Tyan S1854 - Trinity 400 Update
2/29/00

VIA's Apollo Pro133A Just Got A Little Faster

The VIA Apolo Pro133 chipset has an "Achilles Heal".  For quite some time now, it has been know that memory bandwidth and performance was somewhat lacking in comparison to some of the other chipsets like the legacy Intel BX. 

Recently HotHardware's Super Techno-Sleuth, Marco "BigWop" Chiappetta has discovered that with the proper settings and a motherboard based on the Apollo Pro133A, that this VIA chipset could stand tall against the BX in all aspects, including Memory Performance.  So we decided to see if he was blowing smoke or giving us the real dirt.  Here's what we found out.

 
 
Tyan Trinity 400 Test System Memory Performance Update
The VIA Apollo Pro133A is no slouch

Full Tower ATX Case w/ 300W PS, Pentium III 500E overclocked to 667MHz. and 750MHz. (supplied by Outside Loop Computers), Tyan S1854 Trinity 400 Motherboard, 128MB PC133 HSDRAM from EMS, WD Expert AC418000 7200 RPM ATA66 Hard Drive, Elsa Erazor X2, Pioneer 10X DVD/40X CD ROM, Win 98SE, DirectX 7, NVidia Detonator Reference Drivers Version 3.68

 
 
One aspect of our Test System that you should note, is that it is somewhat different from our original review with the Tyan Trinity 400 that we generated only a few months ago.  This time we plugged in a Pentium 500E and overclocked it to 667MHz.  This had an effect on performance of the memory sub sytem of course but in comparison to a BX chipset running this CPU, historically Memory Performance clock for clock, was always well below the BX.  This is where things got interesting.

We also set the memory timings up much more aggressively due to some additional capabilities found in the recent revision of the Trinity 400 BIOS.  You will need BIOS rev. 1.00 to set things up this up this way.  Click if you want a closer look.
 

We set the Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk to "Disabled" and then custom set the memory timings on the left side of this screen.  Our RAM was a 7.5ns PC133 type module so we set the Timing to 8ns.   Also, note the SDRAM Cycle Length of 2 and the DRAM Clock of HCLK (Host Clock)+33M.  Now, don't think for a minute that this setting had our SDRAM running at 133MHz. + 33MHz. for a total of 166MHz.  There is just no way the system would even have booted at this speed.  On the other hand, setting up this feature this way gave us optimal results.  You can also select Host Clock -33M for your PC100 types and Auto.  Again, the Host+33M was the fastest and perfectly stable.
 
 
Benchmarks / Comparison
The VIA Apollo unleashed

So, now that our VIA Apollo Pro133A based Tyan Trinity 400 is set up for max memory performance, how did we do?  Have a look for yourself! Click images for full view.

Sandra Memory Benchmark Tyan Trinity 400 - Apollo Pro133A @ 667MHz.

 

Not too shabby at all.  The numbers were also taken with the latest Inf files for the Apollo Pro133A chipset. 


Now take a look at our Abit BE6 BX board with the same set up and CPU.  The memory timings were set to CAS2 for optimal speed.  You need very good PC133 memory to do this.

Sandra Memory Benchmark Abit BE6 - BX @ 667MHz.

We are in the same ball park here folks.  These scores put the VIA chipset within striking distance of the Intel BX.  With further optimizations and revisions of VIA's drivers, we could see this gap closing even further.

 

Here is the rest of the story with CPU and Multimedia Scores as well.

Tyan Trinity 400 - VIA Apollo Pro133A

Sandra CPU Benchmark

Abit BE6 - Intel BX

Sandra CPU Benchmark

 
Sandra Multi-Media Benchmark

 
Sandra Multi-Media Benchmark

 

Once again the VIA chipset lags but not by much.  In addition, the VIA could take our CPU to heights of over clocking with our GeForce card, that the BX couldn't.  Without the 1/2 AGP Divider capability of the VIA board, the BX couldn't load Windows at anything higher than a 133MHz. Front Side Bus.  Yes, you could probably plug in a PCI Graphics card and then overclock the BX to your hearts delight but what would be the point?  You would have to be utilizing old graphics technology to do it?

Here are some scores with the Tyan Trinity 400 at 750MHz

Tyan Trinity 400 - VIA Apollo Pro133A @ 750MHz.

Sandra CPU Benchmark @ 750MHz.

Sandra Memory Benchmark @ 750MHz.

Sandra Multi-Media Benchmark @ 750MHz.

 
With the VIA Apollo Pro133A chipset we are able to overclock the system well beyond 133MHz. Front Side Bus to a high of 150MHz.  We were also able to achieve this with a GeForce DDR AGP card.  No amount of tweaking would allow us to do this with the BX board.
 

 

What does this all mean?  Well, you'll need to draw your own conclusions from this.  However, in our opinion, if you consider the Intel CPU based motherboard solutions currently available, the VIA Apollo Pro133A has the most flexibility in the market place and the performance to back it up.  The i820 is a strong contender as well with blazing fast memory scores, as we have seen in other reviews.  However, if RAMBUS prices don't get in line quick, VIA will be eating Intel's lunch.

Then of course there are the AMD solutions as well with the VIA KX133 and AMD chipsets but that is a discussion for another day.  This is enough confusion for one sitting.   :)

-Davo

 
 

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