Universal Features (continued):
Full support for 1066MHz FSB - All three chipsets will support Intel Pentium 4 processors with 1066MHz frontside buses, as well as supporting a 1066MB/s link between the Northbridge and the Southbridge (ULtra V-Link support). These chipsets will also be the first to market with true DDR-II 667 support. With advanced timings (4-4-4-12), there will be a sizable performance boost over DDR.
VIA Vinyl Audio - The VIA Vinyl audio is considered to be one of the richest onboard audio solutions, and it will be featured on boards with these new chipsets. 8 channel stereo and 24/96 resolution digital outputs are just two of the key features.
VIA Drive Station - Drive Station encompasses many aspects of controlling the hard drives on a motherboard with one of these chipsets. Some interesting features include up to 4 SATA controllers with speeds of 3.0 GB/s, a port multiplier which will act like a hub to allow multiple drives on one SATA connection, and an integrated RAID solution that will support many common configurations (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, JBOD, etc.).
VIA PT880 Pro Chipset:
The PT880 Pro will be the first of the three chipsets to make its way into production, which is targeted for early February (2005). Manufacturing partners onboard to use these chipsets include some familiar names: Abit, Asus, Biostar, Chaintech, DFI, ECS, Epox, Gigabyte, Jetway, MSI, and Soltek. No firm information is available to confirm this, but it may be a good bet that the first out of the gate would be either Abit, Gigabyte, or MSI.
PT880 Pro Specific Features and Specifications:
• Targeted at performance mainstream segment, considered replacement for i865/i875 based motherboards
• Supports latest Intel Pentium 4 and Celeron processors, up to 1066MHz FSB
• StepUp technology allows easy DDR to DDR-II migration. Supports:
• DDR 400/333/266
• DDR-II 667/533/400
• Flex Express Architecture:
• Universal graphics interface allowing AGP 8x and PCI-Express graphics cards
• Multi-display support for up to 4 monitors
• Use AGP and PCI-Express graphics cards at the same time
• High bandwidth PCI-Express peripherals, 2 PCI-Express x1 connections to the Southbridge
The graphic below illustrates the VIA PT880 Pro chipset architecture.
PT880 Pro Performance:
The drivers for the PT880 Pro chipset are still in their infancy, and a more complete offering will be available by the time the product reaches production. But, even the preliminary benchmarks show promise!
The chart below shows a PT880 Pro based system with first a PCI-Express and then an AGP graphics card, as compared to a 915P board with PCI-E graphics and an 865PE board with AGP graphics. The PT880 Pro results in PCMark04 and 3DMark05 are close to those of the 915P board when using PCI-E, and hold a narrow edge over the 865PE board when using AGP.
The next set of results compare the same systems when benchmarked with Comanche, Aquamark3, and Doom3. And once again, the PT880 Pro system lags just behind the 915P when using a PCI-Express graphics card, but manages to be the 865PE system when using AGP graphics.
The preliminary results are decent, especially for those looking to upgrade from an 865/875 based system, but it would be nice to see an actually advantage over the 915P system. Hopefully as the drivers mature the performance edge will shift and make the PT880 Pro that much more appealing.
PT880 Pro Value:
Depending on what each manufacturer decides to bundle with PT880 Pro motherboards, prices can be expected to generally be under $100 (US). This makes the boards quite competitive with the present prices of 865, 875, and basic 915 motherboards. Taking the preliminary performance benchmarks and the estimated price into consideration, PT880 Pro based motherboards should be well placed to compete with the current Intel based offerings.
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