X-bit labs

Friday, August 12, 2005

Past, Present and Future of Chipsets. Chipsets Today and Tomorrow

When end-users acquire personal computers they typically want to know, which processor is inside and what type of graphics card is used. Very few are interested in what chipset is utilized, even though currently core-logic set becomes an extremely important component of a computer.

Modern core-logic sets loads of capabilities that were possible only with standalone controllers a few years ago, for instance, network or storage controllers. Furthermore, contemporary chipsets also feature capabilities that simplify work of system administrators, for instance, NVIDIA ActiveArmor technology provides basic firewall features, whereas Intel Active Management Technology provides ability to manage and repair remote computers. Needless to say that in future chipsets will become even important components of personal computers, which is what ExtremeTech web-site tells in its recently published article.

“While chipsets are not as transistor heavy as other products, the subtlety and intelligence needed in designing a great chipset should not be underestimated. It took Nvidia two tries to get a solid chipset out the door, and ATI still has struggles with the technology surrounding a complex southbridge. We also look at companies like VIA who have had great successes and great failures alike,” the article claims.

Nowadays Intel promotes its platform strategy and supplies chipsets in bundles with processors, which emphasizes importance of this business for the semiconductor giants.

“On the Intel side we will continue to see faster and faster memory controllers, and an official support of DDR-2 800 and possibly beyond. In 2007, Intel is scheduled to release processors that will have its own integrated memory controllers, as well as a HyperTransport-like link that will be 100% Intel. When that happens, we will see another major shift in the Intel market, as chipset makers will no longer have to worry about designing a fast and efficient memory controller,” the article, which also describes plans of chipset makers like ATI, NVIDIA, SiS, ULi and VIA, states.

• ExtremeTech: Chipsets Today and Tomorrow.

ATI Attempts to Conquer Mainstream with RADEON X800 GT. First Reviews of ATI’s RADEON X800 GT Emerge

ATI Technologies’ inability to supply RADEON X700 XT product in quantities late last year allowed NVIDIA to capture a huge market share with its GeForce 6600 GT graphics processing unit. ATI RADEON X800 product introduced just before the 2005 was designed to compete against the GeForce 6600 GT, but while the latter dropped in pricing from $200 rather rapidly after that, the latter was more expensive, which did not allow it to gain popularity. Now ATI attempts to recapture the mainstream market with one more offering: RADEON X800 GT.

“PowerColor X800 GT series is targeting at Nvidia 6600GT graphics card, to provide better performance with more reasonable price,” Tul Corp. said in a statement.

ATI RADEON X800 GT-based will be equipped with code-named R480 or R423 graphics processors made using 0.13 micron low-k manufacturing technology that have 8 pixel and 6 vertex processors enabled. By contrast, graphics cards with the mentioned visual processing units (VPUs) features 12 or 16 pixel processors. The VPU of the RADEON X800 GT will operate at 470MHz or 475MHz. ATI RADEON X800 GT-based graphics cards may be equipped with 128MB, 256MB or 512MB of memory that has 256-bit interface and functions at up to 980MHz.

A number of web-sites have released reviews of the RADEON X800 GT, which were positive in overall.

“So before we see the launch of the upcoming high-end R520 and R580 graphics cards, ATI released something price competitive and definitely has got something there that can compete with the GeForce 6600 GT really well and in fact mostly is faster. In fact in some cases it can even get close to the 12 pipe GeForce 6800,” Guru3D web-site claimed.

“I have drawn plenty of facts from testing ATI's latest VPU, RADEON X800 GT. PowerColor X800 GT is a beast in its own class. Thanks to very high core and memory clocks the performance of an 8 pipeline card is as good as it will ever get,” Bjorn3D web-site wrote.

• Bjorn3D: PowerColor X800 GT.
• Guru3D.com: ATI RADEON X800 GT.
• Hardwarezone.com: PowerColor RADEON X800 GT 256MB.
• Hexus.net: Sapphire X800 GT Hybrid 256MB PCI Express.