Xpress 3200
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Xpress 3200 is a new revision of the Xpress 200 computer chipset released by ATI. The chipset supports AMD 64-bit processors of the Socket 939 and also of the Socket AM2. It is unknown whether or not the current (and last) ATI chipset for Intel (the RD600) is a version of the Xpress 3200.
Contents |
[edit] History of the Xpress 3200 chipset
The Radeon Xpress chipset was designed by ATI to enter the realm of the desktop arena, especially the AMD Socket 939 platform where ATI's rival, nVidia, had a clear market advantage. The Xpress 200 was launched with the Crossfire edition of the chipset considered as the high end of the chipset. However, rolling delays with the Crossfire Master Cards forced ATI to launch the Socket 939 platform whilst the Intel platform was scrapped due to time constraints. Reviews painted the Xpress 200 Crossfire as a board that could match nVidia's nForce 4 SLI. With the release of the nForce 4 16x SLI, ATI changed strategy and announced the RD580 chipset.
The RD580 was no different with the Xpress 200 chipset with the exception of the 40 PCI Express lanes within the Northbridge. It was claimed by ATI that having 2 chipsets with 20 PCI Express lanes would slow down data transfers when the chipset is working with multi-GPU configurations. Having just all the PCI Express lanes within the Northbridge claimed to be more efficient and less bottlenecking as compared to the nForce 4 16x SLI. The RD580 was called the Radeon Xpress 3200 and was released on March 1, 2006. Supposedly, the chipset is also configured for the new Socket AM2 and of such, many motherboard manufacturers have decided to skip the Socket 939 RD580 and began R&D on the Socket AM2 RD580.
With the launch of the Socket AM2, ATI also announced the release of their SB600 which was to be compatible with the R580 northbridge. Originally, the SB450/460 was highly flawed in the USB design and lacking in cutting edge featuers as compared to nVidia's counterpart which resulted in low sales. The ULI 1575 Southbridge was the other preferred Southbridge until nVidia took over ULI. As a result, high expectations was placed on ATI to design a Southbridge that was on-par or greater than the ULI 1575. As reference boards for Socket AM2 trickled out, many sites commented that ATI now had an even footing against nVidia with great improvement in the SB600.
Currently, it is said that the final Intel based chipset (the RD600) is a variant of the RD580 but contains the memory controller in the Northbridge and support for 3 PCI Express x16 slots.
[edit] Trivia
- The RD580 was codenamed 'Manta'. The reason was because of the use of aquarium fishes for codenames within ATI.
- Engineering samples were completed just after the launch of nVidia's nForce 4 16x SLI.
- The RD580 was supposedly launched on the same day the Radeon X1900 but it was delayed to coincide with the launch of the socket AM2. However, with the slippage in the Socket AM2 to 6/6/06, ATI decided to launch on the 1st of March this year.
- The package of the RD580 is no bigger than a US 50cents and has a thermal dissipation rating of 7 watts.
- The world record for 3DMark2005 using Crossfire was achieved on this board during the launch.
- The Asus board was rumoured selling their board before the launch of the Xpress 3200 in Seville. It was confirmed by various overclocking websites all round the world.
- The Xpress 3200 is actually pin compatible with the Xpress 200 boards, making R&D much more cost effective.
- ATI released the Xpress 3200 for AM2 after nVidia's launch of the nForce 500 series.
- It is not known if the RD600 is based loosely on the RD580 as some of the features are almost identical apart from Intel CPU support and as well as GPU physics support.
[edit] Common Features
- Support for up to 40 PCI Express lanes within Northbridge. 32 PCI Express lanes dedicated for 2*16x PCI Express lines. 4 PCI Express lanes for interconnection with Northbridge and Southbridge. Other PCI Express lanes configured to manufacturer.
- Compatible with either ATI's SB450/SB460/SB600 (due for release in Q3 2006) or ULI's M1573/M1575 Southbridge.
- Support for up to 8 USB 2.0 ports.
- Support for 4 SATA and 4 PATA drives. The SATA can be formed a RAID 0, 1 or 0+1 if used with the SB450/SB460 Southbridge. Support for 4 SATA2/SATA and 4 PATA drives and the SATA can be formed into a RAID of 0, 1, 1+0, 5 or JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) if used with the ULI M1575 Southbridge.
- AC97 High Definition audio with either Realtek ALC882/ALC882D/ALC888/ALC883, SoundBlaster Live! 24bit or Analog Devices AD1986A.
- Support for up to 7 PCI slots.
- Support for multi-GPU configuration known as CrossFire.
[edit] Xpress 3200 for socket 939
- Supports all socket 939 CPUs including the Opteron series for socket 939
- DDR support up to DDR400 and in 4GB capacity.
- Dongleless Crossfire for the X1300 series, X1600 series, the X1800GTO and as well as the X1900GT (unofficially)
[edit] Xpress 3200 for socket AM2
- Supports all socket AM2 CPUs
- DDR2 support up to DDR2 800 and in 8GB capacity.
- Dongleless Crossfire for the X1300 series, X1600 series, the X1800GTO and as well as the X1900GT (unofficially)
[edit] For socket 939
- Asus - A8R32-MVP (released)
- DFI - UT Lanparty CFX3200 (released)
- Abit - AT8-32x (released)
- Sapphire - PURE Crossfire A9RD580 (released)
[edit] For Socket AM2
- Asus - M2R32-MVP
- ECS - KA3 MVP v1.0A
- MSI - K9A Platinum
- Sapphire - PC-AM2RD580
- Sapphire - PC-AM2RD580Adv
- DFI - LP UT CFX3200-M2R/G
- DFI - Infinity CFX3200-M2R/G
- Abit - AT9-32X
- PC Partner - RD580AKM-AA1D
[edit] External links
- ATI Xpress 3200 site
- Techpowerup ATI Xpress 3200 Preview
- Tom's Hardware ATI Xpress 3200 take off
- Anandtech RD580 Motherboards
- Anandtech Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe review
- PC Perspective A8R32-MVP Deluxe review
|
|
