VIA PT890: Offering Full-Featured Support of Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Premium

Supporting a full range of Intel® processors up to 1066MHz FSB, the VIA PT890 provides SIs and OEMs an ideal solution to create a wide range of desktop systems that can take full advantage of the enhanced 3D capabilities of Microsoft's® Windows Vista™ Premium.

Optimized to work seamlessly with the latest PCI Express graphics cards, the VIA PT890 includes support for x16 PCI Express connectivity, delivering up to 4GB/s of dedicated graphics bandwidth per direction. The VIA PT890 also features additional x1 PCI Express peripheral support, providing 250MB/s per direction bandwidth to PCI Express peripheral devices such as Gigabit Ethernet and HDTV tuner cards.


The VIA PT890 also features VIA’s unique StepUp™ memory technology to provide support for both DDR and DDR2 memory standards on the same motherboard, allowing motherboard makers the option of implementing either standard depending on the demands of their target market at any given time.

The VIA PT890 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 VT8237A South Bridge and a broad array of VIA companion chips, the VIA PT890 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.

Features of VIA PT890

Benefits of VIA PT890

VIA StepUp Memory Support
The VIA PT890 integrates VIA’s StepUp memory technology for lightning fast access to system memory and optimum system performance. VIA’s StepUp memory technology enables support for DDR1 and DDR2 memory standards giving maximum flexibility.

Native Serial ATA/RAID Support
The VIA VT8237A South Bridge features a native Serial ATA/RAID controller, providing direct support for two 150MB/s Serial ATA devices, and an additional two (for a total of four SATA devices) in combination with the SATAlite™ interface. The integrated V-RAID controller supports native RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1* and JBOD, ensuring optimum data integrity and system performance, while the user-friendly V-RAID software interface enables easy disk array configuration and management.

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.

VIA Modular Architecture Platform
The VIA PT890 chipset is part of VIA's unique Modular Architecture Platform (V-MAP), which minimizes design times and time-to-market for motherboard partners through a flexible, pin-compatible design approach for VIA core-logic solutions. Motherboard partners are able to cover multiple market segments with fewer design resources, and also benefit from a single unified driver base.

Unified VIA Hyperion Pro 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.

* RAID Level 0+1 requires four Serial ATA drives; support for the two additional drives can only be implemented with two external Serial ATA ports enabled through a SATALite PHY.

Block Diagram

Key Features

» Supports full range of Intel® processors
» Hyper-Threading Technology support
» 1066/800/533/400MHz FSB settings
» Supports up to 4GB Single Channel DDR2533/400 or DDR400/333/266
» Support for PCI Express Graphics x16
» PCI Express Peripheral Support x1
» Asynchronous bus architecture
» V-Link 533MB/sec North/South Bridge interconnect
» 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, UHCI compliant
» Support for VIA Velocity Gigabit Ethernet companion controller & Integrated 10/100 Fast Ethernet
» Integrated MC'97 Modem
» Advanced power management capabilities including ACPI 2.0
» 952-pin HSBGA North Bridge
» 539-pin BGA VT8237A South Bridge

Resources

	VIA P4 Series chipset comparison chart
	VIA PT890 press release
	Support for Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Support for next generation enhanced graphics requirements. » Learn more ...
	VIA PT890 image kit