by Cetera labs support account
03/04/2003 | 04:36 AM
We managed to obtain a lot of very interesting information about Intel's PAT (Performance Acceleration Technology) found in the upcoming i875P (Canterwood) core-logic for the advanced Pentium 4 processor with 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus and Hyper-Threading technology support. <%BANNER[article]%>
In order to keep the structure of the material in a way that will be easy to understand, we decided to post the information as a Q&A (questions and answers) session.
Q: What is Performance Acceleration Technology (PAT)?
A: PAT refers to a technology within Intel(r) 875P chipset that allows it to have additional system level performance in the 800FSB/DDR400 configuration, beyond what can be achieved by the Intel 865 chipset family.
Q: What % of your Intel 875P chipset volume do you expect to support PAT?
A: 100%.
Q: Do you need special memory (speeds or timings) for PAT to work?
A: Beyond a standard 800FSB processor and standard DDR400 memory, there are no special requirements of the system to make PAT mode work. All the performance enhancements are achieve internal to the Intel 875P chipset.
Q: Does Intel achieve the additional performance of PAT through over-clocking the processor, chipset, or memory?
A: No. It is achieved through improving the performance internal to the chipset, reducing latency between FSB and system memory.
Q: Does PAT work with ECC on and off?
A: Yes.
Q: Is PAT only a BIOS option?
A: PAT performance is delivered via a combination of silicon and BIOS settings.
Q: How do you achieve the additional performance of the Intel 875P chipset over Intel 865-PE chipset?
A: This is achieved through utilizing internal paths that reduce the latency between FSB and main memory. We are manufacturing the Intel 875P chipset beyond our usual high performance requirements to even faster specifications. In some case we are able to bypass steps, in others we are speeding up steps. The net is an increase in performance. This has taken significant engineering effort and manufacturing studies to configure PAT, and it can only be delivered through the Intel 875P chipset.
Q: Can I get PAT with the Intel 865 chipset family? Why not?
A: We do not have the ability to provide PAT to the Intel 865 chipset family products based on our engineering and manufacturing analysis. Since the Intel 875P chipset is targeted to the high end performance/workstation market, PAT is a natural fit with the Intel 875P chipset. Intel 865-PE chipset offers excellent performance, and the Intel 875P chipset gives extra performance for the customers who are interested in more.
Q: What is the expected performance?
A: We expect 2-5% performance increase in SpecInt and SpecFp of the Intel 875P chipset with PAT vs. a similarly configured Intel 865 chipset.
Q: Are you going to put any special marketing behind the Intel 875P chipset?
A: As Intel's highest performance desktop chipset, the Intel 875P chipset will be the focus of benchmarking throughout the industry. Intel will promote the features and benefits of the Intel 875P chipset as the performance leadership platform for the Intel Pentium 4 processor.
Q: Is the Intel 875P chipset silicon less reliable than your other chipsets? Are you cutting corners to achieve PAT?
A: No. Intel is committed to the same level of quality for the Intel 875P chipset product as the rest of our chipset family.
I hope that this answers most of your questions about Intel's Performance Acceleration Technology.