VIA Apollo Pro
The VIA Apollo Pro series from VIA Technologies is a family of chipsets for PC motherboards . These chipsets are suitable for processors from Intel with the P6 bus protocol. The chipsets are all suitable for symmetrical multiprocessor systems , but this was only used on the Apollo Pro 133A.
Naming
The VIA Apollo Pro series stands in the tradition of the older VIA Apollo series and continues these chipsets for other processors. The first chipset in this series was still called "Apollo P6", but has the same features as the later "Apollo Pro" chipsets and is dealt with in this article.
successes
Since Intel decided to use Rambus memory, which is much more expensive than PC-133 SDRAM , VIA Technologies took advantage of this decision and was able to successfully establish the VIA Apollo Pro133A as a cheaper alternative to the i820 . This chipset was used very often by the mainboard manufacturers because it enabled relatively cheap, but still fast motherboards for Socket 370 . This sales success later enabled VIA Technologies to implement the likewise successful VIA KT series .
Models
VIA Apollo P6
The VIA Apollo P6 was VIA's first chipset for the P6 bus protocol and was originally developed for the Pentium Pro . Since VIA did not have a license for this bus protocol and the performance of this chipset was not convincing either, it received hardly any attention and gained no market significance. The northbridge was not yet integrated into the chipset and so, like the Apollo VP / VPX , it still consisted of two chips. In theory, however, it was already possible to implement multiprocessor systems .
VIA Apollo Pro
A heavily modernized version of the Apollo P6 was launched with the appearance of the Pentium II as the VIA Apollo Pro . This chipset consisted of only one chip and was already specified for a front-side bus frequency of 100 MHz. It was already prepared for all CPUs of the second Pentium II generation with the code name Deschutes .
VIA Apollo Pro +
The VIA Apollo Pro + was a revised version of the Apollo Pro, in which some errors and performance problems were eliminated. The most significant improvements were made to the storage controller.
VIA Apollo Pro 133
The memory controller of the VIA Apollo Pro 133 received a further improvement and now for the first time also supports PC-133 SDRAM . However, the memory controller was still effectively slower than comparable Intel chipsets.
VIA Apollo Pro 133A
With the VIA Apollo Pro 133A came the breakthrough of the Apollo Pro series, as the speed was now sufficient for the first time to catch up with the successful Intel 440BX . With a further redesigned memory controller and AGP 4x, the Apollo Pro133A (also known as VT82C694X) became one of the most successful and widely used chipsets from VIA Technologies. Multiprocessor systems based on a VIA chipset have now also been implemented for the first time .
VIA Apollo Pro 133T
Since Intel slightly changed the level of the bus protocol in the Pentium III processors with Tualatin core, a new revision of the Apollo Pro133A was necessary, which was sold as the VIA Apollo Pro 133T . Otherwise there are no major differences.
VIA Apollo Pro 266
The VIA Apollo Pro 266 was a sister model of the VIA KT266 (A) and the attempt to establish DDR-SDRAM for the Socket 370 as well. However, the processors with the bus protocol limited to 133 MHz could not benefit from the high memory transfer rate, so that the speed improvements were neither noticeable nor measurable. The later CLE266 continued the first attempt of the Apollo Pro 266.
VIA Apollo Pro 266T
As with the Apollo Pro 133A, the Apollo Pro 266 required a revised version when Intel changed the GTL levels of the P6 bus protocol. This version was then sold as the VIA Apollo Pro 266T or replaced the Apollo Pro 266 completely.
Model overview
Northbridge name |
Front side bus | Storage controller | Max. Memory size |
AGP compatibility |
Southbridge connection |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo P6 (VT82C680) | VT82C685, VT82C687 | 66 MHz GTL + | Single-channel FPM / EDO RAM | 1 GB | 1.0 (1 ×, 2 ×) | PCI |
| Apollo Pro | VT82C691, VT82C692BX | 100 MHz GTL + | Single-channel SDR-SDRAM PC-100 | 1 GB | 1.0 (1 ×, 2 ×) | PCI |
| Apollo Pro + | VT82C693 | 100 MHz GTL + | Single-channel SDR-SDRAM PC-100 | 1 GB | 1.0 (1 ×, 2 ×) | PCI |
| Apollo Pro 133 | VT82C693A | 133 MHz GTL + | Single-channel SDR-SDRAM PC-133 | 2 GB | 1.0 (1 ×, 2 ×) | PCI |
| Apollo Pro 133A | VT82C694X | 133 MHz GTL + | Single-channel SDR-SDRAM PC-133 | 2 GB | 2.0 (1 ×, 2 ×, 4 ×) | PCI |
| Apollo Pro 133T | VT82C694T | 133 MHz GTL + | Single-channel SDR-SDRAM PC-133 | 2 GB | 2.0 (1 ×, 2 ×, 4 ×) | PCI |
| Apollo Pro 266 | VT8633 | 133 MHz GTL + | Single-channel DDR-SDRAM PC-2100 | 4 GB | 2.0 (1 ×, 2 ×, 4 ×) | 4 × V-Link |
| Apollo Pro 266T | VT8633T | 133 MHz GTL + | Single-channel DDR-SDRAM PC-2100 | 4 GB | 2.0 (1 ×, 2 ×, 4 ×) | 4 × V-Link |
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Summary of the events during this time in a column (HardTecs4U)
- ↑ a b List of chipsets ( Memento of the original from April 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
