Chipset Overview - Supermicro Supero H8DAR-i User Manual

H8DA8/H8DAE/H8DAR-8/H8DAR-i User's Manual
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Chipset Overview

The H8DA8/H8DAE/H8DAR-8/H8DAR-i serverboard is based on the AMD-8131
chipset. This chipset is composed of two main components: the AMD-8131
HyperTransport TM PCI-X Tunnel and the AMD-8111
The AMD-8131 chipset provides high performance and an excellent feature-set
for multi-processor server solutions. Controllers for the system memory are built
directly into the processors.
8131 HyperTransport PCI-X Tunnel
This hub includes AMD-specifi c technology that provides two PCI-X bridges with
each bridge supporting a 64-bit data bus as well as separate PCI-X operational
modes and independent transfer rates. Each bridge supports up to fi ve PCI masters
that include clock, request and grant signals. This hub connects to the processors
and through them to system memory. It also interfaces directly with the SCSI and
Ethernet controllers.
8111 HyperTransport I/O Hub
The 8111 I/O hub provides the interface between the 8131 hub and various sub-
systems including the Winbond Super I/O functions, the onboard graphics, the IDE
controller and the USB ports.
HyperTransport Technology
HyperTransport technology is a high-speed, low latency point to point link that was
designed to increase the communication speed by a factor of up to 48x between
integrated circuits. This is done partly by reducing the number of buses in the
chipset to reduce bottlenecks and by enabling a more effi cient use of memory in
multi-processor systems. The end result is a signifi cant increase in bandwidth
within the chipset.
TM HyperTransport
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TM
TM I/O Hub.