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Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1234
SiS offers DDR2-800, PCI Express and no AGP in 2004
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 6, 2004 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Continuing our recent trend of bringing you all the latest in unpublished CPU and Chipset roadmaps we have SiS' 2004 roadmap.
As usual, we'll keep it simple and jump straight into the chipsets:
2004 Pentium 4 Chipset Roadmap | ||
---|---|---|
Chipset |
SiS 656 |
SiS 656FX |
FSB Support | 400/533/800MHz |
400/533/800MHz |
Memory Bus Width | Dual 64-bit |
Dual 64-bit |
Memory Type(s) Supported | DDR266/333/400 - ECC DDR2 400/533/667 - ECC |
DDR2 400/533/667/800 - ECC |
External Graphics Interface | PCI Express x16 |
PCI Express x16
|
Other Interfaces | N/A |
N/A |
Availability | April '04 |
Q4 '04 |
SiS' P4 chipset roadmap is very similar to Intel's in that none of their flagship chipsets this year will feature AGP support; SiS is moving very aggressively to PCI Express for graphics. This leaves VIA as the only chipset vendor providing a dual AGP/PCI Express solution for the Pentium 4.
Also unlike VIA, SiS does not include any PCI Express interface other than the x16 slot off of the North Bridge. The SiS South Bridges will initially offer 2 PCI Express x1 slots in April but then by the end of the year we'll see the 966 South Bridge with support for 4 PCI Express x1 slots.
DDR2-800 support will also be added by the end of the year - assuming memory availability.
2004 Pentium 4 RDRAM Chipset Roadmap | ||
---|---|---|
Chipset |
SiS R659FX |
SiS R659TX |
FSB Support | 400/533/800MHz |
400/533/800MHz |
Memory Bus Width | 4 x 16-bit channels |
4 x 16-bit channels |
Memory Type(s) Supported | PC1333 RDRAM |
PC1600 RDRAM |
External Graphics Interface | PCI Express x16 |
PCI Express x16 |
Other Interfaces | N/A |
N/A |
Availability | Q3 '04 |
Q1 '05 |
For whatever reason, SiS will continue their RDRAM support throughout 2004 and into 2005 with these two chipsets. Other than the memory interface, everything else remains the same as the DDR based chipsets.
2004 Athlon 64/FX/Opteron Chipset Roadmap | ||
---|---|---|
Chipset |
SiS 755FX |
SiS 756 |
FSB Support | 1GHz Hyper Transport |
1GHz Hyper Transport |
Memory Bus Width | N/A |
N/A |
Memory Type(s) Supported | N/A |
N/A |
External Graphics Interface | AGP 8X |
PCI Express x16 |
Other Interfaces | N/A |
PCI Express x4 |
Availability | Q1 '04 |
May '04 |
SiS' K8 roadmap is pretty straightforward: we have the 755FX for now and after May the 756 will be the last chipset for Athlon 64/FX/Opteron for 2004. Both of SiS' 2004 solutions will feature 1GHz HT support, while the 756 will add PCI Express x16 support. Unlike SiS' P4 chipsets, the 756 will also feature an x4 slot off of the North Bridge - presumably for Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express cards.
What's interesting to note is that SiS will not have any new Athlon XP chipsets for 2004 - this year will definitely be the year of the Athlon 64.
As we mentioned above, SiS' 2004 South Bridges will bring PCI Express x1 slots (2 at first, then 4 by the end of the year. In addition to that, starting in March with the 965 South Bridge SiS will offer 4 SATA ports in addition to Gigabit Ethernet support.
SiS does have chipsets with integrated graphics as offerings in addition to all of the aforementioned solutions, if you'd like to read about more mainstream chipsets as well please let us know so we can better tailor the information you.
Recent Roadmaps
VIA Picks up the Pieces: AGP and PCI Express on 2004 Roadmap