May 3, 1999
Intel's new 810 chip set brings welcome features
By Bob O'Donnell
The technologies that go into a modern personal computer take many different forms, but
inevitably, only the glamorous ones get the press coverage. So it was again last week,
when Intel announced a new 466-MHz version of its Celeron processor along with its new 810 chip set, code-named
Whitney. The vast majority of the press coverage focused on the processor -- which many
people seem to think is the only really important part of a PC -- and the chip set
garnered relatively little attention.
On the one hand, this is understandable because chip sets aren't exactly sexy
technology. (Plus, they can be a bit hard to decipher.) But the reality is, chip sets can
have an equally dramatic if not even more dramatic impact on a computer's capabilities and
performance. And in this specific case, the 810 is a heckuva lot more important than a
slightly speed-enhanced version of the Celeron.
The 810's importance stems from a raft of new features that it will enable lower-cost
PCs to include. First and foremost, the 810 incorporates a dedicated graphics controller
into the chip set and, best of all, does so in a way that provides flexibility and
reasonable performance (at least, according to Intel's initial benchmarks). Although the
810 uses main system memory for its frame buffer, it also incorporates a new piece of
integrated circuitry -- referred to as an arbiter -- that supposedly prevents conflicts
between the memory controller and graphics core, and streamlines their operation. The
bottom line is supposed to be much better performance than other designs that use a
unified memory architecture.
In addition, the 810's design allows the optional addition of 4MB of dedicated memory
for Z-buffering, which can improve 3-D performance dramatically. The 810's graphics
controller supports both 2-D and 3-D acceleration (it's similar to Intel's new i752
graphics chip in this regard), soft DVD video decoding, and a digital video output that
supports the new DVI (Digital Visual Interface) standard for connecting straight to
digital, flat-panel displays. Support for the AC97 audio standard also enables 810-based
computers to provide the equivalent of a sound card and/or modem in software as well.
The 810's architecture also supports several faster new pathways for connecting a
computer system's different components. First, on an obvious level, it's the first chip
set designed for low-cost PCs to support a 100-MHz system bus, which will allow it to work
with either PC66 or PC100 Synchronous DRAM memory. More importantly, though, the chip set
also features a new 266-MHz path that links the various parts of the chip set itself.
Intel calls this the Accelerated Hub Architecture. Previous designs -- including the
current 440BX -- use the 133-MHz bandwidth of the PCI bus to communicate between the chip
set's memory controller and I/O controller. In addition, as part of this Accelerated Hub
Architecture, the 810 moves the IDE, PCI, and USB controllers off the PCI bus and onto
this faster path. As a result, IDE and USB devices can get access to memory twice as fast
as any previous designs. What this will translate to in real-world performance benefits
remains to be seen, but it certainly sounds promising. Unfortunately, this design change
doesn't remove the interrupt request requirements for these devices, which can still be a
problem.
As positive as this all may sound, the 810's features are not without some controversy.
First of all, the 810 chip set is the first to officially drop support for ISA. As a
result, no computers built using the 810 will be able to use ISA components of any kind.
In place of the ISA are the LPC bus for the motherboard connections previously handed by
ISA -- such as for the Super I/O controller that talks to the keyboard, floppy drive, and
other older components -- as well as a new Firmware Hub, which holds the PC's BIOS and
connects to the PCI bus. In addition, this Firmware Hub -- which is also expected to be
part of the forthcoming 820 chip set that's optimized for higher-end Pentium III-based
computers -- also includes a random-number generator, which ties in with Intel's efforts
to provide security features in its products.
All told, the 810 looks to be an impressive new addition to the technology that
underlies today's PCs. Its "componentized" architecture will enable Intel to
maintain a certain level of consistency across different chip sets and provides what looks
to be a solid framework for the future.
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Copyright 1999, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
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