Via PT800

Given last year's legal wranglings, it's a surprise to see a new Pentium 4-based Via chipset. For those who missed it, Via and Intel were locked in lawsuits, with Intel claiming Via had broken patents, and Via counter-suing with anti-trust allegations.

Thankfully, all that has been settled, and Via can released its low-cost Pentium 4 chipset with an 800MHz front-side bus (FSB). We looked at a reference sample from Via - retail models should cost from £69 from companies such as MSI and Jetway.

The board we saw had the usual features - AGP, five PCIs, four USB2 ports plus modem and Ethernet. Six-channel sound comes from Via's Envy24PT chipset, a slimmed-down version of the excellent 24bit sound chip featured in Terratec and M-Audio sound cards.

The one thing that separates this from Intel's chipsets is the single-channel memory structure. Intel's 865 and 875 chipsets (codenamed Springdale and Canterwood respectively) use dual-channel memory, which enhances performance, particularly in games and video and image-editing software.

However, performance in Sysmark showed no signs of this having any effect, as it gained a very impressive score of 300 overall. This is 25 points behind the fastest P4 board we've seen (from DFI), but it's still a huge score. However, it did take a hit in our 3Dmark 2001 test, earning 14,658. This puts it at the bottom of the pile in our motherboard group test. That said, it's still a very good score, and the price is very appealing.

Contact: Via
www.via.com.tw

Specifications:

• Socket 478 support (with 800MHz FSB)
• Three DDR Dimm slots (single-channel 400MHz FSB)
• AGP, 5 x PCI
• 4 x USB2
• Modem, Ethernet