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CrushK8 a.k.a. nForce3
The first mainstream chipset fo the Athlon 64 platform to hit the streets is the nVidia nForce3 (there are solutions from VIA, ALI and others coming up as well). The nForce3 is strictly speaking a consumer product and not aimed at the server or workstation space that would require e.g. a 64-bit or 66 MHz PCI-X interface. In order to save real estate and production cost, albeit at the expense of some granularity, nVidia's solution is monolithic, that is, the AGP tunnel and the I/O link are integrated on one silicon.
The nForce3 silicon is linked to the CPU via an asymmetric HyperTransport interface, featuring 16 bit downstream and 8 bit upstream bandwidth. At 600 MHz and a double pumped 1.2V low voltage differential signalling protocol, this allows for 2.4 GB/sec downstream and 1.2 GB/sec upstream bandwidth. Keep in mind that AGP 8X support with its 2GB/sec bandwidth has to be part of the 2.4GB/sec, which then leaves up to 400 MB/sec for all other devices. In view of Intel's 266 MB/sec I/O-Link this still appears ample.
One interesting tidbit of the nForce3 is that it does not natively support Serial ATA. Instead, three IDE channels are incorporated for up to 6 devices and support for RAID 0,1 and 0+1 over the first two channels. The third channel can be used to support two SATA devices over bridge interfaces and, in case it is used for Parallel ATA, features an "overclocking function" to speed up PATA signalling for an equivalent of UATA/150, which matches the transfer rate of SATA 1.5Gbs. We do have some reservations about that, though.
ASUS SK8N
The test platform for the AThlon 64 FX-51 is the ASUS SK8N, built around the nForce3 150 and a short description of the board is certainly in place. Briefly, the SK8N features 5 PCI slots, 4 DIMM slots and uses the Promise PDC20378 Marvell-bridge based SATA 150 RAID controller to enable Serial ATA. Keep in mind that the Promise solution is not a native SATA interface, and has a number of drawbacks but that is a different story.
Left to right: ASUS SK8N overview / layout, 3-phase VRM, I/O panel, click images for larger picture and details
The SK8N uses the Socket940 for the Athlon FX/ Opteron series and four DIMM slots, onboard Audio is enabled via the ALC650 AC'97 audio CODEC. The VRM is based on the Analog Devices ADP3166 that is 5-bit programmable from 0.8 to 1.55V output and can support up to four phases. In this configuration, three phases are used, each of which is using an external ADP3418 dual N-channel driver IC. The output voltage limitation of 1.55 V at the upper end may not be to the likings of some die-hard believers in extreme voltages, however, keep in mind that the Opteron / Athlon 64 uses silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process technology that neither needs nor tolerates high voltages to begin with. Firewire is enabled by means of the TI TSB43AB22A Open Host Controller Interface / Phy-Link Layer and Ethernet support is provided courtesy of the Realtek 8201BL phyceiver.
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