DCC
Workstations Rev Up on the 840
For the DCC workstation and server market, good news came with the
announcement of not only higher Pentium III and Pentium III Xeon processor
speeds (up to 733MHz) and a faster bus speed (133MHz) but also the first
available Rambus support provided by the newly arrived Intel 840 chipset.
Workstations with this combination now offer enhanced features and capabilities
including 64-bit PCI support, graphics support for AGP 2x/4x, on-cartridge
voltage management and dual Direct RDRAM memory channels.
The Intel 840 chipset is designed to meet the needs of high performance
multi-processor systems utilizing Intel Pentium III or Pentium III Xeon
processors. In addition, the 840 chipset supports RDRAM or SDRAM memory.The
840 chipset has none of the problems experienced by its sister chipset,
the 820, which Intel still says will be introduced before the end of
the year. The most likely time for its appearance is mid-November just
before Comdex.
The 840 chipset has two separate channels for communicating with Rambus
memory, each of which can support up to two RDRAM modules, for a total
maximum theoretical bandwidth of 3.2GB per second, which is twice the
1.6 GB/sec of the 820 chipset. The 820 chipset was originally designed
to support up to three memory modules, but Intel has found that it can't
pass validation tests in a three-module configuration and will most
likely release a two-module version first.
Like
other 800 series chipsets, the 840 chipset has three core components:
the 82840 Memory Controller Hub (MCH) provides graphics support for
AGP 2X/4X, dual RDRAM memory channels, and multiple PCI segments for
high performance I/O; the 82801 I/O Controller Hub (ICH) utilizes Intel
Accelerated Hub Architecture to make a direct connection to the MCH
and supports 32-bit PCI, IDE controllers and dual USB ports; the 82802
Firmware Hub (FWH) stores system BIOS and video BIOS, as well as an
Intel Random Number Generator (RNG) which provides truly random numbers.
Three other components may be used with the core components for improved
scaleability: the 82806 64-bit PCI Controller Hub (P64H) supports 64-bit
PCI slots at speeds of either 33 or 66 MHz and connects directly to
the MCH using Intel Accelerated Hub Architecture, providing a dedicated
path for high performance I/O; for systems needing high RDRAM capacity,
an 82803 RDRAM-based memory repeater hub (MRH-R) can convert each memory
channel into two memory channels for expanded memory capacity (up to
4GB); for systems needing high SDRAM capacity, an 82804 SDRAM-based
memory repeater hub (MRH-S) may be used to translate the RDRAM protocol
into SDRAM-based signals for system memory flexibility.
Systems utilizing the Pentium III or Pentium III Xeon/Intel 840 chipset
have been announced or are planned by Compaq (AP550, SP750), Dell (Precision
410 and 610 in late 4Q99), DTK (Gràfika 550), IBM (Intellistation
M Pro), Intergraph (ZX ViZual Workstations in late 4Q99), and HP (Kayak
XU800).
For a more
complete listing of announced desktop and workstation systems utilizing
the new Pentium III Coppermine chips click
here.
proceed
to Desktops
