The Intel i810 chipset was released by Intel in early 1999 with the code-name "Whitney" as a platform for the P6-based Socket 370 CPU series, including the Pentium III and Celeron processors. Some motherboard designs include Slot 1 for older Intel CPUs or a combination of both Socket 370 and Slot 1. It targeted the low-cost segment of the market, offering a robust platform for uniprocessor budget systems. The 810 was Intel's first chipset design based around a hub architecture which was claimed to have better I/O throughput.[1]
There are 5 variants of the 810:
Intel 810 attempted to integrate as much functionality into the motherboard as possible. Features include:[1][2]
The hub design consisted of 3 chips, including the Graphics & Memory Controller Hub (GMCH), I/O Controller Hub (ICH), and the Firmware Hub (FWH). These components are connected by a separate 266 MB/s bus, double the previously typical 133 MB/s attachment via PCI-Bus. The added bandwidth was necessary because of increasing demands data transfer between components.[2]
The early GMCH (82810) chips (A2 stepping; You will find S-spec numbers on the fourth line chipset : SL35K, SL35X, SL3KK, SL3KL, Q790, Q789) could only support Celeron as unable to handle SSE instructions correctly.
810 supports asynchronous bus clock operation between the chipset and CPU (front side bus) and the system RAM. So, if the machine is equipped with a Celeron that uses only a 66 MHz bus, PC100 SDRAM can still be taken advantage of and will benefit the IGP.[2]
Boards based on the chipset rarely have an AGP expansion slot, leaving the user to make do with PCI for video card options. 810-based boards include an AMR expansion slot.