Chipsets for Athlon 64
The Athlon 64 processor requires a new generation of chipsets, both to support its 64-bit processor architecture and to allow for integration of the memory controller into the processor (the memory controller has traditionally been located in the North Bridge chip or equivalent). AMD, VIA Technologies, NVIDIA, ATI, and ALi Corporation have developed chipsets for the Athlon 64.
Table 4.44 lists the major features of the first chipsets developed for the Athlon 64.
Table 4.44. Chipsets for Athlon 64|
AMD | 8151 | Yes | DDR200/266/333 | AGP 8x | ATA-133, SATA | ALi | M1687/M1563 | Yes | DDR266/333 | AGP 8x | ATA-133 | ATI | IGP 380 | No | DDR200/266/333 | AGP 8x, Radeon 9000 | ATA-133 | VIA | K8T400 | Yes | DDR200/266/333 | AGP 8x | ATA-133, SATA | VIA | K8M400 | Yes | DDR200/266/333 | SavageXP integrated graphics | ATA-133, SATA | VIA | K8T400M | Yes | DDR200/266/333 | AGP 8x | ATA-133 | NVIDIA | Crush K8 | No | DDR200/266/333 | AGP 8x | ATA-133 | NVIDIA | Crush K8G | No | DDR200/266/333 | AGP 8x, GeForce4 MX | ATA-133 |
Many of these chipsets introduce enhanced versions of features seen in previous chipsets. For example, the ALi M1687/M1653 is the first PC chipset to support the 16-bit/800MHz version of the HyperTransport interconnect. HyperTransport 16x8 has a maximum bandwidth of 3.2GBps to help prevent data-transfer bottlenecks.
Some chipsets add new features. For example, AMD's 8151 Graphics Tunnel (North Bridge) also uses HyperTransport at speeds equal or superior to ALi's to connect to the AMD 8111 HyperTransport I/O Hub, and it supports an optional AMD 8131 PCI-X Tunnel chip to permit system and motherboard designers to add high-speed PCI-X slots to an Athlon 64 system.
Figure 4.48 shows the architecture of the AMD 8151 chipset for Athlon 64.
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