VIA P4M890: Providing Flexibility and Advanced Connectivity for the Intel® Processor Platform

Bringing new levels of performance and functionality for mainstream desktop designs, the VIA P4M890 is designed for the latest range of Intel® processors supporting the 1066MHz FSB and up to two high bandwidth PCI Express ports for optional connection to the latest high-end graphics cards as well as an additional lane of PCI Express connectivity for PCI express peripheral devices such as Gigabit Ethernet controllers and TV tuners.

By harnessing the advanced VIA StepUp memory controller technology, motherboards based on the VIA P4M890 can support either DDR or DDR2 memory modules on the same motherboard, providing users the flexibility to use whatever memory standard best suits their requirements.

The VIA P4M890 features a high bandwidth V-Link bus to allow communication between the chipset’s North and South bridges at 533MB/sec. When combined with solutions such as the market-leading VIA VT8251 South Bridge and a broad array of VIA companion chips, the VIA P4M890 provides a comprehensive range of storage, multimedia and connectivity features, including native Serial ATA and V-RAID, 6-channel or 8-channel VIA Vinyl Audio, VIA Velocity™ Gigabit Ethernet, USB2.0, and 1394.

Leveraging an advanced shared memory architecture, the VIA P4M890 utilizes the VIA UniChrome™ Pro Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP) ensuring optimal performance for all multimedia, entertainment, and productivity applications. With an internal data flow equivalent to the latest AGP 8X graphics cards, a 200MHz 2D/3D graphics engine features dedicated 128-bit data paths for pixel data flow and texture/command access.

The VIA UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core also features the Chromotion CE Video Display Engine, raising the bar for digital entertainment support on PC systems. The P4M890 is able to deliver the Hi-Def experience via a comprehensive range of display devices, supporting outputs to CRT, LCD, standard definition TV and HDTV up to 1080p resolution*.

The Chromotion CE Video Display Engine employs a multi-faceted approach to displaying multimedia content, implementing a number of advanced tools at every stage of video processing. These include integrated MPEG-2 decoding, for flawless digital video playback with ultra-low CPU-utilization, and advanced rendering tools such as Adaptive De-Interlacing and Video Deblocking, which ensure clearer playback of digital content on all display devices.

Features of VIA P4M890

Benefits of VIA P4M890

VIA UniChrome™ Pro IGP Graphics Core
The 128-bit 2D graphics engine enables acceleration of high quality graphics features, allowing all productivity applications to run with the best appearance possible while not sacrificing system performance. The 128-bit 3D graphics engines features dual pixel rendering pipes for advanced 3D rendering, and is capable of two textures per pass with a triangle rate up to 4.5 million triangles per second, a pixel rate up to 200 million pixels per second, and a texel bilinear fill rate up to 400 million texels per second.

The VIA UniChrome Pro IGP Graphics core also integrates the Chromotion CE Video Display Engine featuring an MPEG2 Decoder, Adaptive De-Interlacing, Video Deblocking, and a comprehensive range of hi-def outputs.

Advanced Memory Controller
VIA's acclaimed FastStream64 memory controller enables lightening fast memory access speeds and optimal system performance, supporting up to 4GB of DDR2 533, 400 or DDR400, 333, 266 memory.

High Performance CPU Interface
The VIA P4M890 chipset supports connections to the latest Intel® Pentium® 4 Processors supporting 800MHz FSB and Hyper-Threading technology, including Prescott core based processors.

VIA Vinyl Multichannel Audio Suite
Delivering rich, warm surround sound at resolutions as high as 24/96 through up to six- or eight- channel outputs, the VIA Vinyl audio suite includes support for VIA Vinyl HD audio, VIA Vinyl AC'97 audio, and VIA Vinyl Gold Audio, representing the highest levels of audio quality in a mainstream integrated or onboard solution.

Unified VIA Hyperion 4in1 Drivers
VIA's unified approach to drivers has been established for eight generations of chipsets, allowing end users to benefit from seamless hardware and software compatibility.

*Requires connection to a 1080p HDTV compatible TV-Out or DVI encoder chip.

Block Diagram

Key Features

» Full support for the latest Intel® Processors
» Supports 1066/800/533MHz Front Side Bus Settings
» Supports up to 4GB DDR2 or DDR Memory
» V-Link 533 MB/sec high bandwidth North/South Bridge interconnect
» Full Featured Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) compliant with 8X/4X transfer modes
» Integrated VIA UniChrome Pro
» Optimized Unified Memory Architecture (UMA)
» 200MHz Graphics Engine Clock with separated 128-bit data paths
» 128-bit 2D and 3D Graphics Engine
» Chromotion CE Video Display Engine
- MPEG-2 Decoder
- Video Deblocking
- Adaptive De-Interlace
- Full HDTV support up to 1080p
» Two 8-bit Video Capture Ports
» Three 12-bit Digital Video Ports for connection to TV out, Video Capture In, and external TMDS transmitter
» Full Software support including Microsoft DirectX 7.0, 8.0, 9.0 and Open GL support
» Support for VIA Vinyl HD Audio
» Serial ATA support for up to 4 devices
» Integrated V-RAID with RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, and JBOD (SATA) support
» Parallel ATA133/100/66 support for up to 4 devices
» Support for up to 8 USB 2.0/USB 1.1 ports
» Support for VIA Velocity Gigabit Ethernet companion controller & Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet
» Advanced System Power Management Support

Resources

	VIA P4M890 Press Release
	VIA P4 Series chipset comparison chart / Download .pdf version
	VIA P4M890 image kit