28-Mar-2024 09:51 GMT.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
[News] Marvell announces Discovery III NorthbridgeANN.lu
Posted on 30-Sep-2003 15:01 GMT by takemehomegrandma94 comments
View flat
View list
Marvell today announced the Discovery III northbridge. It features a 200MHz PowerPC CPU interface, 200MHz DDR SDRAM Interface (400Mbps data rate), Dual CPU SMP Support (MPX and 60x modes), PCI-X, Gigabit ethernet and is software compatible with other Discovery northbridges.

Source: morphos-news.de

List of all comments to this article
Sorted by date, most recent at bottom
Comment 1Bob30-Sep-2003 13:09 GMT
Comment 2Bob30-Sep-2003 13:09 GMT
Comment 3T_Bone30-Sep-2003 13:16 GMT
Comment 4Kronos30-Sep-2003 13:17 GMT
Comment 5Nate DownesRegistered user30-Sep-2003 13:32 GMT
Comment 6miksuh30-Sep-2003 13:37 GMT
Comment 7Tryo30-Sep-2003 14:19 GMT
Comment 8Hagge30-Sep-2003 14:23 GMT
Comment 9Hagge30-Sep-2003 14:24 GMT
Comment 10Hagge30-Sep-2003 14:26 GMT
Comment 11Hagge30-Sep-2003 14:27 GMT
Comment 12Anonymous30-Sep-2003 14:29 GMT
Comment 13Hagge30-Sep-2003 14:30 GMT
Comment 14Anonymous30-Sep-2003 14:30 GMT
Comment 15Jan de Vries30-Sep-2003 14:52 GMT
Comment 16Anonymous30-Sep-2003 15:08 GMT
Comment 17Crumb // AAT30-Sep-2003 15:09 GMT
Comment 18Anonymous30-Sep-2003 15:17 GMT
Comment 19XraalE30-Sep-2003 15:42 GMT
Comment 20takemehomegrandmaRegistered user30-Sep-2003 16:04 GMT
Comment 21Johan Rönnblom30-Sep-2003 16:11 GMT
Comment 22Anonymous30-Sep-2003 16:12 GMT
Comment 23BrianK30-Sep-2003 16:21 GMT
Comment 24Bill Toner30-Sep-2003 17:09 GMT
Comment 25Martin Blom30-Sep-2003 17:30 GMT
Comment 26Hagge30-Sep-2003 17:52 GMT
Comment 27Anonymous30-Sep-2003 17:52 GMT
Comment 28Hagge30-Sep-2003 17:58 GMT
Comment 29Joe "Floid" Kanowitz30-Sep-2003 18:12 GMT
Comment 30Miffo30-Sep-2003 18:19 GMT
Comment 31Olegil30-Sep-2003 18:20 GMT
Comment 32Joe "Floid" Kanowitz30-Sep-2003 18:35 GMT
Comment 33Eva30-Sep-2003 19:50 GMT
Comment 34Eva30-Sep-2003 20:01 GMT
Comment 35Kulwant Bhogal30-Sep-2003 20:13 GMT
Comment 36Anonymous30-Sep-2003 20:25 GMT
Comment 37hammer30-Sep-2003 22:44 GMT
Comment 38hammer30-Sep-2003 22:51 GMT
Comment 39Herewegoagain30-Sep-2003 23:19 GMT
Comment 40Anonymous01-Oct-2003 00:06 GMT
Comment 41Nate DownesRegistered user01-Oct-2003 00:10 GMT
Comment 42strobe01-Oct-2003 00:11 GMT
Comment 43strobe01-Oct-2003 00:12 GMT
Comment 44Anonymous01-Oct-2003 01:11 GMT
Comment 45Joe "Floid" Kanowitz01-Oct-2003 01:18 GMT
Comment 46Anonymous01-Oct-2003 01:18 GMT
Comment 47Andreas Wolf01-Oct-2003 01:53 GMT
Comment 48tarbos01-Oct-2003 02:22 GMT
Comment 49tarbos01-Oct-2003 02:32 GMT
Comment 50tarbos01-Oct-2003 02:35 GMT
Comment 51Anonymous01-Oct-2003 02:36 GMT
Comment 52Some Farker01-Oct-2003 03:13 GMT
Comment 53Andreas Wolf01-Oct-2003 03:51 GMT
Comment 54Andreas Wolf01-Oct-2003 04:09 GMT
Comment 55Anony Mouse01-Oct-2003 05:34 GMT
Comment 56Anonymous01-Oct-2003 05:39 GMT
Comment 57Anonymous01-Oct-2003 05:48 GMT
Comment 58Crumb // AAT01-Oct-2003 05:48 GMT
Comment 59Anonymous01-Oct-2003 07:05 GMT
Comment 60Eva01-Oct-2003 08:24 GMT
Comment 61Eva01-Oct-2003 08:35 GMT
Comment 62minator01-Oct-2003 09:07 GMT
Comment 63Crumb // AAT01-Oct-2003 09:51 GMT
Comment 64Crumb // AAT01-Oct-2003 10:03 GMT
Comment 65Mirror01-Oct-2003 11:30 GMT
Comment 66Anonymous01-Oct-2003 11:42 GMT
Comment 67tarbos01-Oct-2003 11:44 GMT
Comment 68Joe "Floid" Kanowitz01-Oct-2003 12:04 GMT
Comment 69tonya01-Oct-2003 12:35 GMT
Comment 70Andreas Wolf01-Oct-2003 12:39 GMT
Comment 71Andreas Wolf01-Oct-2003 12:52 GMT
Comment 72Alkis TsapanidisRegistered user01-Oct-2003 14:30 GMT
Comment 73Alkis TsapanidisRegistered user01-Oct-2003 14:44 GMT
Comment 74Kolbjørn Barmen01-Oct-2003 15:00 GMT
Comment 75takemehomegrandmaRegistered user01-Oct-2003 18:11 GMT
Comment 76Andreas Wolf01-Oct-2003 19:13 GMT
Comment 77Kulwant Bhogal01-Oct-2003 19:13 GMT
Comment 78takemehomegrandmaRegistered user01-Oct-2003 20:33 GMT
Comment 79hammer01-Oct-2003 21:45 GMT
Comment 80hammer01-Oct-2003 22:06 GMT
Comment 81hammer01-Oct-2003 22:14 GMT
Comment 82Andreas Wolf02-Oct-2003 00:55 GMT
Comment 83tarbos02-Oct-2003 01:19 GMT
Comment 84tarbos02-Oct-2003 01:23 GMT
Comment 85Joe "Floid" Kanowitz02-Oct-2003 02:55 GMT
Comment 86tarbos02-Oct-2003 04:34 GMT
Comment 87hammer02-Oct-2003 04:40 GMT
Comment 88hammer02-Oct-2003 04:58 GMT
Comment 89hammer02-Oct-2003 05:25 GMT
Comment 90tarbos02-Oct-2003 07:14 GMT
Comment 91Andreas Wolf02-Oct-2003 09:07 GMT
Marvell announces Discovery III Northbridge : Comment 92 of 94ANN.lu
Posted by hammer on 02-Oct-2003 20:17 GMT
In reply to Comment 90 (tarbos):
>Others have multiple PCI(-X) buses and other goodies that AMD64 CPU itself
>lacks. It just offers a fast (Hypertranport)interface and that's about it.
>You still need several bridge chips to make available the usual PC mainboard
>features so you cannot speak about the functionality that moved into the CPU
>itself as a full fledged northbridge seperated from the core.

The features mentioned can change from time to time BUT the critical elements
that makes up the classic Northbridge does not change. The other goodies
doesn't change the fundamental operation of the PC i.e. Without a memory
controller the desktop PC wouldn’t function. The Desktop PC can function without a AGP or PCI-Express GFX cards, plain PCI V2.2 would be sufficient.

>An onchip memory controller is nothing new, certain IBM and Motorola SoC PPC
>have it now (also with DDR Ram support) - Transmeta even adds AGP.

I didn’t say it was special i.e. where did you get this idea?
Anyway, none of the CPUs you mention runs at 2.2Ghz for critical Northbridge functions.

>The RAM controller at first was only good for DDR333 with Opteron and

Limited by the certified registered PC2700 DDR SDRAM standards,
one can overclock the memory controller to DDR400. Such as setup is
similar to the Athlon FX51. Stepping C0 shouldn’t oppose a problem for
both of the CPUs.

>I see. It's just confusing since there is no "Northbridge" per se on AMD64.

There are 3 critical elements that makes up the classic K7 Northbridge.
(e.g. VIA KT400/600 series, Nvidia NForce I/II series).
1. Memory controller. Interfaces with RAM modules**.
2. AGP bus**.
3. Northbridge<>Southbridge I/O**.

With AMD K8 processor.
1. Memory controller is integrated**.
2. AGP bus via integrated AGP tunnelling**.
3. Southbridge I/O Link via hyper-transport link.

This hasn’t change since the invention of Northbridge and Southbridge
architecture.

Anything else is just optional features i.e. they can go to Southbridge
(e.g. MCP-T*, MCP-S1000 Southbridge). *Gigabyte's NForceII 400 Ultra solution
(includes Gigabit Ethernet). Features can change from time to time
e.g. One doesn’t need AGP GFX card to get a display.

In the old K7 nForce II 400 Ultra...
(CPU e.g. 2.2Ghz) <CPU's FSB e.g. DDR400> (Northbridge Functions e.g. SPP)
<HT interconnect e.g. @800MB/s> (Southbridge e.g. MCP-T).

In the K8 platform...
(CPU core e.g. 2.2Ghz) <at CPU's speed e.g. 2.2Ghz> (Critical Northbridge Functions**)
<interconnect i.e. 800MHz DDR> (Residual/optional**** Northbridge functions/Southbridge).

****Features such as Gigabit Ethernet wouldn't be considered as a critical
function to the operation of the PC.
Jump...
#93 hammer #94 hammer
TopPrevious commentNext commentbottom
List of all comments to this article (continued)
Comment 93hammer02-Oct-2003 20:50 GMT
Comment 94hammer06-Oct-2003 21:20 GMT
Back to Top