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**Who made the first chip set?
By the  criteria of (2.)  in  'Definition of a chip  set' many sources
state this  to be the  Chips and Technologies  NEAT chip set.  I don't
know why this is stated as it is most definitely incorrect. The CS8221
NEW   Enhanced  AT   (NEAT)  chip   set  consisting   of  the   chips;
82C211/82C212/82C215/82C206  was  as far  as  I  can establish,  first
released sometime in 1986. 

C&T itself have an earlier chip set called the CS8220 PC/AT compatible
Chip  Set,  and  consists   of  the  following  chips;  82C201/82C202/
82A203/82A204/82A205.  It was  first  available  in OCT-85.  (see:C&T>
CS8220>Notes for further info.)

That is, AFAIK, the first motherboard  chip set from C&T and AFAIK the
worlds first chip set that meets the criteria of (2.). However C&T did
already have on the market their  popular EGA chip set, but that isn't
a motherboard chip set.

By the criteria of (1.), IBM, or Intel, see IBM>PC/XT chip set.

Another pre-'86 chipset is the  Faraday FE2010. The datasheet includes
a schematic on the very last  page dated 11/22/85. This only indicates
the chip set was on paper at that date. An acutal release date has not
been found.

**Spelling errors/mistyped words...
**Info needed on:...
**A note on VESA support of 486 chipsets.
Many chipsets state  that they support VESA local  bus.  In some cases
these actually  implement VLB somewhat  like PCI, where it  is entirly
decoupled from the CPU bus. Chipsets  that do not state they work with
VLB,  may  be found  on  motherboards  that  contain VLB  slots.   VLB
is  *basically*  The 486  CPU  pinout in  a  slot  form. Unless  these
m/boards contain  some additional  chips, there VLB  implementation is
directly coupled to the CPU.

**Datasheets:...
*_IBM...
*ACC Micro...
*ALD...
*ALi...
*AMD . . . . . . . [no datasheets, some info]...
*Chips & Technologies...
*Contaq  . . . . . [no datasheets, some info]...
*Efar Microsystems [no datasheets, some info]...
*ETEQ...
*Faraday...
*Forex . . . . . . [List only, no datasheets found]...
*Intel...
**82489DX       Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller    10/12/92
***Notes:...
***Info:
1.0 INTRODUCTION

The  82489DX  Advanced   Programmable  Interrupt  Controller  provides
multiprocessor interrupt management, providing both static and dynamic
symmetrical interrupt distribution across all processors.

The main  function of the  82489DX is to provide  interrupt management
across all  processors. This  dynamic interrupt  distribution includes
routing of the interrupt to the lowest-priority processor. The 82489DX
works in  systems with multiple  I/O subsystems, where  each subsystem
can  have  its  own  set  of  interrupts.   This  chip  also  provides
inter-processor interrupts,  allowing any  processor to  interrupt any
processor or set  of processor. Each 82489DX I/O  init interrupt input
pin is individually  programmable by software as either  edge or level
triggered.  The interrupt vector and interrupt steering information an
be specified  per pin.  A  32-bit wide timer  is provided that  can be
programmed to interrupt the local processor.  the timer can be used as
a counter to provide a time base to software running on the processor,
or to generate  time slice interrupts locally to  that processor.  the
82489DX   provides   32-bit   software    access   to   its   internal
registers. Since no  82489DX register read have any  side effects, the
82489DX registers  can be aliased  to a  user read-only page  for fast
user access (e.g., performance monitoring timers).

The 82489DX  supports a generalized naming/addressing  scheme that can
be tailored by  software to fit a variety of  system architectures and
usage  models.   It  also  supports 8259A  compatibility  by  becoming
virtually  transparent with  regard to  an externally  connected 8259A
style controller, making the 8259A visible to software.

***Versions:...
***Features:...
**82495DX/490DX DX CPU-Cache Chip Set                           <Sep91...
**82495XP/490XP Cache Controller / Cache RAM (for i860)       06/05/91...
**82496/491     Cache Controller / Cache RAM (for P5 Pentium) 03/22/93...
**82497/492   Cache Controller / Cache RAM (for P54 Pentium)    <Nov94...
**82498/493   Cache Controller / Cache RAM (for P54 Pentium)    <Nov94...
**
**Later chipsets (basic spec):
**440 series:...
**450NX  (?)            06/29/98:...
**?????  (Profusion)    c:99...
**800 series...
*Headland/G2...
*HMC (Hulon Microelectronics)...
*Logicstar...
*Motorola...
*OPTi...
*PC CHIPS/Amptron/Atrend/ECS/Elpina/etc...
*SIS...
*Symphony...
*TI (Texas Instruments)...
*UMC...
*Unresearched:...
*VIA...
*VLSI...
*Western Digital...
*Winbond...
*ZyMOS...
**Other:
Poach 51AA VGA (clone of Trident TVGA 8800CS)

*General Sources:...