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Intel® 460GX Chipset Software Developer’s Manual 5-1
Memory Subsystem 5
The Intel 460GX chipset’s memory subsystem consists of the SAC’s DRAM controller, the SDC’s
buffering and datapath access, the MAC and MDC components, and the DRAMs themselves.
Table 5-1 summarizes the 460GX chipset’s general memory characteristics.
The SAC’s DRAM controller provides addresses and commands to the 2 MAC’s on each memory
card. The MAC generates row and column addresses for the DRAM array and controls the data
flow through the MDC. For processor-memory cycles, the address is received from the system bus,
and data flows through the SDC to/from the memory cards. For PCI-DRAM cycles, the address is
presented on the bus. The data moves between PCI and DRAM within the SAC/SDC, without
appearing on the system bus. AGP-DRAM cycles are done non-coherently (unless coherent AGP is
being used) and therefore do not have their addresses placed on the bus. The data for AGP
transactions, like PCI cycles, flows to/from the DRAM within the SAC/SDC.
5.1 Organization
The 460GX chipset supports 1 or 2 memory cards. Each card supports up to 8 GB of memory using
128 MB DIMM’s (32 GB with 1 GB DIMM’s); 2 cards provide up to 16 GB of memory (64 GB
with 1 GB DIMM’s). There are 2 independent interfaces to the SAC/SDC from the memory
subsystem, running simultaneously. Each memory interface supports 1 card and has a 72-bit
datapath and a separate control path. Running at 266 MHz, each interface allows a 2.13 GB/s peak
transfer rate, for a total of 4.27 GB/s of Bandwidth. Figure 5-1 illustrates this maximum
configuration. platform.
Table 5-1. General Memory Characteristics
DRAM Types Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)
Maximum Memory Size Up to 4 GB using 16MB DIMM’s, up to 16 GB using 128 MB DIMM’s, or 64 GB
using 1 GB DIMM’s
Minimum Memory 64 MB using 16MB DIMM’s, 256 MB using 1 GB DIMM’s
Memory Increment 64 MB is the smallest increment
Memory Modules 168 pin (x72) 3.3 volt DIMMs
DRAM Sizes 16 Mbit, 64 Mbit, 128Mbit, 256 Mbit
DIMMs/Row 4 DIMMs per row which must be populated as a unit
Rows/Stack Up to 4 rows per stack; may populate any number of rows
Stacks/Card 2 stacks per card; may populate either 1 or 2 stacks
Cards/System 2 cards per system; 1 card per memory port, may have either one or two cards
in the system
DRAM Types Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)