Previewing RS400; ATI's Unique Position
by Kristopher Kubicki on July 23, 2004 8:52 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
As ATI begins to distribute Non Disclosure Agreements for its upcoming core logic, we though we would fill in the blanks before too much information gets thrown under the carpet (until launch date that is).
The major advantage of RS400 over RS350 is the adoption of a real DirectX 9 IGP. Even though RS350 utilizes a Radeon 9100 Pro for IGP, it is still technically DX8.1. RS400 will integrate the Radeon 9600 Non-Pro GPU onboard, which should give Intel's 915G a run for its money. If ATI's roadmaps are to be trusted, this is a bit of a surprise for us. Our original roadmaps in April market RS480 to launch with DX8.1 instead of DX9. Unfortunately, graphics performance is only the secondary function of an IGP chipset, and thus the northbridge must be up to snuff. ATI's memory controller has been its downfall many times before in the past.
ATI originally claimed DDR2-667 support in time for the RS400 launch so we are in eager anticipation if ATI can deliver this expectation before Intel. Intel has moved its DDR2-667 deployment until Q1'05, but we have to take that deployment with a grain of salt; 925XE sampling starts next week and the next Intel chipset for release after that is scheduled for Q2'05.
One interesting development is the release of three separate RS400 chipsets; RS400 will continue to act as the dual channel high end solution. RC400 will act as the next step down, with only a single channel memory controller, and then RU400 will be the final low end model with a single channel memory controller and unified memory architecture for the IGP. All RS400 derivatives support DDR2 and DDR1, but no AGP ports.
There are a few things to notice here; one thing have changed since our RS400 announcement several months ago. A-Link II has been replaced by two PCIe lanes so technically the RS400 northbridge is capable of 22 PCIe lanes (1 x16 and 4 x1 lanes). Also notice the lack of a next generation audio codec. Even though the Radeon 9600 is a significant upgrade AC'97 does not look very impressive next to Azalia, Envy and SoundStorm 2.
DDR2-667 is already hitting shelves; will ATI capitalize on their unique position to beat Intel (and perhaps SiS) first to market with official 667MHz memory support?
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Saist - Saturday, July 24, 2004 - link
Membersince97: I already have 2 SB-Live cards, a hercules GTXp card, as well as an SBA2 card. Quite frankly, if I were to move to one of the newer "enhanced" platforms, my add in cards are still more powerful and have more features.I think ATi is counting on this. That and the "average" user isn't going to care if it's HiFi or not. Most of them will be using speakers or headphones that won't sound any different with a superiour sound solution.
Don't get me wrong... I think it's a bad idea to not go with a better audio solution.
But from a cost perpective and usages perspective, it makes sense.
Bad sense... but sense nontheless.
MemberSince97 - Saturday, July 24, 2004 - link
No Hi Def Audio, Sheesh...Saist - Saturday, July 24, 2004 - link
Question is... well SurroundView return?If it does return... with PCIe, will the performance hit not be as extensive as the performance hit with AGP on the current shipping IGP...
also... will RS400 actually be in production that can be purchased. I see a lot of "manufactures" that have RS300 solutions, but only one of those I can actually find a buyable product for (Asus P4R-800 VM and it's "younger/bigger brother"
Radeon 9100 IGP Pro has so far been a no show. It's supposed to be out already, but nobody is shipping it.
Will the same occur with RS400?
Also, it has been known that the next generation of IGP from ATi will see forth comming X86-64 support. Given that the memory controller (the traditional ATi weak spot) won't be a factor for Athlon64 and AthlonFX, will we see the Radeon IGP name achieving performance parity with other solutions?
Also, will ATi be showing off it's own SLI answer using RS400 as the base..
all these questions and more. To be answered?
Probably never.
tfranzese - Saturday, July 24, 2004 - link
All very evolutionary, looking good though.