Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Intel 915 Family
The Intel 915 chipset family, code-named Grantsdale during its development, was introduced in
2004. The Grantsdale family comprises six members (910GL, 915PL, 915P, 915G, 915GV, and
915GL), all of which support the 90nm Pentium 4 Prescott core. These chipsets are the first to
Specifications
.” These chipsets replaced the 865 Springdale family of chipsets.
The 915P, 915G, 915GV, 915GL, and 915PL models are designed to support the HT Technology
feature built into most recent Pentium 4 processors and to support bus speeds up to 800MHz. All five
chipsets support dual-channel DDR memory up to 400MHz and PCI Express x1 as well as PCI
version 2.3 expansion slots. The 915P, 915G, and 915GV chipsets also support the then-new DDR2
memory standard at speeds up to 533MHz.
The 915P and 915PL used a PCI Express x16 slot for high-speed graphics, whereas the 915G had a
PCI Express x16 slot as well as integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (originally known
as Extreme Graphics 3). The 915GV, 915GL, and 910GL use Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900
but do not include a PCI Express x16 slot. Graphics Media Accelerator 900 is a partial
implementation of DirectX 9, but it lacks the vertex shaders found on fully compatible DirectX 9
GPUs from ATI and NVIDIA.
The 910GL is the low-end member of the family, lacking support for DDR2 RAM, 800MHz bus
speeds, and PCI Express x16 video. The 910GL was designed to be matched with Intel Celeron or the
Celeron D processors to produce a low-cost system.
All 915-series MCH/GMCH chips used the ICH6 family of South Bridge (I/O Controller Hub or
