Radeon 9100 IGP Chipset Features


Much of the configurations of RS300 follows that of Intel's own Springdale chipset, with a Dual DDR 333/400MHz memory bus. At present ATI do not have an 800MHz FSB chipset license, meaning that although 400MHz DDR RAM can be used the CPU FSB will still be limited to 533MHz. Sources indicate that the chipset is fully capable of supporting and 800MHz FSB but its just a question of timing with the license - in other words, watch this space.

Update 2-Jul-2003: Since publishing this preview ATI have gone on to sign a further cross licensing deal with Intel, which also sees them gain a license for the 800MHz FSB. ATI have confirmed that RS300 supports the 800MHz FSB in hardware, hence with this license actual board level products will become available with the 800MHz FSB enabled.

RS300

Here's a rundown of the functionality the Northbridge brings to the chipset:

  • Up to 800MHz FSB for Intel Pentium 4
  • HyperThreading support
  • AGP3.0 compliant AGP8X interface with Fast Write support
  • Dual Channel 128-bit DDR SDRAM Memory Interface
    • DDR400 for up to 6.4GB/sec system bandwidth
    • Up to 4GB DRAM support with two unbuffered SO-DIMMs
    • Unified Memory Architecture
    • 16-128MB system RAM configurable as display memory
  • 266MB/sec point-to-point interface to ATI IXP (Southbridge) in A-Link mode

Integrated Graphics with and
Without Pixel Shaders


At present ATI are utilising their IXP250 Southbridge in conjunction with the RS300 chipset. The IXP250 chip has support for the following:

  • Dual ATA/100
  • Up to 6 USB 2.0 ports
  • 3COM integrated Ethernet controller
  • AC97 Sound with S/PDIF Digital Output support

ATI are working on an IXP300 Southbridge part, and given that the reference board ATI have been demonstrating with features external Serial ATA and Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet chips these may be a good indicator as to what are targets to be integrated into that.

Click for a bigger version
Reference RS300 Board