately equal; It is gratifying that VIA P4X333 joined the worst of the best, and not vice versa. 🙂

      But when archiving with WinZip, the layout of the results is quite interesting: all platforms come in a dense group, and the results, obviously, do not depend on the memory speed. We traditionally explain the lag of SiS chipsets in this test by the weakness of their IDE controller, but now we have received additional, albeit very indirect, evidence for this: since there is no doubt that the P4X333 surpasses the P4X266A in all characteristics, the only reasonable explanation for the lag of the first is that the revised V-Link interface or just an unsuccessful beta version of the same IDE drivers (note that we tested in strict accordance with VIA’s recommendations for selecting drivers).

      Processor bus acceleration helps a little with MPEG4 encoding and is practically useless when archiving with WinAce, where memory speed is more important. Video encoding due to its work with graphics slows down the execution on the i845G with a built-in accelerator by 5%, while the WinAce shell does not require this. In general, both tasks show the effect of speeding up the memory subsystem, and if MPEG4 streaming is still faster on the i850E, then archiving with a large dictionary brings the VIA P4X333 and i845G to the fore.

      Both sets of SYSmark tests show that there are neither clear leaders nor clear outsiders among the compared systems. The i845G with integrated graphics is noticeably slightly behind, but due to the specifics of these tests, 3-5% of the difference in the results is not only not critical, but will not be noticed by a real user in real applications of the class under study. VIA P4X333 and i845G are among the best again.

      Rendering in 3ds max and another column of even numbers, again with a tiny lag behind the i845G integrated video system. Not bad for an almost free video card!

      From the set of professional OpenGL tests SPECviewperf, we chose only one, the results of which quite balancedly reflect the balance of power in the entire package as a whole (considering that, as usual, AWadvs-04 and ProCDRS tests do not reveal differences between systems equipped with one and the same powerful video accelerator). The picture is quite clear: both «new» i845s are on a par, and this is perhaps the fastest kit for working with DDR266 SiS 645DX and P4X266A show approximately the same performance level, but both with DDR333; P4X333 and i845(E,G) with DDR333, as a rule, outperform even SiS645DX+DDR400 and are inferior only to i850E.

      In games, the already familiar situation is repeated without clear winners and losers, except, of course, for the integrated i845G graphics.

      Conclusions

      First, let’s summarize the new Intel processors: the studies carried out in the previous article were also confirmed in this one, on the i845D-i845E(or G) pair. There is a gain from a faster bus, it is stable, although, of course, it never reaches exorbitant heights in real tests: 5% (10% in the best case) this is the fate of the performance gain of Pentium 4 on a 533 MHz bus compared to Pentium 4 on a bus 400 MHz. As we have already noted, if the prices for old and new models coincide or are close, it certainly makes sense to buy new ones. If, again, we are talking about buying a system (platform, anyway) from scratch otherwise, you will almost certainly need to change the motherboard (and possibly memory), which will not be worth the money at all.

      The choice of a chipset for the new Pentium 4 is quite difficult, but as always in such cases, it’s pleasant — the complexity lies precisely in the richness of the choice. Each of the three Pentium 4 chipset manufacturers offers one extremely attractive solution. For Intel, this is undoubtedly the i845E(G) as we have already seen, in almost all tests the results of both chipsets (represented by motherboards from different manufacturers with pre-sale BIOS versions) coincide or are extremely close, and the price of the i845G, according to Intel’s plan, will be only a few dollars higher than the i845E price, so we can consider the i845G variant with an external video card to be absolutely identical to the i845E. Realizing that integrated chipsets are in most cases a special class of tasks and buyers, we nevertheless consider it important to note that in any tasks that do not require active work with three-dimensional graphics, the i845G integrated video adapter shows its best side, practically without slowing down system. But let’s put the i845G aside until the next article, and take a look at the others.

      Intel offers yet another controversial solution, the i850E. The performance of systems using Rambus memory is still unsurpassed, and if you get PC1066 memory somewhere and make it work, you can still feel like a king of speed for a very long time. Still, the morally obsolete other parameters of the chipset, the uncertainty of the future (including Intel’s attitude) of RDRAM, and similar factors do not allow us to recommend motherboards based on this chipset to everyone. Take it only if you are well versed in the market situation and the variety of hardware sold.

      SiS plays in a slightly different market sector, where the buying principle « to work, and cheaper » dominates. Well, SiS fulfills the second part of this slogan perfectly, and generally exceeds the first part. Even with the exotic DDR400, almost never seen by anyone, but the chipset works with it, and when working it bypasses many, if not all. Do you need ultra-high performance? Buy a regular DDR266 and the SiS 645DX makes good use of it. If you are a little tight on money, SiS 645DX is your choice.

      Finally, VIA. A wonderful new chipset, a bunch of modern and even ahead of its time features. We won’t list them here again, but we can’t help but recall the excellent performance shown with the now ordinary DDR333 memory. In certain applications, this chipset has the highest speed, there are no failures anywhere… But the problems of the VIA chipset are not hidden in speed. Soon they will celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of the legal showdown between you-know-who for you-know-what reason. And for all this time, none of the major motherboard manufacturers has officially produced a single motherboard based on VIA chipsets. We have already described the emerging vicious circle more than once, but we note that the situation clearly does not serve the wide distribution of products based on VIA chipsets.

      So, the new processors are presented, all the currently available chipsets for them (in sufficient quantity to make it picky to choose from) too. Those who are ready to buy can go to the store, while the rest we are waiting for the final part of the study, which will examine the i845G video system in detail and evaluate the place of this chipset among its integrated colleagues.

      AMD Athlon X4 845 vs Intel Core i7-3770: What is the difference?

      smartphonesgraphic cardswireless headphonesCPU

      36 Ballla

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      42 Ballla

      Intel Core i7-3770

      Winner when compared to

      VS

      64 AMD Athlon X4 845

      Intel Core I77-3777777777777777777777777777777777777A Is Athlon X4 845 better than Intel Core i7-3770?

      • 533MHz higher RAM speed?
        2133MHz vs 1600MHz
      • 1MB more L2 cache?
        2MB vs 1MB
      • 12W below TDP?
        65W vs 77W
      • 0. 25MB/core more L2 cache per core?
        0.5MB/core vs 0.25MB/core
      • Has FMA4?
      • Has FMA3?

      Why is Intel Core i7-3770 better than AMD Athlon X4 845?

      • 4 more CPU threads?
        8 vs 4
      • 33.7°C higher than maximum operating temperature?
        105°C vs 71.3°C
      • Smaller 6nm semiconductors?
        22nm vs 28nm
      • 64KB more L1 cache?
        256KB vs 192KB
      • Has integrated graphics?
      • Uses multithreading?

      What are the most popular comparisons?

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      vs

      Intel Core i3-9100F

      Intel Core i7-3770

      vs

      Intel Core i5-3470

      AMD48 X45

      VS

      AMD Athlon X4 950

      Intel Core i7-3770

      VS

      Intel Core i5-6500

      AMD ATHLON X4 845

      VS

      AMD AMD ATHOLON X4 880K 9000CALON X4 880KA 9000k 9000. vs

      Intel Core i5-3570

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      VS

      Intel Core i5-337U

      Intel Core i7-3770

      VS

      VS

      Intel Core

      ATHA ATHA ATHA ATH

      Intel Core i5-6500

      Intel Core i7-3770

      VS

      Intel Core i7-3770k

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      A10-7870K

      Intel Core INTEL CORE INTEL CORE INTEL CORE INTEL CORE INTEL CORE INTEL CORE IME Intel Core i5-7400

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      VS

      Intel Core i3-4130

      Intel Core i7-3770

      VS

      Intel Core 9000 9000 9000 VS 9000 VS 9000 VS AMD Athlon X4 Core i3-3220

      0 reviews of users

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      0. 0 /10

      0 Reviews of users

      Intel Core i7-3770

      3 Reviews of users

      Intel Core i7-37770

      /

      3 Reviews of users

      Functions

      The price ratio

      reviews is not

      8.7 /10

      3 Votes

      reviews yet not

      9.0 /10

      3 Votes

      performance

      Reviews still not

      10.0 /10

      9000 3 Votes

      Reliability

      Reviews yet there are no

      9000 9000 10.0 / 10

      3 Votes

      Energy efficiency

      Reviews not yet

      9.0 /10

      3 Votes

      0003

      4 x 3.5GHz

      4 x 3.4GHz

      CPU speed indicates how many processing cycles per second a processor can perform, considering all its cores (processors). It is calculated by adding the clock speeds of each core or, in the case of multi-core processors, each group of cores.

      2nd processor thread

      More threads result in better performance and better multitasking.

      3.speed turbo clock

      3.8GHz

      3.9GHz

      When the processor is running below its limits, it can jump to a higher clock speed to increase performance.

      4. Unlocked

      ✖AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✖Intel Core i7-3770

      Some processors come with an unlocked multiplier and can be easily overclocked for better performance in games and other applications.

      5.L2 Cache

      More L2 scratchpad memory results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.

      6.L3 cache

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      More L3 scratchpad memory results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.

      7.L1 cache

      More L1 cache results in faster results in CPU and system performance tuning.

      8. core L2

      0.5MB/core

      0.25MB/core

      More data can be stored in the L2 scratchpad for access by each processor core.

      9. L3 core

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      2MB/core

      More data can be stored in L3 scratchpad for access by each processor core.

      Memory

      1.RAM speed

      2133MHz

      1600MHz

      Can support faster memory which speeds up system performance.

      2.max memory bandwidth

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      25.6GB/s

      This is the maximum rate at which data can be read from or stored in memory.

      3rd version of DDR memory

      DDR (Dynamic Dynamic Random Access Memory Double Data Rate) is the most common type of main memory. New versions of DDR memory support higher maximum speeds and are more energy efficient.

      4.Memory channels

      More memory channels increase the speed of data transfer between memory and processor.

      5.max memory

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Maximum amount of memory (RAM).

      6.bus baud rate

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      The bus is responsible for transferring data between various components of a computer or device.

      7. Supports memory debug code

      ✖AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✖Intel Core i7-3770

      Memory debug code can detect and repair data corruption. It is used when necessary to avoid distortion, such as in scientific computing or when starting a server.

      8.eMMC version

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-3770)

      A newer version of eMMC — built-in flash memory card — speeds up the memory interface, has a positive effect on device performance, for example, when transferring files from a computer to internal memory via USB.

      9.bus frequency

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-3770)

      The bus is responsible for transferring data between various components of a computer or device

      Geotagging

      1. PassMark result

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      This test measures processor performance using multithreading.

      2nd PassMark result (single)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      This benchmark measures processor performance using a thread of execution.

      3.Geekbench 5 result (multi-core)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures multi-core processor performance. (Source: Primate Labs, 2022)

      4. Cinebench R20 result (multi-core)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Cinebench R20 is a benchmark that measures the performance of a multi-core processor by rendering a 3D scene.

      5.Cinebench R20 result (single core)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Cinebench R20 is a test to evaluate the performance of a single core processor when rendering a 3D scene.

      6.Geekbench 5 result (single core)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Geekbench 5 is a cross-platform benchmark that measures the single-core performance of a processor. (Source: Primate Labs, 2022)

      7. Blender test result (bmw27)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-3770)

      The Blender benchmark (bmw27) measures CPU performance by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render a scene in a shorter time.

      8.Blender result (classroom)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-3770)

      The Blender (classroom) benchmark measures CPU performance by rendering a 3D scene. More powerful processors can render a scene in a shorter time.

      9.performance per watt

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      This means that the processor is more efficient, resulting in more performance per watt of power used.

      Functions

      1.uses multithreading

      ✖AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✔Intel Core i7-3770

      Multithreading technology (such as Intel’s Hyperthreading or AMD’s Simultaneous Multithreading) provides higher performance by dividing each physical processor core into logical cores, also known as flows. Thus, each core can run two instruction streams at the same time.

      2. Has AES

      ✔AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✔Intel Core i7-3770

      AES is used to speed up encryption and decryption.

      3. Has AVX

      ✔AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✔Intel Core i7-3770

      AVX is used to help speed up calculations in multimedia, scientific and financial applications, and to improve the performance of the Linux RAID program.

      4.Version SSE

      SSE is used to speed up multimedia tasks such as editing images or adjusting audio volume. Each new version contains new instructions and improvements.

      5. Has F16C

      ✔AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✔Intel Core i7-3770

      F16C is used to speed up tasks such as image contrast adjustment or volume control.

      6 bits transmitted at the same time

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-3770)

      NEON provides faster media processing such as MP3 listening.

      7. Has MMX

      ✔AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✔Intel Core i7-3770

      MMX is used to speed up tasks such as adjusting image contrast or adjusting volume.

      8. TrustZone enabled

      ✖AMD Athlon X4 845

      ✖Intel Core i7-3770

      The technology is integrated into the processor to ensure device security when using features such as mobile payments and video streaming using Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology ).

      9.interface width

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (AMD Athlon X4 845)

      Unknown. Help us offer a price. (Intel Core i7-3770)

      The processor can decode more instructions per clock (IPC), which means the processor performs better

      Price comparison

      Cancel

      Which CPUs are better?

      This page is currently only available in English.

      Pentium4 :

      08.07 Fake Apple 9 sellers «breed» around the world0003

      06.08 The American King Spam surrendered to FBI agents

      05.08 in the Vologda region will judge the official in the case of tomographs

      05.08 The Chief of the Nevsky District summed up the wrestling of the illegal game activity

      9000 9000 9000 9000 9217 murders of a Tula family

      04.08 Prosecutor of the Tula region: The alleged killer of the Tula family is an intelligent young man

      04.08 An investigative experiment will be conducted in the apartment of the murdered family in Tula

      02.08 Globally, St. Star Wars (photo, video)

      02.08 Death of fire

      02.08 The all-seeing eye on the road

      02.08 0003

      01.08 Computer games, with elements of violence, seized from the Norwegian stores

      01. 08 residents of the Petrovsky district, they did not see the newspaper with an announcement of the elections of Matvienko

      9000 9000. »

      AD:

      845DBA/845DBAL

      • Intel 845D chipset,support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz F.S.B
      • Support ATA100
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • On-board 10/100 LAN (845DBAL only)
      • DDR RAM Support

      845CA/845CAL

      • Intel 845 chipset,support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz F.S.B
      • Support ATA100
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • On-board 10/100 LAN • Six PCI Slots

      645DA

      •SiS 645 chipset,support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz F.S.B
      •Support ATA100
      •4x AGP VGA Mode
      •On-board Audio
      •Support DDR333 Memory

      I407/I407L

      • Intel 845 chipset,support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz F.S.B
      • Support ATA100
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • On-board 10/100 LAN (I407L only)
      • Micro ATX

      645EM/645EML

      • SiS 645 chipset,support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz F. S.B
      • Support ATA100
      • Support PC133 SDRAM
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • On-board 10/102 only (6) ATX

      650EM/650EML

      • SiS 650 chipset, support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz F.S.B
      • Support ATA100
      • On-Board VGA
      • Support PC133 SDRAM
      • On-board 10/100 LAN (650EML only)
      • Micro ATX

      P4XFA

      • VIA P4X266A chipset with Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz support
      • ATA 133 support
      • 168-pin DIMM and 184-pin DDR RAM support
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode

      P4MFA

      • VIA P4X266A chipset supporting Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz
      • ATA 133 support
      • 168-pin DIMM and 184-pin DDR RAM 9 support2236 • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • integrated video adapter

      845DDA/845DDAL

      • Intel 845D chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz
      • Support ATA100
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • built-in 10/100 network card (only for 845DDAL) • DDR 9236 support

      845GPRO

      • Intel 845E chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Extra ATA 133 support
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • USB 2. 0 support
      • 6 channel audio
      • DDR RAM support

      845EDAK

      • Intel 845E chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Extra ATA 133 support
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • USB 2.0 support
      • 6-channel audio DDR RAM support

      845LDM/845LDML

      • Intel 845GL chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz
      • Integrated graphics
      • Integrated 10/100 LAN (845LDML only)
      • DDR RAM 9 support2236 • USB 2.0 support
      • 4-channel audio
      • Micro ATX form factor

      845EPRO

      • Intel 845E chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Extra ATA 133 support
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • USB 2.0 support
      • 4-channel audio DDR RAM support

      845GDM/845GDML

      • Intel 845G chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Integrated graphics adapter
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode

      P4MDMP

      • VIA P4M266 chipset, Supports Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz
      • ATA133 support
      • Supports 184-pin DDR RAM
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • Integrated graphics adapter
      • Micro36 922 network card

      P4X400DA/P4X400DAZ

      • VIA KT400 chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • ATA133 support
      • USB 2. 0 support
      • Integrated IEEE 1394 controller (P4X400DAZ only)
      • Support DDR400 DIMM
      • Built-in network map 10/100 LAN (only P4x400DAZ)

      P4XDMP

      • Chipset VIA P4x266e, support SOKKET478 PENTIUM 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Support for ATA133
      • Support 18-p USB 2.0 support
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • Micro ATX
      • Integrated network card

      P4X533U

      • Chipset VIA P4M266A , support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz
      • Support for ATA 133
      • Support for 168-pin DIMM and 184-pin DDR RAM
      • 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • USB2.0 support (P4X533U only)

      P4845GLM

      • Intel 845GL chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400MHz
      • Support for 4x AGP VGA
      • 96 SD226 memory support
      • Micro ATX Form Factor

      845GEA/845GEAL

      •Intel 845GE chipset, support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      •Integrated video adapter
      •Support 4x AGP VGA
      •Support DDR333 RAM
      • DDR333 RAM support
      • USB 2. 0 support
      • Embedded 10/100 network card

      Alioth GE

      • Intel 845GE chipset, support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Embedded video adapter
      • Embedded video adapter
      channel audio
      • DDR333 SDRAM support
      • Integrated 10/100 network card
      • Integrated 1394a port
      • Integrated Serial ATA133

      Alioth PE

      • Intel 845PE chipset, support Socket478 Pentium 43 CPU 400/50
      • ATA133 support
      • 168-pin DIMM and 184-pin DDR RAM support
      • 4x AGP VGA support
      • USB2.0 support
      • Built-in network card (P4XFCP only)

      P4MFP533/P4MFU533

      • Chipset VIA P4M266A Support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 533MHz
      • Support for ATA 133
      • Support 168-Pin DDR RAM 9236 • Support 4x AGP VGA 9236 • network card (P4MFP533 only)

      P4MFU533T

      • VIA P4M266A (CE) Chipset supporting Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 533MHz F. S.B
      • Support for Hyper Treading CPU
      • Support for ATA133
      • Support for 168-pin DIMM and 184-pin DDR RAM
      • Support for 4x AGP VGA Mode
      • Support for USB2.0

      P4MDUT

      • VIA P4M266A(CE) Chipset supporting Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz F.S.B
      • Support Hyper Treading CPU
      • ATA133 support
      • Support for 184-pin DDR RAM
      • Integrated VGA

      845E4

      • VIA P4M266A (CE) Chipset with Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 533MHz F.S.B support
      • Hyper Treading CPU support
      • ATA133 support
      • 168-pin DIMM and 1GP4-pin DDR RAM 924 support • Mode AGA36 support
      • USB2.0 support

      IGVM/IGVMP

      • Intel 845GV chipset, supporting Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz
      • Integrated graphics
      • Integrated 10/100 LAN (IGVMP)
      • DDR333 RAM support
      • USB 2.0 support
      • 6-channel audio
      • Micro ATX Form Factor

      P4MDPT

      • VIA P4M266A(CE) Chipset supporting Socket478 pentium 4 CPU 400/533MHz F. S.B
      • Hyper Treading CPU support
      • ATA133 support
      • 184-pin DDR RAM support

      865GDM/865GDMP

      • Intel 865G chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533/800MHz
      • Integrated Graphice Controller
      • USB 2.0 support
      • 6 channel audio
      • Dual Channel DDR333/400 SDRAM support
      • Integrated NIC (865GDMP only)
      • Integrated Serial ATA150 port
      • Integrated VGA
      • Micro form factor ATX

      865PEDA/865PEDAP

      • Intel 865PE chipset, support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533/800MHz
      • USB 2.0 support
      • 6 channel audio
      • Dual Channel DDR333/400 SDRAM 9 support2236 • Built-in NIC (865PEDAP only)
      • Built-in Serial ATA150 port

      865GDA/865GDAP

      • Intel 865G chipset, support for Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533/800MHz
      • Integrated graphics controller
      • USB 2.0 support
      • 6-channel audio
      • Support for Dual Channel DDR332

      Integrated NIC (865GDAP only)
      • Integrated Serial ATA150 port
      • Integrated VGA video adapter

      875PMAX

      • Intel 875P chipset, support Socket478 Pentium 4 CPU 400/533/800MHz
      • Integrated graphics adapter
      • USB 2. 0 support • 6 Channel Speaker
      • DDR333/400 SDRAM support
      • Integrated network card 10/1000
      • Integrated 1394a port
      • Integrated Serial ATA133 port

      Time of Troubles. History of processors with Intel NetBurst architecture. Part 1 / Habr

      On November 20, 2000, an event took place that many were looking forward to: Intel officially introduced the new Pentium processors — Pentium 4 based on the «Willamette» core. For the first time, this toponym was mentioned (according to tradition, Intel gives “geographical” code names to its products) happened already in 1996, some specifics appeared two years later — in the fall of 1998, when, according to the original plans, the final announcement was to take place.

      The processor seemed to be a further development of the P6 microarchitecture, this was even indicated by the internal designation of this version of the microarchitecture — P68, and was supposed to become a transitional link to Merced processors based on the new set of EPIC instructions (explicitly parallel instruction computing — «computation with explicit parallelism of machine commands»). It just so happened that these plans were not destined to come true. The processors of this generation have certainly become commercially successful, but at the same time the attitude towards them is extremely controversial and disputes among researchers of the history of technology and enthusiasts of retrocomputing do not subside to this day.

      This article continues a series of articles about the history of processors and platforms for them, we have already studied the period from the appearance of the Pentium to the latest versions of the Pentium III. And if the previous period can be considered the «Golden Age», now the «Time of Troubles» is coming. The competition is heating up, and Intel is making the wrong bets. Time machine, ready to go, attention… START!

      Is the first pancake lumpy?

      Shortly before the announcement of the Pentium 4, Intel lost the “gigahertz race” to its main competitor, AMD, 2 days late (on paper). At the same time, Intel did not succeed in stepping over gigahertz — Pentium III 1133 MHz processors (Coppermine, do not confuse with the subsequent Tualatin) were withdrawn from the market due to unstable operation, the 1100 MHz model (with a 100 MHz bus) nevertheless went into series, but it was produced in minimal quantities, and a 25% lower bus bandwidth in some tasks even led to a lag behind the 1000 MHz version with a 133 MHz bus. Athlon reached 1200 MHz by the end of October.

      Intel, in turn, demonstrated prototypes back in February, running at a mind-blowing 1.5 GHz! Expectations were extremely high! And as far as the frequency is concerned, they completely came true — the first models came out at 1400 and 1500 MHz. But, as usual, there were many nuances. First, the new systems were extremely expensive, which in general is not surprising. The problem is that in addition to the cost of the processor — $ 644 and $ 819, respectively, two other key components cost a lot.

      The motherboard based on the currently uncontested Intel 850 chipset with support for dual-channel RDRAM memory required an expensive eight-layer design due to the complexity of the wiring, and the memory itself was still several times more expensive than the usual SDRAM. As a result, boxed versions came with two 64 MB modules included.

      Secondly, from the very beginning, the level of performance demonstrated was not as impressive as expected. The new microarchitecture received a pipeline twice as long — 20 stages, but the branch prediction block was still underdeveloped, and often made mistakes, which led to downtime of the actuators. On the other hand, ALUs — arithmetic logic units, worked at twice the core frequency, a new set of SSE2 instructions appeared.

      The cache of the first level was implemented interestingly, instead of its part responsible for caching instructions, a cache of already decoded micro-operations appeared. And yet, the new Pentium 4 no longer supported multiprocessor mode, unlike its predecessors. Thus, the new processors performed very well in multimedia tasks, especially those related to data encoding, and relatively modestly in most others.

      Rambus Strikes Back

      On the technical side, the strength of the new platform was the chipset. Intel 850 «Tehama», in its first iteration, worked in tandem with the south bridge (hub, according to official Intel terminology) ICh3, familiar from Intel 815. It didn’t get any fundamentally new functionality, except for Pentium 4 support, but everything related to this key feature was done right!

      Source

      First, the new processors used a new QPB (Quad Pumped Bus) instead of the usual GTL / AGTL bus with a frequency of “only” 100 MHz, but with an effective data transfer rate corresponding to 400 MHz AGTL . In the future, up to the latest Core 2, Intel used the effective bus frequency in the designation of processors.

      The bus was the bottleneck of the Pentium III, data was exchanged with memory through it, and precisely because of this there was little point in using faster memory in desktop systems based on it — only active I / O could fully load both topics more quad-channel memory controllers in Intel 840, Intel Profusion, and ServerSet III. Therefore, even in workstations, the simpler Intel 820 and VIA 694D chipsets were often used.

      That’s why the Rambus memory for the Pentium III was almost useless. With the Pentium 4, RDRAM has a second chance. The Intel 850 chipset received support for dual-channel (like i840) memory with an effective frequency of 800 MHz up to 2 GB. Its throughput was 3200 MB / s, exactly matching the capabilities of the bus.

      The combination was perfect, but expensive. As mentioned above, due to memory prices, Intel had to add two minimum-volume strips to the boxed version of Pentium 4. Quite quickly, by mid-2001, a more affordable solution arrived — Intel 845 «Brookdale», which received support instead of RDRAM. ..PC133 SDRAM. Much of the bad reputation of the early Pentium 4s is its merit.

      Source

      The chipset itself was not so bad — reliable and stable, but the discrepancy between memory bandwidth and processor requirements ruined performance in the bud — the average drop was about 20 percent. The insufficient memory speed was aggravated by the small amount of Willamette cache — the same 256 KB as the old Coppermine.

      A compromise could be DDR memory, already used in the DDR266 variant in VIA chipsets for the AMD K7 platform. Its bandwidth would be a third less than the system bus, but it’s better than three times. But Intel at that time was bound by an agreement with Rambus, under which it undertook not to release chipsets with other types of memory, with the exception of PC133 SDRAM and slower ones.

      But VIA made a fuss — the P4X266 chipset came out almost simultaneously with the Intel 845. There is only one problem — VIA did not get a license from Intel to produce chipsets with QPB bus support. And she did not receive it, not because she was not ready to pay, but because Intel refused to provide it. A serious scandal broke out, which greatly slowed down the distribution of motherboards based on an alternative chipset. As a result, of course, VIA received a license, but only after the release of DDR chipsets from Intel itself.

      The Digital Vintage collection currently includes the SERVERGHOST Catalina P7/SE workstation based on the Intel D850GB «Garibaldi» board. The main difficulty with restoring Socket 423 systems is not finding a motherboard or processor, much less memory — RIMM modules are quite common, but finding a cooling system. The coolers used in this generation were no longer used in other platforms. Only some server coolers for Socket 603 turn out to be compatible, but they are quite noisy. Fortunately, in our case, we managed to quickly assemble the entire set. The machine will be from the very first release of the Pentium 4 at the end of 2000. Its configuration:

      • Intel Pentium 4 1400 MHz (Socket 423)
      • Motherboard Intel D850GB «Garibaldi»
      • 1 GB RAM — PC800 RIMM ECC
      • Nvidia GeForce 2 GTS 32 MB graphics card
      • 40 GB IDE hard drive
      • 50x CD-ROM
      • Enclosure InWin S500

      The computer is planned to run Windows Millennium Edition (yes, that’s right!).

      Internal competition

      In 2001, in order to test the 130 nm process technology on a less complex product, Intel released an updated Pentium III based on the Tualatin core. Mobile and server versions get 512 KB of cache, the desktop version is cut in half — the full version is too productive. The Celeron (nicknamed «Tualeron» by enthusiasts) becomes a hit — with 256 KBytes of cache and a 100 MHz bus, it practically does not lag behind the desktop version of the Pentium and overclocks perfectly, while the low nominal bus frequency does not require much effort on the part of the board to overclock. When running the Celeron 1200 on a 133 MHz bus, the processor speed reaches 1600 MHz, and the performance level matches and sometimes even exceeds the Pentium 4 1.8 GHz (except for tasks that benefit from NetBurst features, of course). The reputation of the Pentium 4 is tarnished.

      Let’s make a reservation right away, as a rule, Pentium 4 was involved in the comparison in conjunction with PC133 memory, and this, of course, significantly influenced the results. But even with the Intel 850, Willamette would not have won back completely — Celeron would have matched a slightly lower-frequency processor, and would not have lost outright. So the fact remains, the cheap “past generation Celeron” compared with the latest top.

      Despite the hype, this story did not greatly affect the sales of Pentium 4, but sealed the fate of Tualatin. Despite the high frequency potential on the new process technology, the development of Tualatin stopped at 1400 MHz, although during overclocking, most of the early stepping processors reached 1600-1700 MHz, and some late-stepping processors overclocked up to 2000 MHz. However, certain conclusions were made and their name is Pentium M.

      Change socket

      If this time the processor and the chipset finally appeared at the same time, then Intel was unable to refuse the second “favorite” trick. As with the first Pentium, the original Socket 423 was scheduled for a very short life. Moreover, this became known already at the time of the release of the processor. In the original version, only Pentium 4 processors based on the Willamette core were produced.

      The final socket was the 2 GHz model announced on August 27, 2001, simultaneously presented in both versions. This time around, Intel was ahead of AMD, which soon had to introduce performance ratings to label its Athlon XP. The heat dissipation of the top Pentium 4 model reached 100 W.

      Socket 478 exactly match the size of the BGA chip located on the panel of the «old» Socket 423 — Intel simply removed the «extra» link, the intermediate board to which the chip was soldered. The new connector was also called uPGA due to the reduced pitch and diameter of the legs, which became more brittle.

      The new socket also brought a greater variety of processors. First of all, previous models were released for it, starting from 1.5 GHz, and already in January 2002, new Pentium 4s based on the Northwood core appeared — released according to the 130 nm process technology and having a double cache size — 512 KB. And in May 2002, Willamette «returned» — in the form of a pair of Celeron models with a frequency of 1.7 and 1.8 GHz with a 128 KB cache. The return was short-lived — already in September, Celeron moved to the Northwood core, however, without receiving an increase in cache.

      Celeron’s systematic «cutting down» in relation to the main line has begun, the most noticeable today — in fact, Celeron can hardly be called a full-fledged processor, as it was in the first years of its existence. Although already in the days of Socket 478 they began to tease it with a «socket plug» — the lag even from the same-frequency Pentium 4 was too noticeable even to the naked eye, especially on inexpensive chipsets with slow memory.

      i845 Series DDR Chipset Block Diagram — Source

      The new socket was installed on essentially the same boards. Only by the end of 2001 did the Intel 845D with support for DDR266 appear, and the SiS 645 announced back in August with support for the progressive DDR333 became available. The usual 845 went to aggravate the backlog of the Celeron — the combination of 128 KB of cache and PC133 memory often turned from a computing machine into a torture machine. Especially thanks to the growing popularity of Windows XP, which is much more demanding on resources than Windows 98. It started to work well starting with 256 MB of RAM, but cheap computers often installed only 128 MB.

      Rapid development

      With the advent of Northwood, the frequency race did not stop, but rather received a new breath. AMD processors, however, provided similar performance at a noticeably lower frequency, but Intel declared the importance of the frequency. In May, models with a bus frequency of 533 MHz appeared. In general, 2002 was marked by the achievement of a frequency of 3 GHz — it was taken by the 3.06 GHz model released on November 14 with a bus frequency of 533 MHz.

      It became the first desktop processor to support Hyper-Threading technology, a proprietary implementation of SMT (Simultaneous Multi Threading) — one processor was seen by the system as two logical ones, and when performing two tasks using different processor execution units, performance increased significantly. The increase in real conditions is from 5 to 10 percent, but the increase in complexity and cost of the processor was negligible.

      At the same time, new chipsets began to appear. The top was Intel 850E with support for 533 MHz bus and received a new south bridge ICh5 with support for six USB 2.0 ports. This was Intel’s latest RDRAM solution. Rambus never managed to bring down the cost of its memory and lost the market. The 845D replaced the 845E with 533 MHz bus support, and soon the 845PE, which received the ability to work with DDR333 memory. There were also integrated solutions based on it — 845GE, 845GV (without support for AGP video cards) and 845GL (also limited by a 400 MHz bus).

      Finally licensed, VIA released a whole family of chipsets for processors with a 533 MHz bus — P4X266A, P4X333 and even P4X400 — featuring support for new memory standards — DDR333 and DDR400. Their integrated versions were also released — P4M266, P4M333 and P4M400. Unfortunately, due to release delays, VIA lost a significant portion of the market and failed to regain its former popularity.

      On the other hand, VIA chipsets for Athlon were the most popular and one of the best for a long time. It was on the VIA P4X266A chipset that the last known Baby AT form factor board, the Commate P4XB model, was released. In terms of component layout and size, it is very similar to a mATX board, but, as expected, the Baby AT does not have an I / O port panel, most of which are made in the form of miscarriage brackets.

      SiS chipsets turned out to be successful — thanks to their low cost, decent reliability and adequate performance, manufacturers of budget boards and ready-made computers fell in love with them. And if the discrete SiS 645 and 648 were just popular, then their integrated brother SiS 650 was just a hit. It produced not only desktop computers, but also a significant part of laptops — thanks to low heat dissipation and advanced energy-saving technologies, it was also suitable for use in mobile computers.

      There aren’t many cars based on this generation in the Digital Vintage collection. For example, the 845 chipset family is represented by one system — SERVERGHOST Rotoscope P7 based on the Intel D845GEBV2 «Brownsville 2» motherboard (845GE chipset). The machine is equipped with a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor with a 533 MHz bus (Northwood core), 2 GB of RAM and an 80 GB IDE hard drive. Radeon 9200 is used as a graphics card.

      Mobile World

      The arrival of Pentium 4 in laptops was significantly delayed, until 2002 Tualatin with 512 KB of cache ruled here — Pentium III-m. Willamette was too hot for mobile use, and only with the release of Northwood did the situation change. The thermal package of the mobile version managed to fit within 35 W, which is much more than the Pentium III, but half that of the desktop versions. And anyway, laptops on Pentium 4-m, the mobile version received such a name, were distinguished by heaviness and short battery life.

      Processors started at 1.4 GHz, but these versions are extremely rare; The maximum frequency is 2. 6 GHz, the processor was released in April 2003, after the announcement of the Pentium M. The mobile Pentium 4 was at the top for only one year, in the spring of 2003 it was replaced by a seriously modified Pentium III — this was the beginning of the end of both the NetBurst microarchitecture and the frequency race .

      For the Pentium 4-m, Intel released a single chipset — a discrete Intel 845MP with support for a 400 MHz bus and DDR266 memory. Part of the market was occupied by the integrated ATi Radeon IGP 330M chipset, created jointly with ALi. It made it possible to significantly reduce the cost of the finished solution and at the same time reduce power consumption, while providing adequate performance for the integrated video core and the system as a whole.

      However, even after the release of the Pentium M, the mobile Pentium 4 continued its development, they were intended for large multimedia laptops focused on working with video content — where NetBurst shows itself best. In fact, these were adapted desktop models, they were distinguished from the main line primarily by their adherence to the 533 MHz bus even when desktop processors switched to a faster version, as well as support for Intel Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST) energy-saving technology. But even with it, the thermal package reached 88 W in older models!

      Common desktop processors were also widely used in laptops, and even such giants as Toshiba and IBM did not shun such similar ones. Laptops of the «desktop replacement» class were very popular at that time — with a powerful processor and a large screen, with a powerful video card. Often they had very weak batteries or even did without them (the so-called «desknouts»). Often these machines were based on SiS chipsets — 645 and 648, less often Intel 845MP.

      Cheaper desktops were based mainly on two chipsets — Intel 852GME (a simplified version of 855GM/GME, which in turn is a highly energy-saving version of 845GE) and SiS 650, much loved by budget laptop manufacturers. Sometimes there were also chipsets from ATI.

      At that time, locally assembled laptops were popular on the Russian market (in fact, OEM machines from Chinese manufacturers — Clevo, Mitac and others). Most laptops were based on SiS chipsets. Moreover, if the SiS 650 was quite understandable in cheap laptops, in the middle segment the SiS 648 also did not look completely alien, then a huge, 17 «laptop for $ 3400 (the same money was worth the IBM ThinkPad T40p!) With more than 3 GHz processor, powerful video card, but with the same SiS inside, in a plastic case and with a terrible keyboard — it simply generated rejection in the minds of even the slightest understanding user.

      The Digital Vintage collection started in 2008 as a purely notebook collection, so there are many interesting notebooks from this period. As an example, here are some of them:

      IBM ThinkPad A31p is a mobile workstation based on an Intel Pentium 4-m 1700 MHz processor with ATI Mobility FireGL 7800 professional graphics. It features a magnificent 15-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1600×1200 , significant thickness and the presence of compartments for two optical drives at once, which, however, can be used for other expansion devices. It’s also the latest ThinkPad with a built-in analog video digitizing interface.

      IBM ThinkPad T30 14″ Business Notebook. Based on Pentium 4-m 1900 MHz. The first ThinkPad with a touchpad, before all models were equipped only with TrackPoint. Pay attention to the thickness of the case — 35 mm, more than previous and subsequent models.

      The IBM ThinkPad R40e is a budget 14″ version. Mobile Celeron was installed in most configurations, the presented copy is equipped with a Pentium 4-m 2200 MHz. The chipset used is interesting — ATI Radeon IGP 330M with a southbridge manufactured by ALi.

      RoverBook Explorer E570 WH is one of many local brands. Mid-range model — Pentium 4 2.8 GHz, SiS 650 chipset, ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 discrete video. Plastic case, the strength of which does not match the strength of the lid hinges, weak keyboard — you can grumble at this machine endlessly, but still this is part of the story. And despite everything — this technique works stably to this day.

      Dino World

      Let’s get back to serious technology and forget Roverbooks like a bad dream. In the world of big computing, reliability and performance are valued — other solutions are used there, and this time a small “revolution” came from there. But about it — a little later, but for now let’s get back to Rambus.

      The first Xeon (now just Xeon, without Pentium) based on Netburst came out in May 2001, their name is Foster. In fact, these were the same Willamette with 256 KB of cache and frequencies from 1.4 to 1.7 GHz (later a 2 GHz model was added), but with support for dual-processor configurations and made in the Socket 603 design.

      In February 2002, they were replaced by processors based on the Prestonia core, an analogue of Northwood. In addition to the doubled cache, these processors received support for Hyper-Threading technology, which will appear in desktop processors only by the end of the year. The first models operated at a frequency of 1.8 to 2.2 GHz (400 MHz bus), later the frequencies reached 3.0 (400 MHz bus) and 3.06 GHz (533 MHz bus), Xeon LV processors with reduced power consumption were also released — with a frequency of 1.6 to 2.4 GHz. Processors with a 533 MHz bus received a «new» Socket 604, it was possible to install «old» processors in it, but not vice versa.

      But these processors were only replacements for the Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon with 256 KB cache (for dual-processor solutions), but not the full-fledged Cascades with 2 MB cache (the last of which entered the market already in 2001). Only in March 2002 did their successors appear, these were the Xeon MP (Foster MP) processors, supporting up to 4 processors in one system and having an on-chip L3 cache of 512 or 1024 KB. Since Intel processors have an inclusive caching architecture (each level caches the previous one), the effective cache size is not the sum of caches, but the size of the largest of them. Foster MP processors also had support for Hyper-Threading. Only three models were released — 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 GHz.

      At the end of 2002, Foster MP was replaced by Gallatin processors. They also used three levels of caching with cache sizes ranging from 1MB to 4MB. Frequencies — from 1.5 to 3.2 GHz. Most of these processors were sold as Xeon MP (they used a 400 MHz bus), but there were also models with a 533 MHz bus for dual-processor systems (Xeon DP).

      Foster and early Prestonia worked on boards based on the Intel 860 «Colusa» chipset, in fact it is an analogue of the desktop 850, but with support for dual-processor systems and the ability to install additional MRH-R chips that double the number of memory banks on each of the channels — such Thus, the chipset supports up to 8 slots and up to 4 GB of RAM. Supports the ability to install the P64H bridge, which adds the ability to work with the PCI64 bus or two additional PCI32 buses. The chipset works only with a 400 MHz bus, and uses the ICh4 southbridge, which differs from the ICh3 by supporting up to 6 USB version 1.1 ports. A version for the 533 MHz bus was not presented.

      But with DDR chipsets for workstations and servers, Intel obviously tried to compensate for the delay that happened in the desktop market! The variety is simply amazing:

      • E7500 «Plumas» (2-4 processors, 400 MHz bus, dual-channel registered DDR200) ​​
      • E7501 «Plumas» (2-4 processors, 533 MHz bus, dual-channel registered DDR266)
      • E7505 «Placer» (2 processors, 533 MHz bus, dual-channel registered DDR266, AGP support)
      • E7205 «Granite Bay» (1 processor, 533 MHz bus, dual channel DDR266, AGP 8x support)

      Intel E7505 Chipset Block Diagram — Source

      Please note that all chipsets use a dual-channel memory controller operating in synchronous mode with the processor bus. As a result, latencies are kept to a minimum and the memory bandwidth perfectly matches the needs of the processor bus. E7500/01/05 also support the 64-bit version of the PCI bus via an optional bridge, which technically can be screwed to the E7205 and even to desktop chipsets, as time will tell. And let this be a spoiler for the second part — Granite Bay, replacing Intel 850E, will give rise to new chipsets for Pentium 4, after the release of which there will be no trace of the bad reputation of early processors.

      Block diagram of the Grand Champion HE chipset on the example of the HP ProLiant ML530 server — Source The chipset was especially popular in the version for four-processor systems, although there were versions for simpler one- and two-processor machines. Moreover, it was based on essentially the same chipset, supplementing or simplifying which it was possible to obtain a system of the required level. Once again, even Intel itself produced boards and server platforms based on these chipsets. Unfortunately, Grand Champion was the last ServerWorks chipset, it was soon bought by the giant Broadcom and, for unknown reasons, left the market.

      There were also proprietary solutions, such as IBM’s XA-32 and EXA, but they were not used outside of IBM’s servers. These are higher level solutions than Intel and ServerWorks offerings — up to 8 processors in a standard configuration, and up to 16 using NUMA. The chipset also provides a fourth level cache.

      In the Netburst era, Reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) technologies are actively developing — RAID arrays with hot-swappable disks from the attributes of high-end servers penetrate everywhere, hot-swapping technologies appear, and sometimes adding memory (Chipkill), not to mention the replacement of expansion boards. At the same time, the decline of RISC reaches its climax — old architectures go one after another, new ones hang between life and death. Only IBM Power feels good and the still inconspicuous, but already ubiquitous ARM.

      In the Digital Vintage collection, this period is represented by two interesting self-assembly systems:

      SERVERGHOST Constellation X7/TE is a workstation based on two Xeon 2.0 GHz processors (Prestonia). Based on Tyan Thunder i860 EATX motherboard. An interesting feature is the placement of memory slots on a separate expansion card, which made it possible to equip the system with 8 RIMM slots, instead of 4 on most other boards. For this, two MRH-R chips are installed on the expansion board. The board is also equipped with a dual-channel Ultra160 SCSI controller. The amount of RAM is 2 GB (up to a maximum of 4 GB). Hard disk — 36 GB, 10000 rpm with SCSI interface. Video adapter — Matrox Millennium G450 Dual Head.

      SERVERGHOST Specter X7/TE is a dual processor 1U server based on the Gigabyte GS-SR125E platform. Equipped with Xeon 3.0 GHz processors (Prestonia) and 6 GB of RAM. Equipped with three 36 GB hot-swap drive cage and SCSI RAID controller. Motherboard — based on Intel E7501 chipset with P64H bridge to support 64-bit PCI bus.

      AMD advances

      The history of NetBurst is the history of rivalry with AMD. Companies were head to head in the race for the first gigahertz, but fate was on AMD’s side. The second time Intel could not allow this, and the second gigahertz was taken by it. AMD could no longer keep up with the third, but this does not mean that she left the fight.

      The performance rating is a measure that caused laughter at first. One of the most popular Athlon XP, the 2500+ model based on the Barton core, actually ran at 1833 MHz. But the jokes ended when it became clear that this processor competes on equal terms with the Pentium 4 2400-2600 MHz. The last model, the Athlon XP 3200+, lagged behind the rating by a whole gigahertz, but did not lag behind the declared competitor!

      But competing on equal terms does not mean winning. Although at that time AMD occupied up to 30% of the PC processor market, a much more serious answer was needed. And AMD didn’t look convincing in other segments either — its processors were rarely used in laptops, and the server Athlon MP had extremely limited popularity, despite its advantages.

      The answer was given in April 2003 and was loud. K8 is a 64-bit processor with a built-in dual-channel memory controller, with a frequency of up to 2.4 GHz, supporting work in eight-processor systems — the server version was the first to be released, which received the marketing name Opteron. A little later, in autumn, the desktop K8 — Athlon 64 came out. Even at frequencies below 2 GHz, they bypassed the 3 GHz Pentium 4 with a margin …

      To be continued …

      Intel, knowing about the upcoming announcement, also prepared, shortly before the release of Opteron, releasing updated Pentium 4 with a bus frequency of 800 MHz and announced further updates. The next two years brought a lot of revolutionary changes, many of which we still use today.

      Stay with us — in the second part you will find the continuation of the story:

      • From the servers — to the table
      • Slow down to speed up
      • Let’s cut off the legs of the processor
      • New tire for the ages
      • Napoleonic plans
      • Two in one!
      • Change course

      AMD Athlon X4 845 vs. Intel Pentium G4400

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      AMD Athlon X4 845 runs with 4 and 4 CPU threads It runs at 3.80 GHz base 3.80 GHz all cores while the TDP is set to 65 W. The processor connects to the CPU socket FM2+ This the version includes 2.00 MB of L3 cache on a single die, supports 2 to support DDR3-2133 RAM, and supports 3.0 PCIe Gen 8. Tjunction is kept below — degrees C. In particular, the Carizzo Architecture is advanced beyond 28 nm and supports None . The product was launched Q1/2016

      Intel Pentium G4400

      Intel Pentium G4400 runs with 2 and 4 CPU threads It runs on No turbo base No turbo all cores while TDP is set to 51 W . The processor connects to LGA 1151 CPU socket This version includes 3.00 MB L3 cache on a single die, supports 2 to support DDR4-2133 RAM, and supports 3.0 PCIe Gen 16 . Tjunction is kept below — degrees C. In particular, Skylake S Architecture is advanced over 14 nm and supports VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d . The product was launched Q3/2015

      AMD Athlon X4 845

      Intel Pentium G4400

      Frequency 3.30 GHz 4 Kernels 2 3.80 GHz Turbo (1 core) No turbo 3.80 GHz Turbo (all cores) No turbo No. Hyper Threading No. No. Acceleration No. normal Basic architecture normal no iGPU GPU

      Intel HD Graphics 510

      no turbo GPU (Turbo) 1. 00 GHz 28nm Technology 14nm no turbo GPU (Turbo) 1.00 GHz DirectX Version 12.0 Max. displays 3 DDR3-2133 memory size DDR4-2133 2 Memory channels 2 Maximum memory size Yes ECC Yes — L2 Cache — 2.00MB L3 Cache 3.00 MB 3.0 PCIe version 3.0 8 PCIe lanes 16 28nm Technology 14nm FM2+ Connector LGA 1151 65 W TDP 51 W None Virtualization VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d Q1/2016 Release date Q3/2015

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      Cinebench R15 (Single-Core)

      Cinebench R15 is the successor to Cinebench 11. 5 and is also based on Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is software used all over the world to create 3D shapes. The single-core test uses only one CPU core, the number of cores or hyper-threading capability is not taken into account.

      Cinebench R15 (Multi-Core)

      Cinebench R15 is the successor to Cinebench 11.5 and is also based on Cinema 4 Suite. Cinema 4 is software used all over the world to create 3D forms. The multi-core test uses all the CPU cores and has a big advantage of hyper-threading.

      Geekbench 5, 64bit (Single-Core)

      Geekbench 5 is a memory-intensive, cross-platform benchmark. A fast memory will greatly push the result. The single-core test uses only one CPU core, the number of cores or hyper-threading capability is not taken into account.

      Geekbench 5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

      Geekbench 5 is a memory-intensive, cross-platform test. A fast memory will greatly push the result. The multi-core test uses all the CPU cores and has a big advantage of hyper-threading.

      iGPU — FP32 Performance (Single-precision GFLOPS)

      Theoretical processing performance of the processor’s internal graphics unit with simple precision (32 bits) in GFLOPS. GFLOPS specifies how many billions of floating point operations the iGPU can perform per second.

      Geekbench 3, 64bit (Single-Core)

      Geekbench 3 is a cross-platform benchmark that is memory intensive. A fast memory will greatly push the result. The single-core test uses only one CPU core, the number of cores or hyper-threading capability is not taken into account.

      Geekbench 3, 64bit (Multi-Core)

      Geekbench 3 is a cross-platform benchmark that is memory intensive. A fast memory will greatly push the result. The multi-core test uses all the CPU cores and has a big advantage of hyper-threading.

      Cinebench R11.5, 64bit (Single-Core)

      Cinebench 11.5 is based on the Cinema 4D Suite, a software that is popular for creating shapes and other things in 3D. The single-core test uses only one CPU core, the number of cores or hyper-threading capability is not taken into account.

      Cinebench R11.5, 64bit (Multi-Core)

      Cinebench 11.5 is based on Cinema 4D Suite, a software that is popular for creating shapes and other 3D. The multi-core test uses all the CPU cores and has a big advantage of hyper-threading.

      Cinebench R11.5, 64bit (iGPU, OpenGL)

      Cinebench 11.5 is based on Cinema 4D Suite, a software that is popular for creating shapes and other things in 3D. The iGPU test uses the CPU’s internal graphics unit to execute OpenGL commands.

      Estimated results for PassMark CPU Mark

      Some of the processors listed below have been tested with CPU-Comparison. However, most of the processors were not tested and the results were evaluated by the secret patented CPU-Comparison formula. As such, they do not accurately reflect the actual values ​​of Passmark CPU ratings and are not endorsed by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.