VIA: Detailed Chipsets Roadmap

by Anna Filatova
02/20/2002 | 07:49 PM

Quite a lot of time has passed since we paid special attention to VIA’s plans (see this news story), so, it’s high time we updated our info. Our reliable sources provided us with the details of the company roadmap. Here they are:

Athlon/Hammer.

• KT333. The chipset, which has been rumored all over is announced today, on February 20. The only noticeable feature distinguishing it from the already well-known KT266A solution is PC2700 DDR SDRAM support. The developer also claims that its performance with PC2100 DDR memory will be higher than that of the predecessor. The chipset is already produced in mass quantities. By the way, the details about KT333 further modifications haven’t been confirmed by this source of ours, though they haven’t been denied as well. So, who knows...
• KT400. This is a logical continuation of KT333. It will support DDR400 (PC3200 DDR SDRAM), AGP 8x and 533MB/sec V-Link. The engineering samples are scheduled for March, while the mass production – for Q2’02.
• KM266. This is an integrated modification of KT266(A) chipset with ProSavage8 graphics core. It will also support external AGP 4x add-on graphics cards, PC133 SDRAM, PC2100 DDR SDRAM, 266MB/sec V-Link. At present the company is making the first test samples. The mass production is planned for this quarter already.
• KM333. This is an integrated KT333 version with a new Zoetrope graphics core. It will support PC2700 DDR SDRAM, external AGP 8x graphics and 533MB/sec V-Link. The schedule hasn’t been announced yet.
• K8HTB. This is the first solution for 64bit AMD Clawhammer CPUs. No details are available so far, however, the test samples are said to come out in April this year.

• P4X333. This is a logical continuation of P4X266(A) chipset. It will support PC2700 DDR SDRAM and 533MHz Quad Pumped Bus. It will also support AGP 8x and 533MB/sec V-Link. The first test samples are expected to start shipping this month, while mass manufacturing should begin in March.
• P4X400. This is another VIA’s "pseudo-new" solution differing from P4X333 by PC3200 DDR SDRAM (DDR400) support. It is still unknown when it should be announced, if it is going to be announced at all.
• P4X600. This is VIA’s first dual-channel chipset supporting two PC2100 DDR SDRAM channels (offering 4.2GB/sec overall bandwidth of the memory subsystem, which is just the same as by 533MHz QP bus). It will also support 533MHz QP, AGP 8x and 533MB/sec V-Link. The chipset should start sampling within this quarter, while mass production is planned for Q2’02.
• P4X800. This is the next dual-channel chipset for DDR II memory. Of course, it will support the same 533MHz QP, AGP 8x and 533MB/sec V-Link. The samples are to come in H2’02.
• P4M266A. Hey, this is another chipset with an "A" index! And again it is a "pseudo-new" one. This is none other but the already familiar P4M266 chipset supporting 533MHz QP. The chipset is expected to come very soon, though the due date is not announced.
• P4M333. This is an integrated version of P4X333 chipset equipped with Zoetrope graphics core. It also supports external AGP 8x graphics and 533MB/sec V-Link. The sampling is scheduled for March, and mass production - for may-June.