VIA Technologies Chipsets for P6-Class Processors

VIA Technologies has a variety of chipsets for the P6 processors. They are discussed in the following:

Apollo Pro

The Apollo Pro is a high-performance chipset for Slot 1 mobile and desktop PC systems; it can also support the Socket 8 Pentium Pro processor. The Apollo Pro includes support for advanced system power management capability for both desktop and mobile PC applications, PC100 SDRAM, AGP 2x mode, and multiple CPU/DRAM timing configurations.

The Apollo Pro chipset is comparable in features to the 440BX and PIIX4e chipsets from Intel and represents one of the first non-Intel chipsets to support the Socket 1 architecture.

The VIA Apollo Pro consists of two devices—the VT82C691 North Bridge chip and the VT82C596, a BGA-packaged South Bridge with a full set of mobile, power-management features. For cost-effective desktop designs, the VT82C691 can also be configured with the VT82C586B South Bridge.

The VT82C691 Apollo Pro North Bridge supports all Slot 1 (Intel Pentium II) and Socket 8 (Intel Pentium Pro) processors. The Apollo Pro also supports the 66MHz external bus speed and the newer 100MHz CPU external bus speed required by the 350MHz and faster Pentium II processors.

AGP v1.0 and PCI 2.1 are also supported, as are FPM, EDO, and SDRAM. Various DRAM types can be used in mixed combinations in up to eight banks and up to 1GB of DRAM. EDO memory timing is 5-2-2-2-2-2-2-2 for back-to-back accesses, and SDRAM timing is 6-1-1-1-2-1-1-1 for back-to-back accesses.

The VT82C596 South Bridge supports both ACPI and APM and includes an integrated USB controller and dual Ultra DMA-66 EIDE ports.

Apollo Pro Plus

The VIA Apollo Pro Plus is a high-performance chipset for Slot 1/Socket 370 mobile and desktop PC systems.

Features include the following:

  • 66/100MHz CPU bus

  • AGP 1x

  • PCI 2.1 compliant

  • Support for eight banks up to 1GB PC-100 SDRAM

  • Support for both ACPI and legacy (APM) power management

  • Integrated USB controller

  • Ultra DMA-33 controller

The Apollo Pro consists of two chips: a VT82C693 North Bridge paired with either the VT82C596A mobile South Bridge or the VT82C686A Super South Bridge.

Apollo Pro133

The VIA Apollo Pro133 was the first chipset on the market designed to support PC-133 SDRAM memory. This chipset supports Slot 1 and Socket 370 processors, such as the Intel Pentium III, Intel Celeron, and VIA Cyrix III processors.

Key features include the following:

  • Support for AGP 2x graphics bus

  • Support for 133/100/66MHz processor bus

  • PC-133 SDRAM memory interface

  • Support for 1.5GB of RAM

  • ATA-66 interface

  • Support for four USB ports

  • AC97 link for audio and modem

  • Hardware monitoring

  • Power management

The VIA Apollo Pro133 is a two-chip set consisting of the VT82C693A North Bridge controller and a choice of VT82C596B or VT82C686A South Bridge controllers.

Apollo KLE133

The VIA Apollo KLE133 (previously known as the PM601) chipset is a highly integrated chipset platform designed for the value PC and Internet appliance market. As such, this chipset has a built-in Trident Blade3D graphics engine and 10/100 Ethernet. The KLE133 is designed for Slot 1 and Socket 370 processors, such as the Pentium III, Celeron, and VIA C3.

Key features include the following:

  • Support for AGP 2x

  • Integrated Trident Blade3D AGP graphics engine

  • 66/100/133MHz processor bus

  • Support for PC-133 SDRAM memory

  • Integrated 10/100 Ethernet

  • Support for AC97 audio, MC'97 modem, Super I/O, and hardware monitoring

  • Four USB ports

  • Support for ATA-66

  • Advanced power management

The VIA Apollo KLE133 is a two-chip set consisting of the VT8601 North Bridge controller and the VT82C686A South Bridge controller.

Apollo Pro133A

The VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset is a North/South Bridge chipset designed to support Slot 1 and Socket 370 processors such as the Intel Pentium III, Intel Celeron, and VIA Cyrix III. The Apollo Pro133A is based on the previous Pro133 with even more high-end features added.

Features of the Apollo Pro133A include

  • AGP 4x graphics bus support

  • Support for one or two processors

  • 133/100/66MHz processor bus support

  • PC-133 SDRAM memory interface

  • ATA-66 interface

  • Support for four USB ports

  • AC97 link for audio and modem

  • Hardware monitoring

  • Power management

The VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset is a two-chip set consisting of the VT82C694X North Bridge controller and a choice of a VT82C596B or VT82C686A South Bridge controller.

ProSavage PM133

The VIA ProSavage PM133 integrates S3 Graphics' S3 Savage 4 and S3 Savage 2000 3D and 2D graphics engines with the Apollo Pro 133A chipset. The major features of the chipset are the same as for the Apollo Pro 133A, with the following additions:

  • 2MB–32MB shared memory architecture integrated with Savage 4 3D and Savage 2000 2D video

  • Z-buffering, 32-bit true-color rendering, massive 2K-by-2K textures, single-pass multiple textures, sprite antialiasing, and other 3D features

  • Support for DVD playback, DVI LCD displays, and TV-out

  • PCI 2.2 compliance

An optional AGP 4x interface allows the integrated AGP 4x video to be upgraded with an add-on card if desired. This two-chip set consists of the VT8605 North Bridge and VT8231 South Bridge.

The VT8231 South Bridge integrates the Super I/O and supports the LPC interface.

Apollo Pro266

The VIA Apollo Pro266 is a high-performance North/South Bridge chipset designed to support Socket 370 processors, including the Pentium III, Celeron, and VIA's own C3. The Apollo Pro 266 is the first chipset from VIA to replace the traditional PCI (133MBps) connection between North and South Bridge chips with VIA's 4x V-Link interconnect, which runs at 266MBps.

Features of the Apollo Pro266 include

  • AGP 2x/4x graphics bus support

  • 133/100/66MHz processor bus support

  • PC-100/133 SDRAM and PC200/266 DDR SDRAM memory interface

  • ATA-100 IDE interface

  • Support for six USB ports

  • Integrated AC97 six-channel audio

  • Integrated MC'97 modem

  • Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 1/10MHz Home PNA networking

  • Hardware monitoring

  • ACPI/On Now! Power management

  • VIA 4x V-Link North/South Bridge interconnect'

The VIA Apollo Pro266 chipset is a two-chip set consisting of the 552-pin BGA VT8633 North Bridge controller and the 376-pin BGA VT8233 South Bridge controller.

Because of the V-Link high-speed interconnect between the North Bridge and South Bridge, PCI is managed by the South Bridge. This is similar to the way in which Intel hub architecture works, and this basic architecture has been followed by all subsequent VIA chipsets that use V-Link architecture.