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2. Can you
tell me about the 440BX Chipset?
Reader: I've heard
about an upcoming motherboard chipset - 440BX
indicating that they would be available toward
the end of April this year. I have not been
able to track any source that could tell me
that this chipset is yet available. Can you
tell me anything about the current status of
the 440BX chipset?
Computer Doctor:
Indeed it was introduced on April 15th, along
with a new motherboard called the SE440BX
which would be THE motherboard to get in any
new Pentium II system. That is the one used by
Dell, Gateway, Micron, and most others in
their PII systems sold today. Visit Intel'
site for more info on both the chipset and the
motherboard.
3. Can you
explain how chipsets are named?
Reader: Can you
explain all the different alpha/numeric
characters after a particular chipset?
Example: 430LX, 430TX, 440LX, 440TX, 440BX.
Computer Doctor: The
number indicates the chipset series, and the
letter indicates the model. The 420 series are
for 486s, 430 series is for Pentiums (P5), and
the 440 series is for the P6 (Pentium Pro/II).
The letters indicate the exact model of
chipset. The different models have different
specifications, features, capabilities and
performance. The next edition of my book, due
out in September, will have detailed
information on all the Intel motherboard
chipsets. Until then you can find a great deal
of info on Intel's Web site.
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4. Do BX
chipsets only apply to Pentium II processors
running at 350 MHz and up?
Reader: I've noticed
that the BX appears to apply to Pentiums II
350 Mhz and above. Is this correct?
Computer Doctor: The
newest and highest performance chipset is the
440BX. It is the first and currently only
chipset to support a processor bus (and
therefore motherboard) speed of 100MHz. This
is required to support the new 350, 400 and
450 MHz Pentium II processors. It can also run
at the slower 66MHz bus speed, and at that
speed will support any Pentium II from the 233
to the 333 MHz.
Reader: I am wondering
about the differences between different Intel
chipsets for Celeron and Pentium II/III
computers. Can you explain the features of
some of the most popular ones?
Computer Doctor:
Intel's 440LX was the first chipset on the
market that supported the AGP video card
standard. It supports AGP 1.0 up to 2x speeds,
and will also work with AGP 2.0 video cards,
but not at 4x speeds.
The Intel GX and BX chipsets support the
Pentium III computer; the GX is designed for
slot 2 Xeon Pentium II/III CPU's, while the BX
is designed for standard Slot 1 CPUs. The GX
supports up to 2GB of RAM, versus 1GB for the
BX chipset. The GX is designed as a chipset
for dual-CPU servers, while the BX is a better
choice for a dual-CPU workstation.
The latest chipsets from Intel are numbered in
the 8xx series, such as the 810, 815, 840, and
the new 850 for the Pentium 4. You'll find
complete information about both current and
older Intel chipsets at Intel's web site:
developer.intel.com/design/chipsets.
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