PT880 PRO: The "Step-Up" Chipset



The PT880 PRO is the lowest cost of the new PCI Express chipsets. VIA believes that the PT880 PRO will appeal to many buyers, since it offers upgrade possibilities that just aren't available on other Socket 775 boards.


The most unique feature is the availability of a full AGP 8X slot on a PCI Express motherboard designed for Socket 775. There is also a PCI Express video slot, but VIA tells us that the PCIe slot will be limited to x4 operation. Based on the performance in our past reviews, an x4 PCIe should certainly be fast enough for any current PCIe video cards. Significantly, an AGP and PCIe can both run simultaneously to power up to 4 monitors in a multi-display configuration.
  • Targeted at Performance Mainstream Segment
    • Stepping Stone Solution for PCI Express Transition
    • Ideal Replacement for popular i865/i875 motherboards with AGP
  • Support for the latest Intel®Pentium®4 & Celeron Processors
    • Full Support for 1066MHz FSB
  • VIA StepUp Technology
    • DDR2 400/533/667
    • DDR 400/333/266
    • Easy DDR to DDR2 Migration
  • The only solution to support both AGP and PCI Express
    Graphics cards
    • Full AGP 8x support
    • Full DualGFX Support
      • Use AGP and PCI Express Graphics card at the same time!
  • VIA Flex Express Architecture
    • VIA Universal Graphics Interface
      • AGP Graphics
      • PCI-Express Graphics
    • VIA DualGFX Express Graphics
      • Ready for all industry dual GPU standards
      • Enhanced multi-display support for up to 4 monitors
    • High Bandwidth PCI Express Peripherals
      • 2 PCI Express x1 connections to the South Bridge
We did not have a PT880 Pro Reference board available for testing, but the base PT880 Pro chip supports AGP and PCIe graphics, and does not support additional PCI Express lanes. Additional PCIe slots would need to be provided by the 8251 Southbridge, which is not yet available. The current 8237 Southbridge does not provide additional PCIe support. With almost no PCI Express peripherals in the marketplace, this will not matter to most users, but if you have a need for additional x1 PCIe slots, you will need a PT880 Pro motherboard with the 8251 South Bridge.

The New VIA Chipsets PT894 & PT894 PRO
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  • nserra - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link

    DDR dimm have 184 pin so:
    - Amd socket 939 = socket 754 + 184 pin = 938 pin
    - Amd socket 754 - 184 = 570 pin (with out the on board memory controller)

    Intel new P4 socket have 775, why?
  • xsilver - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link

    while the above are correct
    I refer to the fsb 1066 is not working currently statment --- how can this be good for overclocking?
    its probably not working because of the AGP/PCI lock -- im an owner of the kt800 chipset and while the lock does work as they claim -- it kills itself at around 270fsb
  • k00kie - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link

    Wow, these VIA chipsets sure have the potential to give competition to Intel's and Nvidia's offerings. I hope they execute this one properly.

    2 - Yeah, there's a pretty good chance much of what we see with these chips will be brought to whatever VIA's working on for their upcoming chipsets for AMD's K8 processors
  • Manzelle - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link

    The fact that the PT880 supports both AGP and PCIe makes it very attractive. I wonder if VIA will implement the same with their AMD line...
  • ChineseDemocracyGNR - Monday, January 31, 2005 - link

    Wow, I'm impressed. I didn't expect the PT894 to keep up with the 915/925 chipsets, but it's actually faster in a number of benchmarks.

    The VT8251 is very impressive too, specially if they can get it out soon for K8T890 boards. That's the best southbridge in my opinion, compared to Intel's ICH6 family and nVidia's nForce4 Ultra.

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