AMD's dual-core Opteron needs a hot chip set like Via Technologies' VIA K8 series to take advantage of the processor's higher performance. The VIA K8T890 North Bridge uses VIA Hyper8 technology that supports the 16-bit/1-GHz HyperTransport links. Also, it provides AMD's processor with a combined bandwidth of 10 Gbits/s with 20 PCI Express lanes of connectivity to at least five devices. It can be used in combination with the VIA VT8237 South Bridge, which adds peripheral interfaces such as USB 2.0, six- or eight-channel sound, IEEE 1394 support, Gigabit Ethernet, and Serial ATA/RAID support. Contact Via for pricing.
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