The I840 Chipset And SDRAM

If you should own a system with Intel's 840 chipset and SDRAM you were possibly afraid that the MTH-issue could affect you too. This is not quite the case, because i840 is not using the 'MTH' to ensure compatibility with SDRAM. The chip used with i840 is called 'MRH-S' = 'Memory Repeater Hub - SDRAM'. This chip has so far not been found to cause the 'reboot/hang' problem, but to my surprise I was informed that it is still undergoing testing.

Intel seems to take this issue seriously and it's not quite clear if MRH-S is completely free from the 'noise sensitivity issue' that the MTH is suffering from. MRH-S has also been in the news recently, when it was found to work unreliably with ECC SDRAM. This problem caused all Taiwanese motherboard makers to discontinue their i840-motherboard plans, because the market for i840 plus RDRAM is too small (due to the high RDRAM price) and most system builders who use i840 and SDRAM would put this platform into workstations and particularly servers where ECC-memory equipment is the rule.

I only know of a Supermicro motherboard that sports i840 and MRH-S, and the owners of this board should read the following information carefully: "The Supermicro* PIIIDME motherboard does not use the memory translator hub (MTH) component. The Intel 840 chipset can support SDRAM memory, if the Memory Repeater Hub- SDRAM is implemented. The MTH reboot/hang issue is noise related. The MRH-S was stepped to address issues such as this by improving the noise immunity for MRH-S in Intel 840 chipset-based boards/systems. This new stepping is currently undergoing testing. " No 'all-clear' call yet.

Follow-up by reading the article 'Tom's Blurb: Intel's 'Almador' Chipset, Solano News and the MTH-Debacle '.