NVIDIA Business Platform: A competitive desktop alternative to Intel?
by Gary Key on March 30, 2006 12:15 AM EST- Posted in
- IT Computing
Intel's 2006 Desktop Platform
Intel certainly took notice of NVIDA and AMD's stable image platform initiatives and has several exciting technologies in store for their 2006 desktop Stable Image Platform Program.
After discussions with Intel's Frank Soqui, Director of Platform Market Development, and Scott Smith, Press Relations, we have confirmed the upcoming "Conroe" series of processors along with the new "Broadwater" (965) Northbridge, ICH8 Southbridge, and " NINEVEH" network interface will be an integral part of the Intel Professional Business Platform for 2006. Although the exact board level specifics of the Professional Business Platform 2006 have not been finalized, the choice of Conroe and Broadwater is definite at this time. The Fundamental Business Platform for 2006 feature list has not been revealed, but should be available within the next 45 days.
Along with the introduction of Conroe/Broadwater and the resulting increase in the overall performance of the platform, Intel will be concentrating on enhancing the network communications' ability of this platform. In addition to improved communications security and ability with the new " NINEVEH" network interface, Intel's Active Management Technology is receiving an upgrade.
The main change for 2006 is the addition of a Circuit Breaker capability that assists in protecting the network from source-level threats by proactively blocking these threats and then reactively containing infected clients before they impact the network. Intel AMT will also alert IT when critical software agents are removed and makes it easier to keep software and virus protection consistent and up-to-date across the enterprise. Third-party software can store version numbers or policy data in non-volatile memory for off-hours retrieval or updates.
Something else worth noting is that the 2006 business platform will include support for Virtualization Technology (VT). The specifics of how VT relates to the above Circuit Breaker technology - if it plays a role at all - are not yet clear, but previous demonstrations of VT indicate that it at least can be used to help with threat isolation and system management.
Intel will also be moving to a single certified driver stack that covers the chipset, CPU, graphics, network, and communication devices similar to what NVIDIA currently offers. In addition, Intel offers a stable image platform for Notebooks with a new 2006 platform featuring the Core Duo Processor series that was launched this past January. Additional specifications about the Intel SIPP program can be viewed here.
Intel certainly took notice of NVIDA and AMD's stable image platform initiatives and has several exciting technologies in store for their 2006 desktop Stable Image Platform Program.
After discussions with Intel's Frank Soqui, Director of Platform Market Development, and Scott Smith, Press Relations, we have confirmed the upcoming "Conroe" series of processors along with the new "Broadwater" (965) Northbridge, ICH8 Southbridge, and " NINEVEH" network interface will be an integral part of the Intel Professional Business Platform for 2006. Although the exact board level specifics of the Professional Business Platform 2006 have not been finalized, the choice of Conroe and Broadwater is definite at this time. The Fundamental Business Platform for 2006 feature list has not been revealed, but should be available within the next 45 days.
| Specification | Intel Professional Business Platform 2006 |
| CPU Interface | LGA775-based "Conroe" Series Processor |
| Chipset | Intel "Broadwater" 965x - Northbridge Intel ICH8 - Southbridge |
| Expansion Slots | (1) x PCI-E x16 (2) x PCI-E x1 (3) x PCI 2.3 (Proposed) |
| Onboard USB 2.0 | (8) USB2.0 ports |
| Onboard LAN | Intel "NINEVEH" Network Interface |
| Onboard Audio | High Definition Audio Codec |
| Other Features | Intel AMT - enables IT staff to diagnose, repair, and manage remote PCs regardless of OS or system state. Remote systems require a network connection and power source. Trusted Platform Module 1.2 VT Enabled ATX Form Factor |
Along with the introduction of Conroe/Broadwater and the resulting increase in the overall performance of the platform, Intel will be concentrating on enhancing the network communications' ability of this platform. In addition to improved communications security and ability with the new " NINEVEH" network interface, Intel's Active Management Technology is receiving an upgrade.
The main change for 2006 is the addition of a Circuit Breaker capability that assists in protecting the network from source-level threats by proactively blocking these threats and then reactively containing infected clients before they impact the network. Intel AMT will also alert IT when critical software agents are removed and makes it easier to keep software and virus protection consistent and up-to-date across the enterprise. Third-party software can store version numbers or policy data in non-volatile memory for off-hours retrieval or updates.
Something else worth noting is that the 2006 business platform will include support for Virtualization Technology (VT). The specifics of how VT relates to the above Circuit Breaker technology - if it plays a role at all - are not yet clear, but previous demonstrations of VT indicate that it at least can be used to help with threat isolation and system management.
Intel will also be moving to a single certified driver stack that covers the chipset, CPU, graphics, network, and communication devices similar to what NVIDIA currently offers. In addition, Intel offers a stable image platform for Notebooks with a new 2006 platform featuring the Core Duo Processor series that was launched this past January. Additional specifications about the Intel SIPP program can be viewed here.
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nordicpc - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
MSI is shipping their K8NGM2-NBP board currently, as this link to Newegg will show: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">Newegg LinkBasically, all I can tell is that MSI dropped the firewire from the K8NGM2-FID and rebadged it. Hopefully the FID won't dissapear as firewire is actually pretty useful in the HTPC crowd where this board does very nicely.
Gary Key - Wednesday, April 5, 2006 - link
http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_30667.html">http://www.nvidia.com/object/IO_30667.htmlOlaf van der Spek - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
[quote]Also , NVIDIA offers the only hardware-based firewall solution for a stable image platform, with a unique anti-hacking technology that secures each PC from network intrusion. Hardware-based firewall technology protects PCs at the network layer from most virus, worm, and spyware attacks. Unlike software-based firewall solutions, ActiveArmor cannot be disabled by malicious code.
[/quote]
Isn't this just 'copy/pasted' from nVidia's propaganda?
If a virus is able to disable your firewall, you're screwed already, ActiveArmor or no ActiveArmor.
And as far as I know, it is possible to disable ActiveArmor in software.
BigLan - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
The 'active armor' stuff is pure BS. It's been broken on the nforce4 for a long, long time with no official comment from Nvidia. I don't know what type of corporation is going to adopt a platform which corrupts all zip file downloads.Shame on Anandtech for not calling nvidia out on this.
bob661 - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
Where are the results of your testing on these new platforms to support your accusations?JarredWalton - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
Going with this comment, remember that nForce 6150/6200 != nForce4. Something else I have to wonder: are those corrupt Zip files occuring for everyone, or just overclockers, or perhaps only on misconfigured systems? I don't know. I use a NAT/Router and don't bother with the NVIDIA Firewall stuff, but I suppose if a virus ever got loose in my home network I might be in for some trouble. Luckily, the only user on my network is me, and I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing. Most businesses can't make that claim. :)How will this platform fare in reality? That's a good question. Obviously, it doesn't matter much if NVIDIA provides a "stable" platform if they don't get partners that properly support the initiative. I don't think that will be a problem, as there should be plenty of system integrators looking for some new ways to market/sell AMD platforms. It sounds decent on paper, at least, and they do have some good features
BigLan - Friday, March 31, 2006 - link
I saw it first hand on a dfi lanparty Ultra. Checksum offloading/active armor would corrupt every zip/archive file downloaded. This was on a fresh build with two identical systems. Since then, I've never turned it back on for any of the systems I've built. It would be nice if a large tech website did an investigation into it to maybe get nvidia to admit the problem was hardware, or fix their drivers. ;)Gary Key - Friday, March 31, 2006 - link
We have investigated this issue several times. We can recreate certain data corruption scenarios while utilizing P2P software, streaming multiple downloads, and then trying to decompress these same files concurrently. We were able to solve or greatly minimize these issues through driver changes or software configurations, though eliminating the use of P2P seemed to work best. ;-) NVIDIA has worked extensively with several of our readers who had issues and solved them. At this time we have one reader who is still having issues after working directly with NVIDIA but the communication cylce just started on his issue.
The latest driver sets from NVIDIA have made changes to the way ActiveArmor handles TCP checksumming in their hardware by offloading more to the CPU, which has increased CPU utilization rates but they are still lower than most Gigabit solutions. These changes have certainly cleared the majority of issues noticed by most users we have communicated with over the last month. The other issue we have noticed is in the initial installation of the ActiveArmor firewall software, some program settings are not correct or clearly defined based upon the system configuration, and this is an area that needs improvement from NVIDIA in the installation scripts. The lack of technical information in most user manuals for setting up ActiveArmor is also not acceptable in our opinion.
The next version of ActiveArmor software along with some hardware tweaks in the upcoming nForce 500 chipsets should solve any outstanding issues.
NVIDIA will be sending us a complete Stable Image Platform system shortly and we will put it through its paces while providing a short "How To" article on setting up or correcting issues within the ActiveArmor software suite.
Wesley Fink - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
With an announcement of a new program, we do depend on the press announcement and briefings for information on the new product. Until nVidia Business Platforms are available in June, this is the only way to bring this information to IT professionals. However, this review goes a lot further than that by comparing nVidia and Intel Business Platform programs.Gary also details, for the first time, information on the 2006 Intel Stable Business Platform which will include Conroe and Broadwater.
DanaGoyette - Thursday, March 30, 2006 - link
You mean BSODs whenever you install the NAM and data corruption if you enable network adapter offloading?
I have no experience with these, but Google will tell you that plenty of people do.