The architecture and new processing techniques of Intel D915GUX

Evgenie Rudometov,

Victor Rudometov

authors@rudometov.com

Intel corporation develops the motherboard of Intel D915GUX with two-channel solution of a subsystem of dynamic storage with DDR2 units. In the architecture of this card created on the basis of a chip set of Intel 915G c by the integrated drawing, a number of perspective firm processing techniques, among which Intels GMA 900 is realised.

As is known, motherboards concern one of the most difficult and important components of the architecture of modern computers. Functionality of computers is substantially defined by possibilities of these components. On quality of their design and used units depend productivity, and that quite often it is much more important — stability and dependability of operation of all computer system created on the basis of these highly integrated components.

Now motherboards release many corporations. Their number makes now some tens. Nevertheless, the measurement standard of quality, stability, dependability and compatibility of these products were and there are motherboards of the corporation of Intel. And in it there is nothing surprising as this corporation is the implementator and the manufacturer not only processors and the chip sets which are a basis of the architecture of computers, but also the big number of perspective processing techniques and the specifications which have become by branch standards. Moreover, processing techniques and standards from Intel substantially define development of all computer branch.

Many of perspective computer processing techniques have found incarnation in the motherboard of Intel D915GUX. The given card is oriented to development of powerful workstations and high-powered desktop personal computers. She allows to realise all advantages of the architecture of processors of Intel of Pentium 4 with processing technique Hyper-Threading. High efficiency of the motherboard of Intel D915GUX is reached thanks to support of the processor bus with a transmission frequency of the given 800 MHz and units of a two-channel subsystem of memory DDR2 533. Besides, given card the newest interfaces and processing techniques.

Reaching of high parametres is provided thanks to the newest set of system logic — Intel chip set 915G, possessing the built in graphics resources new pokolenijaj. This chip set is the difficult product created on the basis of usage of modern computer architectures and solid-state technologies. It provides implementation of the big number of controllers of peripheral devices.

Intel chip set 915G the motherboard of Intel D915GUX

Fig. 1. Structure of the computer created on the basis of a chip set i915G

Intel chip set 915G (i915G) is oriented to creation of high-powered desktop personal computers. Supports systems with processors of Intel of Pentium 4 with processing technique Hyper-Threading, 90 nanometers created on processing technique , hooked up through LGA775 plug and working with bus FSB of type QPB (Quad-Pumped Bus) which clock rate can make 133 or 200 MHz. Usage of the models calculated for frequency of the bus of 400 MHz is possible .

As is known bus FSB of type QPB at clock rate of 133 MHz carries out data transfer with frequency of 533 MHz, an address part — 266 MHz that capacity to 4,2 Gbytes/with provides peak. At clock rate of 200 MHz data transfer is carried out with frequency of 800 MHz, and an address part — 400 MHz. In this mode peak capacity reaches values of 6,4 Gbytes/with. The bus supports 32-bit addressing that provides to 4 Gbytes of dynamic storage.

Traditionally for chipsets of system logic the chip set consists of two components named Memory Controller Hub (MCH) and I/O Controller Hub (ICH).

The base package of a chip set i915G consists of Intel chips 82915G Graphics and Memory Controller Hub (GMCH) and Intel 82801FB (ICH6). As the second chip can use improved variants ICH6. It can be Intel chip 82801FR (ICH6R), possessing the expanded possibilities of operation with a disk subsystem of memory, or Intel chip 82801FW (ICH6W) with integrated controller Wi-Fi, or Intel chip 82801FRW (ICH6RW), possessing both specified functions.

Chips MCH and ICH are jointed by special Direct Media Interface (DMI local bus to a transfer rate to 10 Gbit/with in each direction: a full duplex.

The GMCH component contains the controllers giving interfaces with high capacity in the structure. These controllers control the system bus with data transfer with frequency of 800 MHz and two-channel dynamic storage. Besides, they will organise operation of the integrated graphics resources on the basis of processing technique of Intel GMA 900 which have come in the stead Intel Extreme Graphics 2, graphic interface PCI Express x16 and communication facilities with a chip of input/output ICH.

Built in Intel 82915G the controller of processor bus FSB of type QPB supports the bus with clock rate of 200/133/100 MHz that provides data transfer on frequencies of 800/533/400 MHz.

Built in Intel chip 82915G the memory controller provides support of two and one-channel functional modes of memory DDR/DDR2 SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM — SDRAM with data transfer on lobbies and back edges of clock pulses of the bus of memory). Probably patterns with usage as DDR SDRAM with frequency of 333 and 400 MHz, and DDR2 SDRAM with frequency of 400 and 533 MHz. But all units should be one type, specified in the documentation on the motherboard. Maximum dynamic storage size — to 4 Gbytes. Two-channel memory DDR2 with frequency of 533 MHz has maximum capacity to 8,5 Gbytes/with.

Chip MCH supports different frequency functional modes for processor and memory buses.

Handle of computer peripheral devices is carried out by the second component of a chip set. Thus it is necessary to mark, that in a chip set i915G chip ICH of the sixth version is used. According to this fact it has received name ICH6 and is presented by Intel chip 82801FB. This chip enters into a base set of a chip set i915G.

The built in resources of a chip of handle of peripheral devices of a base set support: one channel IDE with support ATA 33/66/100 (to two arrangements IDE), four ports Serial ATA 150, eight ports USB 2.0, to four PCI Express x1, to seven PCI (PCI Rev 2.3, 32 bits/33 of MHz), LPC (Low Pin Count), the controller of Intel High Definition Audio with support of three codecs, AC ’ 97 2.3 (to 8 channels), integrated controller LAN (10/100 Mb/s Ethernet), SMBus, Wireless Connect Technology (only for ICH6W/ICH6RW), APIC, ACPI Rev.2.0, and also other resources and functions.

Except Intel 82801ЕB as it has been specified above, usage of the expanded version of hub ICH6 — ICH5R, ICH5W, ICH5RW is possible .

The main technical parametres of the motherboard of Intel D915GUX

Fig. 2. The Motherboard of Intel D915GUX

Fig. 3. Plugs of the motherboard of Intel D915GUX

The processor

·         Support of the processor of Intel of Pentium 4 in tank LGA775 with the system bus 533 and 800 MHz,

·         Support of processors of Intel Celeron with the bus of 533 MHz in in tank LGA775.

Chip set

·         Intel 82915G (MCH),

·        Intel 82801FRW (ICH5RW),

·         4 Mbit Firmware Hub (FWH).

Dynamic storage

·         Four plugs (240 contact electrodes) for dynamic storage DIMM,

·         Support of one or two channels of dynamic storage,

·         DDR2 533 Units or DDR2 400,

·        maximum size — to 4 Gbytes.

USB 2.0

·         Eight ports USB 2.0,

Video

·         the Graphics subsystem of Intel GMA900,

·         Possibility of installation of the videoadapter in PCI slot Express X16.

Audio

·         the Audiosubsystem of Intel High Definition Audio on the basis of codec Realtek ALC860.

LAN

·         Gigabitnaja (10/100/1000 Mbit/c) a network subsystem on base gigabitnogo network controller Marvell Yukon 88E8050 PCI Express.

System BIOS

·        Intel/AMI BIOS (in 4 Mbit FWH),

·        Support Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), Plug and Play and SMBIOS

Interfaces of peripheral devices

·         Eight ports USB 2.0,

·         One serial port,

·         One parallel port,

·         Four interfaces Serial ATA IDE,

·         One interface Parallel ATA IDE with support of UDMA 33 protocols and
ATA-66/100,

·         the Interface of the floppi-drive,

·         keyboard and mouse Ports PS/2*.

Input/output system

·         the Controller of input/output LPC.

Slots

·         one PCI slot Express x16,

·         one PCI slot Express x1,

·         two PCI slots.

Form factor

·         mikro-AtX,

·         the Sizes of 243,84 mm h 243,84 mm.

Structure of a package of Intel D915GUX

Into package structure enter:

·         a box,

·         the motherboard of Intel D915GUX,

·         the cover plate of input/output corresponding to specification ATX,

·         the quick reference guide of the user in English;

·         a cable for hooking up ATA66/100/133, cables Serial ATA and a loop for hooking up of the flexible drive,

·         a compact disc with the software of Intel Express Installer on which are written the user manual, and also anti-virus package Norton Internet Security, the utility of Intel Active Monitor, ON RestoreIT! Lite, ON Diskeeper Lite, player RealONE Player and other software.

Features of the architecture of Intel D915GUX

The motherboard is created according to referens-design which by tradition develop the manufacturer of a chip set, in this case is a corporation of Intel.

Rather recently Intel company has passed to the new standard of tank and the plug — LGA775. It has found the reflexion and in the motherboard architecture. The plug is presented in a Fig. 4.

Fig. 4. The processor plug of standard LGA 775

High efficiency of modern processors is accompanied considerable teploobrazovaniem. It demands sootvetsvujushchih cooling resources. So, for example, boksovyj the processor of Intel of Pentium 4 with clock rate of 3,4 GHz, calculated for operation with the bus which transmission frequency of data makes 800 MHz, is supplied by the heat sink with radial layout of edges. Considering high teplotvornuju ability of such products, in the heat sink underplate is built in an interposing from copper.

Appropriate resources of cooling chip GMCH (a Fig. 5) which structure the controllers which are responsible for link with the processor are built in, subsystems of dynamic storage and video, and also with chip ICH demands also .

Fig. 5. Chip Memory Controller Hub (MCH) with cooling resources

It is necessary to mark, that the motherboard of Intel D915DUX is oriented as a basis of high-powered systems. Usage of processors of Intel of Pentium 4 with processing technique Hyper-Threading and the bus of 800 MHz providing reaching of a maximum level of productivity therefore is recommended  . However usage and less efficient models is possible. It can be, for example, the processors calculated for the bus of 533 MHz and even of 400 MHz. Thus together with the motherboard of Intel D915DUX usage of models and without support of processing technique Hyper-Threading though it and will not allow to reach extreme possible performance level is possible.

The functional mode of memory modules DDR2 SDRAM can be one-channel or two-channel. The two-channel mode allows to receive completely depthbalanced system for a case when pass-bands of the processor bus and the memory bus coincide and make equal values — 6,4 Gbytes/with. Thus operation of memory modules DDR SDRAM can be or synchronous — clock rate coincides with frequency FSB, or asynchronous — clock rate differs from frequency FSB. In case of usage DDR2 533 band reaches 8,4 Gbytes/with, that taking into account built in a subsystem of dynamic storage of buffers and internal optimisation of streams provides productivity increase.

Considering that fact, that in many cases of implementation of systems on the basis of Intel D915DUX, graphics resources as a part of chip GMCH of a chip set i915G use, it is expedient to use exclusively two-channel pattern of dynamic storage.

Parsing possibilities of integrated videos of resources, it is necessary to mark, that the built in graphics adapter of Intel GMA 900 provides: support HDTV, wide-screen liquid crystal displays, hooking up of two displays simultaneously, an expedition of Microsoft DirectX 9 for the three-dimensional drawing. Besides the integrated resources provide lower energopotreblenie, the best temperature characteristics and the best audio characteristics, than for external graphics adapters of the previous generation. It is necessary to add, that productivity more than in 1,5 times exceeds productivity of the previous graphics solutions of Intel.

By the way, in case of unsufficiency of productivity of the integrated video subsystem there is a possibility of application of external PCI Express Х16 videoadapter . Graphics solution PCI Express x16 provides speed to 4 Gbytes/with in each direction, that more than in three and a half time exceeds high-speed performance of the best external graphics adapters with interface AGP8X.

For handle of input\output devices the second chip which is a part of the used chip set traditionally responds. As the given chip Intel 82801FRW (ICH6RW), presented on a Fig. 6 uses .

Fig. 6. A chip of handle of peripheral devices (ICH6RW), a part of a chip set i915G

From features of the architecture it is necessary to mark an audiosubsystem realising processing technique of Intel High Definition Audio. It provides considerable improvement of playback of a multi-channel sound 48 kgts in comparison with traditional solutions AC ' 97. Support of new formats of house cinemas and support of simultaneous playback of several separate sound streams is Besides, carried out. As the codec chip Realtek ALC860 presented in a Fig. 7 is used . It is realised six audiochannels).

The network controller Gigabit Ethernet realised on a chip of controller Marvell Yukon 88E8050 PCI Express and presented on Fig. 7 is built in the motherboard architecture . The given integrated network tools allow to include easily the computer through built in RJ45 (LAN plug in local area network structure.

Fig. 7. Chips of the audiocodec and LAN (are selected red)

One more novelty in the architecture of new motherboards is a processing technique of Intel Matrix Storage. This processing technique realised in ICH6RW and ICH6R, high efficiency at usage of one disk or a RAID-file.

Increases productivity of hard disks by means of processing technique RAID 0 and protects data by means of processing technique RAID 1, applying them on the same disks. Interface AHCI raises productivity thanks to integration of sequence of commands and provides support of hot installation and changeover of hard disks.

The processing technique of Intel Matrix Storage helps to protect data, simultaneously raising productivity in comparison with systems with one hard disk. And it is important, that supports transition from a pattern "RAID ready" with one hard disk on array RAID 0 or RAID 1 without OS reinstallation.

The motherboard architecture incorporates four ports Serial ATA 150 (four arrangements) and one port Parallel ATA-100 (UltraDMA 100/66/33, two arrangements IDE).

In a Fig. 8 plugs of a disk subsystem of the motherboard of Intel D915DUX are presented.

Fig. 8. Plugs of a disk subsystem of the motherboard of Intel D915GUX

Considering perspective processing techniques, it is necessary to mark, that generally speaking, support of wireless transmission media of the information — processing technique of Intel Wireless Connect is provided also . This support is provided with the architecture of chip ICH6RW (and ICH6W in other patterns).

The processing technique of Intel Wireless Connect simplifies expansion of wireless networks thanks to presence of the integrated point of the access supporting processing technique of Intel Centrino for transportable PCs. Also supports hooking up to stereosystems and TVs by means of adapter DMA. However for processing technique operation the network adapter of Intel PRO/Wireless 2225BG is required. Can be present not at all systems. The given processing technique to the full will be realised a little bit later in the subsequent variants of cards.

For the extension of the computer system created on the basis of the motherboard of Intel В915GUX the appropriate slots presented by traditional PCI plugs and PCI Express x1 are. Thus it is necessary to mark, that the subsystem of input/output PCI Express x1 provides speed more than in 500 Mb per second. It more than in 3,5 times exceeds speed of the traditional PCI architecture having capacity in 133 Mb per second.

Power supply of units of the motherboard of Intel D915GUX is carried out through system of impulse stabilising devices.

In a multi-channel impulse surge protector of the processor (Fig. 9), traditionally allocated round a processor socket, are applied filtering capacitors in size 1200 and 560 mkf.

Fig. 9. VRM the motherboard of Intel D915GUX

Besides, on the card there are converters of supply voltage PCI Express  x16 and dynamic storage units.

In the architecture of the motherboard of Intel D915GUX possibilities of the hardware monitoring providing the control over supply voltages and operation of cooling fans are realised.

Stability and dependability

And as to an estimation of the main operation parametres of the described motherboard it is necessary to mark, that at performance of numerous, durable tests the card of Intel D915GUX worked steadily as it usually and is characteristic for products of this manufacturer.

For data acquisition about dependability of the card of Intel D915GUX it is necessary to access or to the computer corporations realising this product, or it is direct to the manufacturer of mother chamber — Intel corporation. Nevertheless, it is necessary to mark, that on the motherboard of Intel D915GUX a target date of a guarantee three years.

The high-powered card of Intel D915GUX can be recommended a wide range of users which does not interest possibilities of extremal modes of dispersal and which prefer productivity, dependability and stability of operation of accessories from known manufacturers.

The motherboard of Intel D915GUX is given by the Moscow representation of the corporation of Intel