VIA KT880 Chipset + Motherboard Comparison

Contents Overview KT880 Details Motherboard comparison using KT880 KT880 Features Diagram of the KT880 VIA Official Site

The KT880 was released in February 2004 and is aimed at the maturing Athlon XP platform. This chipset is more of a refinement than a load of brand new technology, basically because of the fact that it is aimed at the Athlon XP and so anything too new would be a waste on an aging platform. It does however have some improvements from the likes of the KT600. For example you can now have 4 DIMM slots supporting up to a whopping 8Gb of RAM.

The KT880 also features Dual Channel DDR memory bus (see diagram at bottom). At peak rate this effectively doubles the DDR RAM's speed again. The effects of this are obvious and a great thing to have when your memory is under constant heavy use. The LAN chip has also been upgraded to optionally support 1Gbit/s transfer speed. Check individual motherboards for this optional component. 

The VIA KT880 chipset details (reference standard design)

KT880 Motherboards

Motherboard links take you to the manufacturers website overview of the motherboard. "Optional" in the table below states that a model or revision of the motherboard is available with this feature included.

Chipset Features from via.com.tw

Key Features
· Supports full range of AMD Athlon™ XP processors
· 400/333MHz FSB settings
· Supports up to 8GB Dual Channel DDR400/333/266
· Support for AGP 8X/4X
· Synchronous bus architecture
· V-Link 533MB/sec high bandwidth North/South Bridge interconnect
· Support for VIA Vinyl 6-channel & Vinyl Gold 8-channel 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/OnNow
· 806-pin BGA North Bridge
· 539-pin BGA VT8237 South Bridge

Benefits of VIA KT880

DualStream64
VIA DualStream64 is the world's most intelligent dual channel memory controller featuring revolutionary new intuitive technologies. The VIA DualStream64™ memory controller enables lightning fast access to dual 64-bit channels of DDR memory, optimizing system performance through an enhanced data prefetch protocol and improved memory branch predictions. Further performance enhancements include a larger on-chip branch table and a tighter read/write turn-around for improved clock timings.

Native Serial ATA/RAID Support
The VIA DriveStation™ Advanced Connectivity Suite with its native dual channel Serial ATA/RAID controller, provides direct support for two 150MB/s Serial ATA devices and its unique SATAlite™ interface expands support for two additional SATA devices. The V-RAID controller features native RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1, ensuring optimum data integrity and system performance. The user friendly software interface enables easy disk array configuration.

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 and VIA Vinyl Gold Audio enable crisp, clear performance, 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

Diagram of the KT880

 Should any of these specifications be incorrect please do no hesitate to contact me at webmaster@pantherproducts.co.uk with the correct info I will be only to happy to alter it

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