Comparison of Recent Intel Fifth-Generation Chipsets

Comparison of Recent Intel Fifth-Generation Chipsets

Intel has been by far the most popular choice for Pentium motherboard chipsets; more than 90% of Pentium motherboards in existence use Intel chipsets. The 430FX, 430HX, 430VX and 430TX are similar in name and function. The table below contrasts these chipsets in order to demonstrate their most important features and performance factors. The topic headers are based on the topics in the Chipset Functions and Features section. These chipsets all support the Pentium and socket-compatible processors, and use PCI and ISA I/O buses.

Note: The TX chipset is listed before the HX instead of after it, to permit easier comparison to the HX and VX chipsets.

Group	Characteristic	Intel 430FX	Intel 430VX	Intel 430TX	Intel 430HX
Summary Information	Target Market	All	Home / General	Home / General	Business / High-End
	Introduced	Early 1995	Early 1996	Early 1997	Early 1996
	Relative Cost	Lower	Moderate	Higher	Higher
Processor	System Bus Speeds	50, 60, 66 MHz	50, 60, 66 MHz	50, 60, 66 MHz	50, 60, 66 MHz
	Processor Multipliers	1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x	1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x	1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x	1.5x, 2x, 2.5x, 3x
	Maximum # of Processors	Single	Single	Single	Dual
L2 Cache	Cache Types	Async, Sync Burst, Pipelined Burst	Async, Sync Burst, Pipelined Burst	Pipelined Burst	Pipelined Burst
	Max Cache Size	512 KB	512 KB	512 KB	512 KB
	Max RAM Cacheable	64 MB	64 MB	64 MB	512 MB w/ Tag RAM
Memory	Max RAM Support	128 MB	128 MB	256 MB	512 MB
	DRAM Technology	FPM, EDO	FPM, EDO, SDRAM	FPM, EDO, SDRAM	FPM, EDO
	DRAM Packaging	SIMM	SIMM, DIMM	SIMM, DIMM	SIMM, DIMM
	Maximum # of SIMMs/DIMMs	4 / 2	4 / 2	6 / 3	8 / 4
	Parity/ECC Support	Neither	Neither	Neither	Both
System Timing	L2 Cache Read Timing	3-1-1-1	3-1-1-1	3-1-1-1	3-1-1-1
	FPM DRAM Read Timing (60/66 MHz)	7-3-3-3 / 7-3-3-3	5-3-3-3 / 6-3-3-3	4-3-3-3 / 5-3-3-3	4-3-3-3 / 5-3-3-3
	EDO DRAM Read Timing (60/66 MHz)	7-2-2-2 / 7-2-2-2	5-2-2-2 / 6-2-2-2	4-2-2-2 / 5-2-2-2	4-2-2-2 / 5-2-2-2
	BEDO/SDRAM Read Timing (60/66 MHz)	n/a	6-1-1-1 / 7-1-1-1	5-1-1-1 / 5-1-1-1	n/a
	Processor to PCI Buffers	4	5	!?	6
	PCI to Memory Buffers	12	18 + 10	18 + 10	20 + 22
	Memory Autodetect	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Peripheral and I/O Bus	PCI Bus Standard	2.0	2.1	2.1	2.1
	IDE/ATA Channels	2	2	2	2
	Fastest PIO Mode	4	4	4	4
	Fastest DMA Mode	2	2	3 (DMA-33)	2
	Independent Device Timing	No	No	Yes	Yes
	PCI Bus Mastering	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
	USB Support	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
	AGP Support	No	No	No	No
	Plug and Play Compliant	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Power Mgmt.	APM Compliant	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Note: System timings stated are "optimal" and depend on support from appropriately fast memory. Otherwise you may need to slow down the timing in your BIOS setup. See the section on memory system timing for more details.

Next: Fifth Generation (Pentium Class) Non-Intel Chipsets

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