We first reported basic information about VIA chipsets for Intel Socket 775 about 7 months ago. At that point, road maps pointed to sampling in September of 2004. There have been changes along the way and numerous delays, but today, VIA finally introduces three new chipsets for Prescott Socket T. VIA has watched the very sluggish market for Intel Socket 775 motherboards, and they believe that they have found a better solution which people will want to buy. All the new chipsets feature PCI Express, but unique to VIA, all three chipsets can run at 1066 FSB and use either DDR or DDR2 memory. The PT880 PRO also supports PCI Express graphics or AGP graphics or both on the same motherboard.

VIA is convinced that the high current cost of adoption of the new Socket 775 technology is putting a damper on Socket 775 sales. DDR2 is still more expensive than DDR and VIA projects DDR will still outsell DDR2 until at least the 4^th quarter of 2006 - some 2 years away. 915/925X motherboards are also more expensive than competing solutions - about $150 average for 915 and $200+ for 925X/XE. These cost factors, combined with poor availability of PCIe parts, has led to a very sluggish adoption of Socket 775. In addition, there is very little to distinguish 925X/XE performance from 915, except for the somewhat artificial barrier that only 925XE supports the 1066 FSB (currently only one very expensive CPU supports 1066 FSB). We would also add that the lack of any performance advantage for Socket 775 has also had a dramatic impact on sales.

To address these market forces, VIA has introduced three new chipsets for Socket 775. Flexibility is the key throughout the new chipset line, as VIA emphasizes that manufacturers can choose the architecture and features that customers want. VIA believes that this flexibility, compared to the rigid requirements of the Intel 915/925x chipsets, will give manufacturers and customers plenty of incentive to choose a VIA chipset solution for Socket 775.

The New VIA Chipsets

Today's introduction consists of three new VIA chipsets, targeted at different market segments.

The PT880 PRO is aimed at current Intel 865/875 users looking for a processor upgrade to Socket 775. However, the new Socket 775 is the only new purchase that you have to make with the board. Users can bring their existing AGP graphics card and memory with them - and still have an upgrade path to PCI Express graphics and DDR2 memory. The PT894 and PT894 PRO are aimed at the Enthusiast market and support only PCI Express graphics. The PT894 additionally supports dual PCIe graphics in an x16/x4 configuration.

Platform Summary - Discrete P4 Chipsets
	PT880 Pro	PT894	PT894 Pro
Processor Bus	533/800/1066MHz	533/800/1066MHz	533/800/1066MHz
Memory Support	Dual Channel DDR-1 400/333/266 &/OR DDR-2 400/533/667	Dual Channel DDR-1 400/333/266 &/OR DDR-2 400/533/667	Dual Channel DDR-1 400/333/266 &/OR DDR-2 400/533/667
Graphics Support	Universal Graphics Interface: PCI Express or AGP 8X OR PCIe + AGP 8X	PCI Express	VIA DualGFX Express (Dual PCI Express)
Chip Interconnect	Ultra V-Link	Ultra V-Link	Ultra V-Link
South Bridge	VT8237	VT8237/VT8251	VT8251
Sampling	Early February 2005	Now (January 2005)	Late February 2005
Retail Market	Late Feb/Early March 2005	Late February 2005	Late March/Early April '05

All three chipsets support either DDR1 or DDR2 or both memory types on the same board (depending on what the manufacturer chooses to implement. The three new VIA chipsets are the first on the market to officially support DDR2-667 memory. FSB speeds to 1066 are also supported on all 3 chipsets.

PT880 PRO: The "Step-Up" Chipset

The PT880 PRO is the lowest cost of the new PCI Express chipsets. VIA believes that the PT880 PRO will appeal to many buyers, since it offers upgrade possibilities that just aren't available on other Socket 775 boards.

The most unique feature is the availability of a full AGP 8X slot on a PCI Express motherboard designed for Socket 775. There is also a PCI Express video slot, but VIA tells us that the PCIe slot will be limited to x4 operation. Based on the performance in our past reviews, an x4 PCIe should certainly be fast enough for any current PCIe video cards. Significantly, an AGP and PCIe can both run simultaneously to power up to 4 monitors in a multi-display configuration.

• Targeted at Performance Mainstream Segment
• Stepping Stone Solution for PCI Express Transition
• Ideal Replacement for popular i865/i875 motherboards with AGP
• Support for the latest Intel®Pentium®4 & Celeron Processors
• Full Support for 1066MHz FSB
• VIA StepUp Technology
• DDR2 400/533/667
• DDR 400/333/266
• Easy DDR to DDR2 Migration
• The only solution to support both AGP and PCI Express
  Graphics cards
• Full AGP 8x support
• Full DualGFX Support
• Use AGP and PCI Express Graphics card at the same time!
• VIA Flex Express Architecture
• VIA Universal Graphics Interface
• AGP Graphics
• PCI-Express Graphics
• VIA DualGFX Express Graphics
• Ready for all industry dual GPU standards
• Enhanced multi-display support for up to 4 monitors
• High Bandwidth PCI Express Peripherals
• 2 PCI Express x1 connections to the South Bridge

We did not have a PT880 Pro Reference board available for testing, but the base PT880 Pro chip supports AGP and PCIe graphics, and does not support additional PCI Express lanes. Additional PCIe slots would need to be provided by the 8251 Southbridge, which is not yet available. The current 8237 Southbridge does not provide additional PCIe support. With almost no PCI Express peripherals in the marketplace, this will not matter to most users, but if you have a need for additional x1 PCIe slots, you will need a PT880 Pro motherboard with the 8251 South Bridge.

PT894 & PT894 PRO

The 894 chipset family is aimed at the computer enthusiast.

While it supports PCI Express graphics only either regular DDR or DDR2 or both can be combined with the 894 and 894 Pro chipsets. The memory choice is up to the manufacturer. The only memory choice for the high-end 925x/xe chipsets is DDR2, and VIA believes many users would like the opportunity for 925x level performance using DDR memory.

The 894 provides a single x16 PCI Express graphics slot with 18 lanes on the 894 chipset. It can be combined with the 8237 southbridge for lower cost, or the new 8251 southbridge, which can provide 2 more PCIe lanes for a total of 20.

The Pro version increases the northbridge PCI Express lanes to 20 - all dedicated to PCIe Graphics in an x16/x4 configuration. The 894 Pro would be normally combined with the new 8251 southbridge, which adds 2 more PCIe lanes, bringing the total PCIe lanes in this configuration to 22.

The 894 and 894 Pro differ only in the graphics capability, with the Pro version able to run two PCI Express cards driving up to 4 monitors. This is not the same as the SLI solution provided by the nVidia chipset for the AMD Athlon 64. SLI combines the capabilities of 2 PCIe cards in alternate frame rendering, while the VIA Intel solution merely supports two PCIe video cards running at the same time - one, a full x16 and the other, x4. VIA calls this feature "Video GFX".

The emphasis in Video GFX is multi-monitor support, which can be useful in many different system configurations.

• PCI Express x16 Lane for primary graphics display
• Games
• Advanced Rendering
• PCI Express x4 Connection for secondary displays
• Toolbars
• Monitoring
• Information

The ability to run 3 or 4 monitors off two PCI Express cards gives the user tremendous flexibility in creating a 3 or 4 multi-monitor display.

VIA 8251 South Bridge

The new 8251 southbridge adds many new capabilities to the 894 chipset family.

• 2 x PCI-Express
• Connects 2 single PCI Express devices
• VIA DriveStation
• 2 Integrated IDE interfaces for 4 ATA133 devices
• 4 SATA ports for 4 SATA HDDs
• SATA II
• Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI)
• Command queue
• Support for Port Multiplier
• Integrated V-RAID
• RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 & JBOD
• Support for RAID 5
• 8 USB 2.0 ports
• Integrated VIA 10/100 Ethernet
• High Definition Audio
• 192k/24bit 8-channel audio
• AC97 96K/20-bit 8 channel audio
• Ultra V-Link

The addition of 3Gb/sec SATA II and Command Queue will be significant for users looking for high-performance SATA drives. This SB also provides support for a 3-drive Raid 5 configuration.

VIA Drive Station also fully supports a Port Multiplier.

The Port Multiplier allows multiple hard drives to be connected to a single SATA connection. VIA claims up to 60 hard drives can be supported with a Port Multiplier on the 8251 southbridge.

New Audio Options

VIA is justifiably proud of their VIA Vinyl audio technology. The Vinyl series covers a full range of audio solutions from simple on-board audio to the audio chips driving many of the most-admired audio cards currently on the market. The new 8251 can support a number of audio options from the simple AC '97 to the sophisticated Vinyl Gold onboard controller.

• VIA Vinyl HD Audio
• VIA Vinyl AC'97 7.1 Support
• VIA Vinyl Gold Onboard Controller
• VIA Envy24PT + VIA Eight-TRAC + additional DAC
• 24/96 resolution digital outputs
• VIA Stylus Audio Driver
• Integrated QSound Technology
• Immerzio Gaming Support
• Audio Gaming Support
• Q3D
• DirectSound, DirectSound3D, A3D and I3DL2 advanced 3D positioning
• Support for 2-7.1 channel speaker systems
• QEM
• EAX and EAX2.0-compatible acoustic environment simulation for headphones and 2 to 7.1 channel speaker systems
• QXpander
• Mono to 3D and stereo to 3D stereo sound stage synthesis and enhancement for headphones and stereo speakers

The available audio capabilities depend on codec choices made by the manufacturer. You may see 8251 South Bridge boards with simple AC'97 audio as well as some high-end boards with High Definition Audio or the VIA Vinyl Gold controller. The good news is that if you are seeking high quality audio on your motherboard, the new 8251 South Bridge can support a wide variety of top-performing audio solutions. We hope that some manufacturers will take advantage of the excellent VIA high-end audio solutions and actually provide motherboards with HD and Vinyl Gold. There are buyers who will seek out these solutions.

VIA PT894 Reference Board

Reference Boards are designed for chipset qualification, so they are not designed for case mounting and they often have abbreviated features.

VIA sent us an upper-end board based on the 894 northbridge with the current 8237 southbridge. We had planned to test on-board audio, Ethernet, and SATA, but the Reference Board was equipped with the older 8237 controller (the 8251 is not yet available), no gigabit Ethernet (the PCIe VIA chip was not ready), and basic AC'97 audio instead of the HD audio that will be part of shipping 894/894 Pro boards. This is not really that unusual with Reference boards, so you should not try to read too much into the fact that the 894 Reference Board was stripped compared to production boards. In addition, the 1066 FSB was not yet working, but VIA tells us that it will be fully functioning in production chipsets. The 800FSB was working as expected and all tests were run at 800FSB.

VIA PT894 Reference Board Specifications
CPU Interface	Intel Socket 775
Chipset	VIA PT894 Northbridge - VIA VT8237 Southbridge
Bus Speeds	200MHz to 232MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCI/AGP	66/33, 75.4/37.7, 88/44, PLL1, Pll2
CPU/PCIe	Synch/Asynch
Core Voltage	Default, +0.025V to +0.175V in .025V increments
CPU Clock Multiplier	Fixed (Intel)
FSB	800, 1066
DRAM Voltage	2.50V to 2.80V in 0.1V increments
Memory Slots	Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots Dual-Channel Configuration Regular Unbuffered Memory to 4GB Total
Expansion Slots	1 x16 PCIe 1 x1 PCIe 2 PCI Slots
Onboard SATA/SATA RAID	2 SATA Drives by VT8237 (RAID 0, 1, JBOD)
Onboard IDE/IDE RAID	Two Standard ATA133/100/66 (4 drives)
Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394	8 USB 2.0 ports supported by VT8237 No Firewire
Onboard LAN	Wireless Ethernet 802.11g by VIA VT6655
Onboard Audio	AC '97 2.3 8-Channel by VIA VT1617A
BIOS Revision	Award Beta 1/14/2005

The basic tweaking and overclocking controls were present on the board, so we were able to do some basic testing of locks and overclocking. This was a pleasant surprise for a Reference Board, since there are often insufficient options to really test locks and overclocking potential.

We confirmed that the PCI/AGP lock and the PCIe Lock were working properly by fixing the PCI/AGP bus at 66/33 and the PCIe bus at 100 - then overclocking the CPU to the highest 232 setting (FSB 928) available in BIOS. In a floating or non-working PCI/AGP lock, most boards will fail at around 217 to 218 CPU setting. With the Reference board, we had no problem at all running at the 232 setting. We confirmed the fixed PCI with a PCI Geiger card in a PCI slot. It also appears that the PCIe can be locked at 100, a large improvement over the floating PCIe frequency in Intel chipsets, which can limit overclocking.

Test Setup

Performance Test Configuration
Processor(s):	Intel 560 (3.6GHz) Socket 775 AMD 3500+ (2.2GHz, 90nm) AMD FX55 (2.6GHz) Socket 939
RAM:	2 x 512MB OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev.2 (Samsung 2-2-2-5) 2 x 512MB Crucial/Micron DDR2 533
Hard Drive(s):	Maxtor MaXLine III 250GB (16MB Cache) Seagate 120GB 7200RPM SATA (8Mb buffer)
Video AGP & IDE Chipset Drivers:	VIA Hyperion 455vp1 Intel Chipset Driver 6.0.0.1014 Intel Application Accelerator 4.0.0.6211 NVIDIA nForce version 4.24
Video Card(s):	ATI X800 XT PCIe nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra PCIe
Video Drivers:	AMD Catalyst 5.1 nVidia 71.40 Graphics Drivers
Operating System(s):	Windows XP Professional SP1
Power Supply:	OCZ Power Stream 520W
Motherboards:	VIA PT894 Reference Board Asus P5GD2 Premium (915P) DFI LANParty UT 915P-T12 (915P) ECS PF4 915P Extreme (915P) Epox 5epa+ (915P) Intel 925XCV (Intel 925X) Socket 775 Gigabyte K8NXP-9 (nForce4) Socket 939 nVidia nForce4 Reference Board Socket 939

915/925X memory tests with boards using DDR2 (Asus, ECS, Intel 925x) used either Crucial PC2-4300U or Micron PC2-4300U memory modules. These are basically the same memory. The DFI boards, which runs either DDR2 or DDR, was benchmarked with DDR2. DDR2 was run at 3-3-3-10 timings at default voltage, which are faster timings than the SPD 4-4-4-12.

915 boards that use DDR (Epox), the VIA PT894, and AMD Athlon 64 boards were tested with OCZ PC3200 Platinum Rev.2, which is based on Samsung TCCD memory chips, at 2-2-2-5 memory timings at JEDEC standard 2.6V.

The ATI X800 XT PCIe was used for all 915 and Athlon 64 benchmarking, unless noted otherwise. Previous benchmarks of the 925X had been run with the nVidia 6800 Ultra PCIe and are included for comparison. Resolution in all benchmarks is 1024x768x32 unless noted otherwise.

General Performance & Encoding

The VIA PT894 is competitive with Intel chipsets in Winstones and Auto GK encoding. In the PCMark2004 benchmark, VIA turns in one of the top scores. In reviews of AMD Athlon 64 boards, VIA chipsets tend to be slower than nVidia chipsets in Winstones, but that does not carry over to the Intel platform.

DirectX 9 Gaming Performance

VIA PT894 is the top Intel CPU performer in Far Cry, Halo, and Aquamark 3. The 894 is a close number 2 among Intel CPU boards in UT2004 and Doom3. Overall, the DirectX 9 gaming performance places VIA at the top of our benchmarks as the fastest Socket 775 chipset for Direct X 9 gaming. The AMD Athlon 64 processors are still the best CPUs for DX9 games, but the VIA PT894 is a very good performer, especially compared to other chipsets for Intel 775.

Since the VIA 894 will likely sell below the price of current Intel 915 chipset boards, it is worth pointing out that VIA outperforms the 915 in almost every benchmark that we ran. Keep in mind the significant fact that VIA is outperforming the best Intel chipset boards, which are using fast DDR2 memory, when the VIA that we tested was equipped with DDR memory slots.

DirectX 8 & OpenGL Gaming Performance

When compared to other chipsets for Intel, the PT894 was at the top of every DX8 and OpenGL benchmark except Comanche 4, where 894 was second. VIA PT894 competes very well in this gaming area, outperforming the best 915 and 925X chipset boards that we have tested. The argument that there is any current performance advantage to DDR2 is pretty much laid to rest again. The next DDR2 memory to land, DDR2-667, may be faster than DDR400, but all three VIA chipsets also support DDR2-667 if the manufacturer chooses to use DDR2 on their VIA-chipset boards.

Our Take

VIA is delivering a very interesting group of 3 new chipsets for the Intel Socket 775 platform. If they had been available when Intel launched the new Socket 775 some six months ago, then VIA might have been a significant player in the Socket 775 market at this point. We say that because the new VIA chipsets perform very well - at least as good as the best from Intel - and they also have features that make the upgrade path to Socket 775 a much easier choice for enthusiasts who want to upgrade. With the PT880 Pro "step-up" boards, you can bring along your AGP card and fast DDR memory, and still have an upgrade path to PCI Express in the future. Or you can keep your DDR and use a new PCIe video card and a Socket T Pentium 4.

At the Enthusiast end, the new 894 and 894 Pro chipsets deliver features available nowhere else - features like DDR2-667 support, 1066FSB on all PCIe chipsets, SATAII 3Gb/sec hard drives, RAID 5, and dual video card support for PCIe/PCIe at the top and AGP/PCIe on the 880 Pro. The excellent performance of the new VIA chipsets and the unique and desirable new features make them exceptionally competitive today. The 915/925x boards have not sold well and the new VIA options could persuade many that an upgrade to Socket 775 can be a good choice, one that is no longer prohibitively expensive from an upgrader's viewpoint.

The bigger question, however, is whether the new VIA offerings may be too little, too late. The features and performance are stand-out right now, but VIA will not actually have products to market for about a month to 6 weeks. At that time, we will also be seeing the new Intel 945 and 955x chipsets, which also support 1066FSB, DDR2-667, and SATAII - just like the new VIA chipsets - in addition to the new dual-core Intel processors and 64-bit extensions. We would hope that VIA has planned for these new CPUs and that the PT series will fully support the dual-core, which is not supported by current Intel 915/925x chipsets. If they have, and dual-core and 64-bit is no problem for the PT chipsets, then the new VIA chipsets should still compete very well with the best from Intel.

VIA will also be very aggressive in pricing the new Socket T chipsets, since part of their strategy is to undercut price points that are currently very high for 915/925X. This could mean buyers in the near future will be able to choose some very high-performance Socket 775 boards at prices that we have not yet seen in the Socket T market. This is good news for buyers and it could well hold the new Intel chipsets to more competitive pricing.

The new VIA chipsets are great at bringing to buyers what they have been asking for in Socket 775 boards. The new VIA chipsets are wonderfully flexible, allowing mix-and-match DDR, DDR2, AGP, PCIe, and dual video cards. However, they are coming very late to market - or very early - depending on whether the real competition is 915/925x or 945/955x. If VIA has done their homework and dual-core and 64-bit extensions are fully supported, then the new VIA chipsets should do very well in the market. Choice is always a good thing.