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mike@mikeshardware.co.uk

Q4 2004

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10

Intel E7221 (Copper River) chipset for single processor Xeon DP systems was released on October 5th. Copper River is based around Intel's i915G chipset and contains the same integrated graphics core and chioset features. Copper River additionally supports PCI-X through a 6702PXH 64-bit PCI hub which utilises 8 PCI Express lanes. Motherboards based on Copper River are expected to be released with Intel's ICH6R South Bridge.

nVidia GeForce 6800LE was released around October 5th. The GeForce 6800LE is a cut down version of the GeForce 6800 core, featuring 8 pixel and 4 vertex pipelines. It does, however, keep a 256-bit bus. The clock speeds of these parts are expected to be 320 or 300Mhz and will be paired with GDDR memory clocked around 700Mhz.

nVidia GeForce 6200 was released on October 12th. The GeForce 6200 is based on a cut down version of the NV43 core, featuring 4 pixel pipelines, 3 vertex engines (same as 6600, but half 6800) and no colour or Z compression support in the memory controller. The GeForce 6200 will be available in two forms - one with a 128-bit memory interface and one with a 64-bit interface. The core clock speed for this part is 300Mhz and the suggested memory clock is 550Mhz DDR. The price of a 128Mb card with a 128-bit memory interface is expected to be around $129-$149.

Initial benchmarks suggest that the lack of colour and Z compression makes a difference for AA/AF, but few users will enable them for this level of card anyway. The 128-bit version is generally slightly slower than ATI's X600 Pro, although it is faster under Doom 3.

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 was released on October 12th.  Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is a significant upgrade to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2, including improved picture quality, support for multiple TV tuners, a new and improved Movie Guide, integrated CD and DVD burning and photo and music acquisition capabilities. Available in Retail and OEM formats, the OEM version does not include a DVD decoder, DVD movie creation or remote control.

nVidia nForce4 SLI / Ultra (CK8-04) chipsets, for Athlon 64 processors, were released on October 19th. CK8-04 is the successor to the nForce3 Pro 250 on Socket 754 and the nForce3 Ultra MCP for Socket 939. The base model CK8-04 features an 800Mhz HT link along with 4 x SATA150 and 2 x ATA133 ports with full RAID capability between PATA and SATA, Gigabit Ethernet, 10 x USB2 ports, a hardware firewall and 20 PCI Express lanes (1 x 16 lane port and 4 x 1 lane ports in the base product). CK8-04 will also feature a replacement for the impressive SoundStorm audio built into the Socket A nForce chipsets. The replacement audio logic can support High Definition 24bit, 96khz, 7.1 channel sound although does not have the featureset of SoundStorm.
The more advanced Ultra version improves on the base version by featuring SATA 300 support to replace the SATA 150 in the standard version and a Secure Networking Engine called ActiveArmour), which is intended to improve the security of your PC on a network and reduce network CPU overhead. The 2xSATA300 controllers with cross controller RAID allows a spare disk to be allocated and used when a drive in the RAID array goes down and can be shared across multiple RAID arrays or dedicated to a single array. The RAID set additionally doesn't require downtime as it can be rebuilt on the fly. The RAID facilities of CK8-04 also feature RAID morphing, which allows the user to convert from one RAID mode to another so long as the new array capacity is equal to or greater than the old capacity, e.g. RAID 1 to RAID 0 - it can't convert from 0+1 to 1, 1 to 1 or JBOD to any other RAID format.
The final version of CK8-04 is the SLI version which features a PCI Express switching chip, allowing either 1xPCI Express x16 port to be used for a single graphics card or 2xPCI Express x8 lanes (with x16 interfaces) for dual graphics cards, e.g. for use with nVidia's SLI architecture built into the GeForce 6800 series and the GeForce 6600GT.
All versions of the nForce4 feature nVidia's nTune utility which allows users to benchmark their system, perform overclocking, update the BIOS, monitor the system, and managing profiles, which are configuration utilities that can be loaded when the system boots. The overclocking section allows the automatic tuning of the memory, disk and graphics performance.

A summary of the new chips follows:

nForce4 - 800Mhz HT - not overclockable, 4xSATA150, 2xATA133, 10xUSB2, Gigabit Ethernet, nVidia Firewall 2, nTune performance utility, 7.1 audio.
nForce4 Ultra - 1Ghz HT - unlocked, 4xSATA300, Secure Networking Engine (ActiveArmour).
nForce4 SLI -  Programmable PCI Express lanes for single or dual GPU - either
1x16 or 2x8 lanes with x16 interface.

Serial ATA 2 was introduced in Q4, offering a data transfer twice as high as SATA 1, i.e. 300MB/s.

AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 was released on October 19th. The Athlon 64 FX-55 runs at a clock speed of 2.6Ghz and contain a 1Mb L2 cache.

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ was released on October 19th. The 4000+ features a clock speed of 2.4Ghz (like 3800+) but contains 1Mb of L2 cache. The 4000+ is identical to the Athlon FX-53, apart from it is clock locked for higher multipliers.

Intel Pentium M processor 765 was released on October 20th. The PM 765 is based around the Dothan core and runs at a clock speed of 2.1Ghz with 2MB of L2 cache.

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Update Rollup 1 was released in Late October. UR1 is a minor update added support for external ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) HDTV tuner cards as well as stability and performance improvements.

Intel i925XE chipset was released on October 31st. The i925XE is an updated version of the i925X (Alderwood) chipset featuring support for a 1066Mhz FSB speed.

Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46Ghz (Prescott 1066) was released on October 31st. This CPU is the first to be released with a 1066Mhz FSB speed, but is otherwise based on the standard Prescott 2M core with 1Mb L2 cache. Initial benchmarks suggest that the 3.46Ghz EE is between 0 and 4% (usually 0-1%) faster than the 3.4Ghz EE due to the 66Mhz clock speed increase and the 1066Ghz FSB. The lack of significant speed increase due to the FSB clock is because the EE already has low latency and high bandwidth memory access due to the 2Mb L3 cache. Future 1Mb cache processors are expected to gain slightly more from the 800-1066Mhz FSB speed increase.

11

nVidia GeForce Go 6800 (NV41M) was released on November 5th. This mobile version of the GeForce 6 core features  190m transistors and contains 6 vertex pipelines and 12 pixel pipelines. A variety of revisions will be made available with core clock speeds of 275, 300 and 450Mhz and memory clocks of 300 DDR1 or 600Mhz DDR3. The high end 450/600Mhz is intended for Desktop Replacement laptops.

Initial benchmarks with the GeForce Go 6800 at 300/300 and ATI M28 at 400/400 show that the nVidia part is generally slightly slower than ATI's. However, the 450/600 nVidia part should rectify this situation.

ATI Radeon XPress 200P (RX480) chipset for the AMD K8 platform was released on November 8th. The RX480 chipset features support for 22 lanes of PCI Express (two of which are used for communication between the North and South bridges, 1x16 lane for graphics and 4x1 lane), Dual or Single channel DDR memory and 1Ghz HT. The RX480 initially uses the SB400 south bridge which supports 8xUSB 2.0 ports, 4 SATA 150 drives, 4 ATA-133 drives, PCI 8-channel AC '97 audio, and up to 5 PCI slots. There is built in RAID support for RAID 0, 1 but not 0+1. The forthcoming SB450 Southbridge, available in Q1 2005, replaces AC97 audio support with High Definition audio. A future SLI revision of these Radeon Xpress chipsets will be available in Q1 2005.

Initial benchmarks show that the performance of the RX480 chipset is on a par with nVidia's nForce4 and the overclocking abilities of the chipset are, if anything, even better. The reduced featureset - lack of on chip LAN and much reduced RAID functionality amongst others - must also be factored into the equation though.

ATI Radeon XPress 200G (RS480) chipset for the AMD K8 platform was released on November 8th. The RS480 chipset is the integrated version of the RS480, featuring a DX9 compliant graphics core based around the Radeon X300, but with only two rendering pipelines instead of four. The integrated graphics supports both VGA and DVI output with PCIe x16 support also being available. The output from the internal graphics can be combined with external graphics cards through ATI's SurroundView technology.

Mozilla Firefox 1.0 was released on November 9th.

Intel Pentium 4 570J, the first to feature a No Execute bit, was released on November 12th. The clock speed of this slightly modified version of the Prescott core is 3.8Ghz. Lower clocked P4s with Intel's EDB (Execute Disable Bit) are expected to be released shortly.

ATI Mobility Radeon X800 (M28) mobile GPU was released on November 23rd. Based around the X800 core and the successor to the Radeon 9800 Mobility, M28 features 12 pixel pipelines, 6 vertex pipelines and clock speeds of 400Mhz core and 400Mhz DDR memory. The core interfaces to GDDR3 memory and to the main system by a PCI Express x16 interface. In addition to the power saving features of previous ATI mobile cores, the M28 features a Dynamic Lane Count Switching technology in PowerPlay 5, allowing the part to utilise 1, 4, 8 or 16 PCI Express lanes dependant on application demands.

Initial benchmarks with the GeForce Go 6800 at 300/300 and ATI M28 at 400/400 show that the nVidia part is generally slightly slower than ATI's, with the M28 offering almost twice the frame rate in some circumstances in Half Life 2. However, the 450/600 nVidia part should go some way to rectifying this situation, particularly in games other than HL2.

ATI Mobility Radeon X300 (M22) mobile GPU was released on November 23rd. The M22 core features 4 pixel pipelines, 4 vertex pipelines and clock speeds of 350Mhz core and 300Mhz memory. Like the Mobility Radeon X800, the X300 features a PCI Express connection and ATI's PowerPlay 5 technology.

Creative Audigy 4 Pro soundcard was released on November 23rd. The Audigy 4 is the successor to the Audigy 2, and is a slightly modified version of the Audigy 2 ZS. The main notable difference is the rated dynamic range of the D/A converters (DACs) at 192 KHz/24-bit stereo. The Audigy 2 ZS is rated at 107dB, whereas the Audigy 4 Pro is rated at 113dB. The Audigy 4 Pro is expected to retail for $249.

AMD Mobile Sempron 3000+ was released on November 24th.

12

ATI Radeon X850 (R480), GPU was released on December 1st on a 0.13 micron process with retail availability expected within a couple of weeks. The R480 core is a higher clocked version of the R420 core with the top of the range X850 XT Platinum Edition being a dual slot PCI Express design. It will be available with the following clock speeds:

Radeon X850 XT PE: 540Mhz core, 1180Mhz, 256MB GDDR3 memory, 16 pixel pipelines. $549
Radeon X850 XT: 520Mhz core, 1080Mhz, 256MB memory, 16 pixel pipelines. $499
Radeon X850 Pro: 520Mhz core, 1080Mhz, 256MB memory, 12 pixel pipelines. $399

Initial benchmarks show that the X850 XT PE offers a 0-10% performance increase over the previous top-of-the-range, but pretty much unavailable in retail, X800 XT PE. The X850 XT offers performance roughly 1-5% slower than the PE. The Pro model offers respectable performance in the $400, but is more often that not slower than the GeForce 6800GT and is actually slower than the new X800 XL (see below).

ATI Radeon X800 (R430), GPU was released on December 1st on a 0.11 micron process with retail availability in January. The R430 core is effectively a 0.11 micron version of the R420 core with lower clock speeds.  It will be available with the following clock speeds:

Radeon X800 XL: 400Mhz core, 1000Mhz, 256MB memory, 16 pixel pipelines. $299
Radeon X800: 400Mhz core, 700Mhz, 128MB memory, 12 pixel pipelines. $199

Initial benchmarks show the X800 offers good value in the $199 price range, bettering the GeForce 6600GT in all but Doom III by 1-20%. However, the star of the X800 range is the X800 XL, which offers performance equal to or greater than the $50 more expensive Radeon X850 Pro, with the lower clock speed being more than countered by the additional pipelines.

Matrox ParheliaT APVe was released on December 11th, with availability expected in Q1 2005. The ParheliaT APVe is a PCI Express version of Matrox's Parhelia AGP GPU, featuring a Dual DVI interface alongside HDTV output.

nVidia GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache (NV44) is expected to be released in Early 2005. NV44 is a modified version of the GeForce 6200 core, featuring a small amount of on-board memory alongside nVidia's Turbo Cache technology to allow system memory to be directly addressable from the Graphics Card. The local memory is treated like a cache, storing the current frame buffer alongside other high priority data. There will initially be three members of the 6200 Turbo Cache series, all of which have clock speeds of 350Mhz core and 350Mhz on-board memory: 

GeForce 6200 TurboCache - 128MB inc. 16MB of 32-bit local memory - $79
GeForce 6200 TurboCache - 128MB inc. 32MB of 64-bit local memory - $99
GeForce 6200 TurboCache - 256MB inc. 64MB of 64-bit local memory - $129

Initial performance figures suggest that the 64 bit models, whilst being slower than the standard 6200, offer better performance than ATI's X300. The 32 bit model, however, is slower than the X300, although it does offer the full SM3 DirectX9 featureset.

AMD Opteron 846 (Athens) is the 1-8 way, 90nm successor to Sledgehammer, quietly released in Mid December. The Athens core contains 1Mb of L2 cache.

AMD Opteron 246 & 248 (Troy) is the 1-2 way, 90nm successor to Sledgehammer, quietly released in Mid December. The Troy core contains 1Mb of L2 cache.

AMD Opteron 146 (Venus) is the single processor, 90nm successor to Sledgehammer, quietly released in Mid December. The Venus core contains 1Mb of L2 cache.

Intel Celeron D 345 on Socket 775 is expected to be released in November. This CPU is based around the Socket 775 Celeron D core and runs at a clock speed of 3.06Ghz.

ATI Radeon Xpress 200G (RS400) chipset for the Pentium 4 platform is expected to be released in December. The RS400 chipset is the P4 equivalent of the RS480, featuring an integrated RV370 graphics core, Dual Channel DDR400 support and Component video out.

ATI Radeon Xpress 200G (RC400) chipset for the Pentium 4 platform is expected to be released in December. Like the RS400, the RC400 features integrated RV370 graphics, but offers a single channel, rather than dual channel, memory interface and lacks component video out.

nVidia NV41 (GeForce 6800) was quietly introduced in December. NV41 is targeted at the mainstream sector as a replacement for the previous NV40-based edition of the GeForce 6800. The NV41 is a pure 12 pixel pipeline, 5 vertex shader design that is produced by IBM on their 130 nm proces.

Q4

Intel Madison 9M IA-64 CPU is expected to be released in Q4. The Madison 9M is the 9Mb L3 cache version of Intel's Madison IA-64 CPU. CPUs will be released at 1.5Ghz with 4Mb L3, 1.6Ghz with 6Mb L3 and 1.7Ghz with 9Mb L3.

Intel Fanwood IA-64 CPU is expected to be released in Q4. Fanwood is a cut down Dual Processor only version of Madison, featuring a 400Mhz PSB and 3Mb of L3 cache. The first CPU is expected to be released at 1.6Ghz, with a Low Voltage version also being released running at 1.3Ghz.

AMD Athlon XP-M (Dublin) is expected to be released in Q4.

Intel Pentium4-M (Prescott) 3.6Ghz is expected to be released in Q4.

Intel Celeron-M (Prescott) 3.33Ghz is expected to be released in Q4.

ATI RV351 GPU is expected to be released in Q4. The RV351 is an updated version of the Radeon 9600 / Pro (RV350) built on a 0.11 micron process. Whilst the performance and featureset of these GPUs is expected to be identical to their RV350 counterparts, they are expected to be superior overclockers due to their finer process. RV351 is expected to be available in the following configurations:

RV351 XT: 400Mhz core, 300Mhz memory, 128-bit memory interface
RV351 Pro: 325Mhz core, 200Mhz memory, 128-bit memory interface
RV351 LE: 325Mhz core, 200Mhz memory, 64-bit memory interface

2004

VIA CZA core CPU is expected to be released in 2004. The CZA core is  expected to be released at clock speeds up to 3Ghz and be built on a 0.1micron process. The CZA core is expected to run on Intel's NetBurst platform.

PC4300 DDR II SDRAM is expected to become available in 2004. PC4300 modules will operate at a clock speed of 533Mhz, giving a memory bandwidth of 4.3Gb/s.

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