Platform Alternative II: Intel E7505 + P64H2 + ICH4
Block diagram of E7505-chipset
The workstation platform used by Xeon to date is called E7505 and is marketed under the code name Placer. As with the AMD system, the platform consists of three components : the E7505-Northbridge, P64H2 as PCI-X-Bridge and ICH4 as Southbridge.
It operates at FSB533, or 133 MHz FSB clock speed, with four data transfers per cycle (quad-pumped). The memory interface operates synchronously at 133 MHz, making DDR266, but is designed for two-channel operation. A total of 16 GB RAM is supported by the chipset ; the modules must be registered DRAMs. Many board manufacturers disable this feature, however, with 4 GB being the maximum that can be fitted. The ECC support is also optional. In contrast to the new E7525, E7505 offers an AGP-8X slot and no PCI-Express components at all.
The connection of the PCI-X-Bridge P64H2 completes Intel’s hub interface in accordance with Specification 2.0. Unlike the usual Version 1.5 in the desktop area, the revised interface can now transmit a full 1 GB/s instead of 266 MB/s, thanks to the 16 bit bus width and 133 MHz. This is especially important for connected PCI-X-equipment, such as ineffective memory controllers.
The E7505-Northbridge is manufactured in 130 nm.
Our E7505 platform is equipped with four 512 MB Corsair modules, which operate with a CAS latency of 2.0.
