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-------------------------------------------------------------- This story was printed from ZDNet Australia. --------------------------------------------------------------
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New Intel chipsets pump up PCs By John G. Spooner, Special to ZDNet October 08, 2002 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/New-Intel-chipsets-pump-up-PCs/0,139023166,120268855,00.htm
Intel has updated its chipset offerings, a move that promises better performance for a wide range of desktop PCs. The four updated chipsets add support for faster memory, and one with an integrated graphics chip improves graphics performance. The changes also make it possible for PCs to be built with the upcoming 3GHz Pentium 4 with hyperthreading, a technology that boosts performance by about 25 percent. While a PC's processor acts like its brain a chipset acts like its nervous and circulatory systems, managing the data that flows between the processor, memory and other system components. Intel's new 845PE chipset lets PCs use faster 333MHz Double Data Rate Synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR DRAM). The chipset is an update of Intel's current 845E chipset, introduced last May, which connects to DDR DRAM running at 200MHz and 266MHz. The chipset will be used in so- called mainstream desktops that use Pentium 4 processors and graphics boards from companies like ATI Technologies or Nvidia. Meanwhile, improvements to Intel's 850 chipset will aid top-of-the-line Pentium 4-based PCs. The 850 can only work with memory based on designs from Rambus (RDRAM). While it's not as popular as DDR SDRAM, Rambus memory provides better performance, analysts said. The new version of the 850, the 850E, can be paired with 1066MHz Rambus DRAM, otherwise known as PC1066. Earlier versions only worked with slower versions of RDRAM. Computer makers will likely pair both the 845E and 850E with the 3GHz Pentium 4. Intel's new 845GE, which replaces its 845G, will add DDR DRAM 333 and offer faster graphics capabilities for use in less expensive PCs. The chipset incorporates its own graphics processor, in this case a faster 266MHz version of Intel's Extreme Graphics engine, letting manufacturers cut some cost by eliminating a graphics board. The 845GE is likely to be the most popular of the new chipsets, because it can be used in a wide range of desktops, from a cheap Celeron PC to a fairly expensive Pentium 4 PC. Many business PCs use these chipsets. A new 845GV will replace Intel's current 845GL chipset. The 845GV cannot be hooked up with 333 DDR DRAM and is geared for the lowest price computers.
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