Universidade da Madeira - UMA
Arquitectura de Sistemas Computacionais Prof. Dr. Paulo Sampaio
Paulo N.M. Sampaio
Organização da disciplina
Programa Teórico 1. Introdução (IPCHW 1) 2. Microprocessadores para PCs (IPCHW 3-14) 3. Chips de Memória (IPCHW 15) 4. Chipsets (IPCHW 16) 5. Interrupções e DMA (IPCHW 17) 6. RAM CMOS e RealtimeClock (IPCHW 18, 19) 7. Arquitecturas e Sistemas de BUS (IPCHW 20, 22, 25) 8. Dispositivos de Amazenamento (IPCHW 28, 29, 30, 31) 9. Periféricos (IPCHW 32, 33, 34, 35, 37)
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4. Chipsets
Motherboard • A motherboard provides the frame work on which all the computer components and ports are mounted. • Every device in a computer system connects either directly or indirectly to the motherboard. • A motherboard may be referred to as the system board.
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4. Chipsets
Pentium 4 Motherboard
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4. Chipsets
Motherboard Chipset • If the CPU is the brain of your PC, the chipset is its heart. It controls the flow of bits that travel between the CPU, system memory, and the motherboard bus. • Efficient data transfers, fast expansion bus support, and advanced power management features are just a few of the responsibilities of the system chipset .
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets •
The first PC motherboards were designed with discrete chips used to complete the entire motherboard circuitry (other than the processor and math coprocessor)
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Components included… – Clock generator – Bus controller – System timer – keyboard controller
– Interrupt controllers – DMA controllers – CMOS RAM and clock
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4. Chipsets
What is a Chipset?
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* Enhanced Intregrated Drive Electronics (IDE) ** Infrared Data Association *** Direct Memory Access
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4. Chipsets
Chipset Varieties • The chipset defines the capabilities of a motherboard in regard to: – – – –
Processor type Memory type and capacity (RAM) Types of internal and external supported Expansion bus types supported
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets • Central to PCs • Chipset is the motherboard • Two boards with the same chipset are functionally identical • Chipset determines: – – – – –
which type of processor can be used how fast it will run how fast the buses will run speed/type/amount of memory etc
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4. Chipsets
Chipset Evolution • Original PC/XT/AT’s contained – – – – – – – –
Clock generator 8284 Bus controller 8288 System timer 8253 Interrupt controller(s) 8259 DMA controller(s) 8237 CMOS RAM/Real Time Clock Keyboard controller Lots of discrete glue logic (TTL) to complete the motherboard circuit – TOTAL: >100 individual chips
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4. Chipsets
Chipset Evolution •
1986: “Chips and Technologies Inc.” introduces revolutionary 82C206
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82C206 – single chip integrating all functions of the main motherboard chips for AT-compatible systems
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Processor + 82C206 + four other chips (buffers) = Complete motherboard circuit
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based on it: NEAT (New Enhanced AT) chipset
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later followed by SCAT (Single Chip AT) 82C836 Paulo N.M. Sampaio
4. Chipsets
Chipset Evolution •
Chipset idea rapidly copied by other chip manufacturers – Acer, Erso, Opti, Suntac, Symphony, UMC, VLSI…
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1994: INTEL dominates market for – processors – chipsets – Motherboards
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…eliminating the delay between introduction of new processors and systems using them
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Today: Niche markets for Acer, VIA, SiS Paulo N.M. Sampaio
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4. Chipsets
Intel Chipsets • Intel Chipset Model Numbers
Chipset 420xx 430xx 440xx 8xx 450xx
Processor Family P4 (486) P5 (Pentium) P6 (PII, PIII) P6 (PII, PIII, P4) with hub architecture P6 Server (Pentium Pro, Xeon) Paulo N.M. Sampaio
4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features - Chipset Processor Support - Chipset Cache Support - Chipset Memory Support - Chipset Timing and Flow Control - Chipset Peripheral and I/O Bus Control - Chipset Power Management Support
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Processor Support - Processor Class Support and Optimization A chipset is designed to work with a specific set of processors in mind. In general, most chipsets only support one "class" or generation of processors: most chipsets are geared specifically for 486 type systems, Pentium class systems, or Pentium Pro / Pentium II systems. The reason for this is simple: the design of the control circuitry must be different for each of these processor families due to the different ways they employ cache, access memory, etc
- Processor Speed Support Faster processors require chipset control circuitry capable of handling them. The specification of the processor speed is done using two parameters: the memory bus speed, and the processor multiplier. In short, the processor bus and memory bus connect the processor, chipset and memory together.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Processor Support (cont´) - Multiple Processor Support Some chipsets support the ability to create motherboards with two or four processors on them. The chipset circuitry coordinates the activities of the processors so that they don't interfere with each other, and works with the operating system software to share the load between the CPUs for maximum efficiency. The only current standard for multiprocessing in Pentium and Pentium Pro PCs is Intel's version of SMP (symmetric multiprocessing). It only works with Intel processors.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Cache Support - Secondary Cache Size The chipset determines how much level 2 (secondary) cache is supported. Most modern chipsets support cache of either 256KB or 512KB.
- Secondary Cache Type There are three major types of cache currently in use; in increasing order of performance, they are: asynchronous, synchronous burst, and pipeline burst. Each requires different control circuitry, and therefore must be explicitly supported by the chipset.
- System Memory Cacheability Chipset characteristics control the maximum amount of memory the system can cache. This is a very different question than the amount of memory the system can hold. The amount of cacheable memory depends on the chipset control circuitry and the amount of tag RAM on the board. It does not depend on how much memory you currently have in the system.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Memory Support The chipset dictates many of the allowable characteristics of the memory used on your motherboard.
- Maximum Memory Support The chipset dictates the maximum amount of RAM you can have on the motherboard. For modern systems, this can be as low as 64 MB, or as high as 4 GB.
- DRAM Technology The chipset controls whether your motherboard can use FPM*, EDO**, BEDO***, or SDRAM memory. Changing the memory type impacts the way that memory is read and written to, which is controlled by the chipset. In addition, some chipsets are better than others with certain types of memory; a chipset can be optimized to provide faster access to a certain kind of memory, while being less efficient at using a different kind.
* Fast Page Mode DRAM ** Extended Data Output RAM *** Burts Extended Data Output DRAM
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Memory Support (cont´) - DRAM Packaging and Size Support The width of memory needed by the motherboard depends on how the chipset accesses memory, and on the data bus width of the processor. In general, 486 class machines require 32-bit wide memory and Pentium and Pentium Pro machines require 64-bit wide memory, but the chipset design has an influence on this. Some Pentium motherboards will handle 32-bit wide memory (slowly) by changing the way memory is accessed. - Parity
and Error Correction Support
Error correction logic is provided as part of the memory control circuits of the chipset. On modern PCs, both parity and ECC functions are provided by the use of parity memory; some chipsets support ECC only, using ECC memory. A chipset without at least parity support has no ability to detect or correct memory read errors.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Timing and Flow Control One of the chipset's most important functions is controlling memory reads and writes, and transfers to the local bus (usually PCI and/or AGP) by the processor.
- Address Decoding The chipset performs the function of translating the processor's requests for instructions and data into addresses that represent the locations in memory where this information can be found. -
Cache and Memory Data Transfer
When the processor requests information from the memory, the cache is first checked to see if it contains the data (since it is much faster than the memory). If it does, the data is read from there. Otherwise, it is read from the memory and given both to the processor for computation, and to the cache to store it in case the processor needs it again soon. The chipset controls the timing of these transfers. Better chipsets can do this work more efficiently than others.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Timing and Flow Control (cont´) - Bus Buffering and Data Flow The chipset controls and manages the flow of information from the local bus (PCI on a Pentium or later system) to memory, as well as from PCI directly to the processor. Since the processor, memory, and PCI bus are all operating at different speeds, buffers are used to hold data during transfers. Chipsets vary in the amount of these buffers that they provide; more buffers mean more ability to support concurrent operation of the processor, PCI bus, and memory.
- Memory System Timing Since memory is in most cases much slower than the processor it serves, the processor often must wait for the memory to provide it with information it needs. A "wait state" is a clock cycle (or "tick") where the processor is idle because it is waiting for the system memory. The chipset's goal is to reduce this waiting as much as possible; it inserts these wait cycles where necessary to make sure the processor doesn't get ahead of the system cache or memory. The faster your system memory and cache, the fewer of these wait states need to be performed, which increases performance.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Timing and Flow Control (cont´) - Memory Autodetection Most modern chipsets can automatically detect the type of memory and its speed, and adjust its wait states accordingly to ensure maximum performance without data loss. If this isn't supported, the user must enter the BIOS setup program and set the timing values there.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Peripheral and I/O Bus Control Most modern computers use two buses: the ISA (industry standard architecture) bus for slower peripherals, and for compatibility with older components, and PCI (peripheral component interconnect), a high-speed "local bus" for hard disks, video cards and other high-speed devices. The newest PCs also use the new AGP port for video. The chipset controls these buses, and transfers information to and from them and the processor and memory. The chipset's capabilities determine what kinds of buses the system can support, what speed they can run at, and what additional features they may have.
- Bus Types The chipset dictates what sort of buses the system can support; in fact, Intel calls its chipsets "PCIsets" and "AGPsets". Most modern PCs support the ISA and PCI buses, but older chipsets (on 486 class machines) support the VESA Local Bus (VLB) instead of PCI. There are even some 486 PCs that support all three buses on the same motherboard. The newest PCs also add AGP for video.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Peripheral and I/O Bus Control (cont´) - Bus Bridges A "bridge" is a networking term that refers to a piece of hardware that connects two dissimilar networks and passes information from the computers on one network to those on the other, and viceversa. In an analogous way, the chipset must employ bus bridges to connect together the different system bus types it controls. The most common of these is the PCI-ISA bridge, which is used to connect together devices on these two different buses.
- IDE/ATA Hard Disk Controller Almost all motherboards now have integrated into them support for four IDE (ATA) hard disks, two on each of two channels. There are several features related to the IDE interface and its use of the PCI bus that are controlled by the chipset: data transfer rate, etc.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Peripheral and I/O Bus Control (cont´) - DMA Controller and DMA Mode Support Direct memory access (DMA) provides a way for devices to transfer information directly to and from memory, without the processor's intervention. DMA is controlled by the chipset's DMA controller.
- Interrupt Controller The interrupt controller provides the means by which I/O devices request attention from the processor to deal with data transfers. This work is performed by a pair of Intel 8259 interrupt controllers (now integrated into the chipset).
- USB Support USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a technology intended to replace the current dedicated ports used for keyboards and mice. Support for USB is implemented as part of the chipset. Paulo N.M. Sampaio
4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Peripheral and I/O Bus Control (cont´) - AGP Support AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) is a new "bus" specifically designed by Intel to connect processors to high-speed graphics cards, especially ones performing 3D operations.
- Plug and Play Plug and Play (PnP) is a specification that uses technology enhancements in hardware, BIOSes and operating systems, to enable supported devices to have their system resource usage (IRQs, I/O port addresses, DMA channels) set automatically. Plug and Play requires support from the chipset as well.
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4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Power Management Support Most recent chipsets support a group of features that work together to reduce the amount of power used by the PC during idle periods. Power management works through a number of BIOS settings that dictate when to shut down various parts of the computer when it becomes idle. There are a number of different protocols that work together to make power management work. -
Energy Star
Energy Star is the program started to "certify" PCs that are considered energy efficient and incorporate power management or power use reduction features. Most PCs these days are Energy Star compliant, and display its distinctive logo on the screen when the BIOS boots up.
- Advanced Power Management (APM) Advanced Power Management or APM is the name given to the component in some operating systems (such as Windows 95) that works with the BIOS to control the power management features of the PC. Paulo N.M. Sampaio
4. Chipsets
Chipsets Functions and Features (cont´) Chipset Power Management Support (cont´) - Display Power-Management Signalling This standard, developed by VESA, specifies a set of signals that can be sent by compliant video cards to compliant monitors to instruct them to go into power-conserving modes.
- System Management Mode System Management Mode or SMM is a power-reduction standard for processors, that allows them to automatically and greatly reduce power consumption. It also incorporates features such as suspend/resume.
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4. Chipsets
Chipset Architectures • Two distinct chipset architectures: – North/South Bridge Architecture (Intel’s earlier chipsets)
– Hub Architecture
• A third chip referred to as a Super I/O chip provides support for legacy devices
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4. Chipsets
Intel chipsets are broken into a two-tiered architecture •
North Bridge… this refers to the major bus controller circuitry…
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– – – –
– Memory controllers – Cache controllers – PCI controllers
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this is the only mo’board circuit besides the processor that runs at full mo’board speed
South Bridge… this refers to the peripheral and non-essential controllers
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IDE controllers Serial port controllers USB interface CMOS RAM and clock functions
contains all components that make up the ISA bus, including IRQ and DMA controllers
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4. Chipsets
Bridge Review • Northbridge: – Provides support so the CPU can work with RAM.
• Southbridge – Provides support for some expansion devices – Provides support for mass storage devices
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4. Chipsets
Other Terms for the Bridges • Northbridge – Intel – Memory Controller Hub – AMD – System Controller
• Southbridge – Intel – I/O Controller Hub – AMD – Peripheral Bus Controller
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4. Chipsets
North/South Bridge Architecture •
North Bridge: Bridge between – connection between the high speed processor bus(66-400MHz) and the slower AGP(66-533MHz) and PCI(33-66MHz) buses
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South Bridge: Bridge between – connection between the PCI bus (33-66MHz) and even slower ISA (8MHz) bus – normally also contains IDE hard disk controller and USB interfaces
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Super I/O – attached to the ISA bus. Contains commonly used peripheral items combined in a single chip – may also contain CMOS RAM/Clock, IDE controllers, etc…
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4. Chipsets
Example North/South Bridge Architecture
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4. Chipsets
Example North/South Bridge Architecture Socket-7 System
CPU L1
FSB (533MB/s) L2
North Bridge Main Memory (EDO, SD)
PCI Slot
PCI Slot
PCI Slot
PCI (133MB/s) USB USB
South Bridge ATA ATA
ISA Slot
ISA Slot
ISA Slot
ISA (8MB/s) Keyboard
Super I/O
Mouse
Floppy COM LPT
Flash BIOS
CMOS RAM, Clock
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4. Chipsets
Hub Architectures •
Hub Architecture Blocks: The newer 800 series chips use a hub architecture in which the former North Bridge Chip is now called a Memory Controller Hub (MCH) and the former south bridge is called an I/O Controller Hub(ICH) – Memory Controller Hub (MCH) or Graphic Memory Controller Hub (GMCH) – I/O Controller Hub (ICH)
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4. Chipsets
Advantages Hub Architecture •
Faster than North/South Bridge Architecture – Hub interface is quad-clocked: 266MB/s
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Reduced PCI Loading – Hub interface (AHA bus) is independent of PCI and does not dissipate PCI bandwidth for chipset or Super I/O traffic. This improves PCI performance.
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Reduced board wiring – Although twice as fast as PCI, the hub interface is only 8 bits wide and requires only 15 signals to be routed on the motherboard. More economical. Less noise.
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Faster ATA/IDE and USB interfaces – ATA/IDE and USB traffic bypasses PCI
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4. Chipsets
Super I/O Controller Functions •
The Super I/O controller is a single chip that, much like the system chipset, performs many functions that used to take several pieces of hardware in the past. => This standardizes and simplifies the design, and thus reduces cost.
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Responsible for controlling the slower-speed, mundane peripherals found in every PC => The major functions of the Super I/O controller chip are: – – –
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Serial Port Control Parallel Port Control Floppy Disk Drive Control
Newer PCs sometimes integrate the functions even more, and include in the Super I/O chip not only the functions above but also the real-time clock, keyboard controller, and in some cases even the IDE hard disk controllers.
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4. Chipsets
The Super I/O chip • Handles the slower I/O operations no longer processed by the Southbridge. • Examples are: – – – – – –
Floppy Drive Controller Serial Ports Parallel Ports I/R Ports Keyboard Modems
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4. Chipsets
Chipset Drivers • The system ROM provides of the BIOS for the chipset. • To use all the features of a motherboard it is necessary to load the correct drivers for the OS being used by the system. • All motherboards ship with a CD ROM containing drivers, support programs and other optional software.
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4. Chipsets
Chipset Manufacturers • Six companies produce most of the chipsets used on Intel and AMD motherboards: – – – – – –
Intel VIA AMD SiS Ali NVIDIA
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4. Chipsets
Popular Chipsets •
Fourth Generation (486 Class) Chipsets
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Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets
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Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Non-Intel Chipsets
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Sixth Generation (Pentium Pro / Pentium II Class) Chipsets
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4. Chipsets
Fourth Generation (486 Class) Chipsets •
There are no major or dominant chipsets for 486 class machines. There were many different types and speeds of 486s and several companies that produced popular chipsets for these machines.
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The VESA Local Bus was invented at around the time that the 486 was introduced. As a result, the majority of 486-based motherboards are based on VLB designs. There are some older ones that just use an ISA bus.
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One interesting chipset design seen on some of these newer 486 motherboards is the so-called "VIP" motherboard, where VIP stands for "VLB, ISA, PCI". Usually they have 3 PCI slots, 3 ISA slots and one VESA Local Bus slot. The idea is to provide an upgrade path for 486 users without forcing them to throw away their VLB video cards.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets •
With Pentium and the PCI bus (to run on it), Intel decided to get into the chipset business => assure maximum performance, the coupling of the processor, cache and chipset.
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Starting in 1997, alternative chipset manufacturers such as Via Technologies and SiS also appeared. – – – – – –
Intel 430LX ("Mercury") Intel 430NX ("Neptune") Intel 430FX ("Triton") Intel 430HX ("Triton II") Intel 430VX ("Triton II", a.k.a. "Triton III") Intel 430TX
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430LX ("Mercury") •
First Pentium chipset =>used on the original Pentiums, which came in 60 and 66 MHz versions.
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Included the PCI bus and support for up to 128 MB of RAM.
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No support for EDO memory (which was introduced in the Triton series).
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Cache chips were soldered directly onto most motherboards
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Very quickly outdate, as did the motherboards it used and the hot, slow firstgeneration Pentiums they supported.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430NX ("Neptune") •
Intel's second generation Pentium chips - speeds 90-133 MHz
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Much faster, cooler and more reliably than the first generation Pentiums.
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The chipset itself introduced the following improvements over the Mercury (430LX) chipset: – – –
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Dual processor support. Support for 512 MB of system memory (up from 128 MB for the Mercury). Support for up to 512 KB of asynchronous secondary cache.
Like the Mercury before it, it faded before the introduction of the Triton line.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430FX ("Triton") •
Intel's first Triton chipset, the 430FX, "put Intel on the map" in the world of chipsets.
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The advantages of the 430FX over the 430NX are: – – – –
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The disadvantages of the 430FX compared to the 430NX are: – –
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Support for EDO memory. Supported for pipelined burst cache and synchronous cache technologies. PCI level 2.0 compliance. Improved performance, in general.
Less memory support (only 128 MB total). No support for dual processing.
The 430FX chipset was replaced by the Triton II twins: the 430HX and the 430VX.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430HX ("Triton II") •
Created by Intel to address some of the shortcomings of the original Triton => Intended to be a higher-end chipset aimed at the business or professional market.
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The HX chipset's primary advantages over the FX are: – – – – – – – –
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Support for parity and ECC memory. Dual processor support. Support for 512 MB of system memory instead of just 128 MB. Support for 512 MB of cached system memory instead of just 64 MB Much improved performance, due to faster memory timing and more I/O buffers. PCI level 2.1 compliance. USB support. Independent device timing for IDE/ATA drives.
Its biggest advantages are its faster performance, much larger maximum cacheable RAM, and parity / error correction support. Paulo N.M. Sampaio
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430VX ("Triton II", a.k.a. "Triton III") •
Also termed "Triton II“ =>HX is the more expensive solution intended for the business or power user, the VX is the cost-effective solution for the family PC or casual user.
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VX is often called the "Triton III“ ("new and improved“) - VX has only one significant technical advantage over the HX, and is actually inferior in almost every other way to the HX set. In many ways it is more similar to the FX than the HX.
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The VX chipset's advantages over the HX: – – –
Lower cost. Support for SDRAM. Improved burst memory reads when using SDRAM (though the initial read is slower).
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430VX ("Triton II", a.k.a. "Triton III") – cont´ •
The VX chipset's disadvantages compared to HX: – – – – – – – –
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No parity or ECC memory support. No dual processor support. Support for only 128 MB of system memory, like the FX. Support for only 64 MB of cached system memory, again, like the FX. Slower memory timings when using EDO memory (but faster than the FX). Fewer PCI I/O buffers (but more than the FX). No independent device timing for IDE/ATA devices. Fewer supported motherboard SIMM or DIMM slots.
The 430VX chipset can today be basically considered obsolete, since there is no technical reason to use it over the newer 430TX chipset.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430TX •
Primarily the choice of those seeking high performance
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Incorporates several new technologies, and improves performance over the VX chipset, but it leaves out several capabilities of the HX.
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The TX chipset's primary advantages over the VX: – – – – – – –
Improved memory timing for initial read from SDRAM. Increased maximum memory, from 128 MB to 256 (but cacheable memory remains at only 64 MB). Support for more SIMM and DIMM slots on the motherboard than the VX provides. Support for Ultra DMA transfers, allowing faster transfer rates on high-end drives. Independent device timing for IDE/ATA devices. Lower power consumption. Better performance overall.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Intel Chipsets (cont´) Intel 430TX (cont´) •
The TX chipset's disadvantages compared to the VX: – –
None really, except that it will be more expensive because it is newer and better. TX vs. VX => the TX is better, and the VX is cheaper, and that's the decision, performance vs. cost.
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The TX is the last Intel chipset for fifth generation motherboards. The future appears to belong to alternative chipset makers such as VIA Technologies.
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4. Chipsets
Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Non-Intel Chipsets •
From 1993 to 1997, Intel was "the" big chipset manufacturer for the Pentium platform => However, there have always been alternatives to Intel available.
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With Intel's decision to leave the fifth generation platform to concentrate on the Pentium II, a vacuum was created in the Pentium-compatible chipset market => Other companies have moved well beyond the TX, creating multiple new chipsets that surpass the 430TX in features and performance.
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In 1998, three primary alternative chipset vendors have emerged: Via Technologies, Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) and Acer Labs Inc. (ALi).
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As a result of these three companies all trying to outdo each other, new non-Intel Pentium-class chipsets have been coming out at an astounding rate.
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4. Chipsets
Sixth Generation (Pentium Pro / Pentium II Class) Chipsets •
If Intel dominated the Pentium chipset world, it does so even more for Pentium Pro / Pentium II chipsets.
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The Pentium Pro has been geared from the start to be a chip to be focused (in part) on servers and multiprocessing.
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Now that Intel has decided to go to the Slot 1 interface for the Pentium II, while AMD and Cyrix are sticking with Socket 7 on Pentium-class boards, chances are high that Intel will continue to dominate sixth generation chipsets for some time to come.
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Intel 450GX/KX ("Orion")
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Intel 440FX ("Natoma")
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Intel 440LX
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4. Chipsets
Sixth Generation (Pentium Pro / Pentium II Class) Chipsets (cont´) Intel 450GX/KX ("Orion") •
Intel's first Pentium Pro chipset was actually a pair of chipsets, both codenamed "Orion“ =>These are high-performance chipsets that are also priced rather high.
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The 450GX is the so-called "server" version => It supports unique features not found on other chipsets, including support for 8GB of 4-way interleaved memory, quad Pentium Pro processors, and two separate PCI buses.
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The 450KX is the "workstation" version of Orion => It supports dual processors, and "only" up to 1GB of 2-way interleaved memory.
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Both chipsets support parity/ECC memory.
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Due to their high cost, you are quite unlikely to see these chipsets used in PCs. They are, however, the de facto standard in the server world due to their advanced features and high performance.
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For PCs the 440FX "Natoma" chipset became the standard pretty much as soon as it was introduced.
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4. Chipsets
Sixth Generation (Pentium Pro / Pentium II Class) Chipsets (cont´) Intel 440FX ("Natoma") •
The vast majority of current Pentium Pro motherboards use the 440FX chipset, which was offered as more of a "mainstream" replacement for the 450KX Orion.
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Offers improved performance over the Orion at a lower cost => However, the latter still is preferred for very-high-end applications.
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Formed the basis for the first Pentium II motherboards
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The biggest weakness of the 440FX is that it does not incorporate the latest technologies: no support for Ultra DMA or SDRAM memory.
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4. Chipsets
Sixth Generation (Pentium Pro / Pentium II Class) Chipsets (cont´) Intel 440LX •
Intel's latest and current top-end chipset, designed specifically for the Pentium II.
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Compared to the 440FX, the 440LX chipset offers several improvements. The key ones are: –
It is the first Intel chipset supposedly to support the new Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) standard for increasing video performance, particularly 3D video.
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Support for SDRAM memory, the first time this memory has been supported for the Pentium Pro or Pentium II platform.
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Support for the Ultra DMA hard disk interface standard.
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Support for the universal serial bus (USB) interface.
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Improved performance, especially for the Pentium II.
440LX is used in the latest and best Pentium II motherboards
Paulo N.M. Sampaio
Motherboard with 440LX Chipset
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4. Chipsets
Intel 815 Chipset •
Introduced June 2000
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Mainstream PC chipsets
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Integral video upgradable via an AGP 4x slot
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Support Celeron, Pentium III, etc.
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Support PC133 SDRAM (more affordable than RDRAM)
Paulo N.M. Sampaio
4. Chipsets
Intel 815 Chipset •
Intel 815 Chipset Features – – – – – – – – – – – –
66/100/133 MHz system bus 266MB/s hub interface (AHA bus) ATA-100 or ATA-66 (100MB/s drive performance) PC100 or PC133 SDRAM Supports up to 512MB RAM Integrated Audio-Codec 97 Low-power sleep modes 2..4 USB ports LPC Bus Elimination of ISA Bus Integrated AGP 2x 3D graphics Integrated Ethernet controller 10/100Mb/s
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4. Chipsets
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Chipsets
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Organização da disciplina
Programa Teórico 1. Introdução (IPCHW 1) 2. Microprocessadores para PCs (IPCHW 3-14) 3. Chips de Memoria (IPCHW 15) 4. Chipsets (IPCHW 16) 5. Interrupções e DMA (IPCHW 17) 6. RAM CMOS e RealtimeClock (IPCHW 18, 19) 7. Arquitecturas e Sistemas de BUS (IPCHW 20, 22, 25) 8. Dispositivos de Amazenamento (IPCHW 28, 29, 30, 31) 9. Periféricos (IPCHW 32, 33, 34, 35, 37)
Paulo N.M. Sampaio
Universidade da Madeira - UMA
Arquitectura de Sistemas Computacionais Prof. Dr. Paulo Sampaio
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