AMD 580 chipset series

AMD 580 chipset series
Codename(s) Manta (580X)
CPU supported Athlon 64 FX
Athlon 64 X2
Athlon 64
Sempron
Socket supported Socket 939 / AM2
Desktop / mobile chipsets
Performance segment 580X
Mainstream segment 570X
Value segment 480X
Miscellaneous
Release date(s) February 2007
Predecessor Radeon Xpress 1600
Radeon Xpress 3200
Successor AMD 690 chipset series

AMD 580 chipset series is a computer chipset series designed by the AMD Graphics Product Group, for the AMD processors. It was designed for usage with ATI's CrossFire Multi GPU Technology, with both PCI Express slots running at x16 lanes each.

History

The 580X chipset was originally named the "ATI Radeon 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 while 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 the same as 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 in multi-GPU configurations. Having all of 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 research and development (R&D) on the Socket AM2 version of RD580.

With the launch of the socket AM2, ATI also announced the release of their SB600 southbridge which was to be compatible with the RD580 northbridge. Originally, the SB450/SB460 was highly flawed in the USB design and lacking in cutting edge features 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 had an even footing against nVidia with great improvement in the SB600 southbridge.

As of the completion of the acquisition of ATI, AMD has currently moved to rename all ATI chipsets for the AMD platform. The Xpress 3200 CrossFire chipsets for Socket AM2 processors have been renamed as the "AMD 580X Crossfire" chipset, for the socket 939 variant, since AMD has stopped producing socket 939 CPUs, the "Xpress 3200 CrossFire" chipset for socket 939 CPUs, has not been renamed.

Naming of AMD chipsets

To the consumer nowadays, the RD580 is known as the "CrossFire Xpress 3200".

Since ATI was merged as a subsidiary of AMD in October, the naming scheme of AMD chipset platforms have been changed,[1] and is summarized below:

According to the rule of denomination of AMD chipset, all AMD chipsets are denominated as AMD + chipset’s code + code of product segment, in which the product segment includes X(Multi GPU), T(Premium Class IGP), G(Mainstream Class IGP) and V(Value Class IGP). Under the rule, therefore, the previously denominated ATI Xpress 3200, codename RD580, now is denominated to AMD 580X CrossFire.

For mobile platform, the denomination is a little bit different; this is followed by AMD + M + chipset’s code. For example, RX690M is denominated as AMD M690. In addition, if the chipset has IGP, the brand of ATI is kept in the graphic part. For example, the next-generation AMD IGP RS690 [chipset] has got the name "AMD 690G Chipset with ATI Radeon X1250 Graphics".

— HKEPC, report on change of naming scheme

Therefore, under the naming scheme, the chipsets will be renamed as follows:[2]

Original codename Segment Name under old scheme Prefix Suffix Current name
RD580 Enthusiast Multi-GPU CrossFire Xpress 3200 - X AMD 580X CrossFire Chipset
RD550/RD570? Mainstream Multi-GPU CrossFire Xpress 3100 [3][4] - X AMD 570X CrossFire Chipset
(formerly AMD 550X CrossFire chipset)
RD480 Value Multi-GPU CrossFire Xpress 1600 - X AMD 480X CrossFire Chipset

For instance, chipsets which support multi-GPUs will add an "X" as suffix, thus making "RD580" become "AMD 580X CrossFire chipset".

Common Features

Lineup

Note: The following list of sub-sections are named following the new naming scheme by AMD.

580X

570X (presumably the former 550X)

The report[3] also reveals that a chipset codenamed "RD550", named as "AMD 550X CrossFire chipset", provides 2 PCI-E lanes for Dual card CrossFire configurations, and is focused in the mainstream market. 550X will be released in the first half of 2007.However, as of the middle of May 2007, there was no sign of release of the 550X chipset.

480X

SB600 (Southbridge)

The southbridge paired with some of the 580X and 480X chipsets, all of the 570X chipsets, all AMD 690 chipsets, and early AMD 790 chipsets, is the SB600 or IXP600. It is based on a 130 nm fabrication process with dimensions 23 mm×23 mm and 549 pins FC BGA package,[5] and provides 10 USB, 1 ATA/133, and 4 SATA 3.0 Gbit/s interfaces.[6] It supports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and 10 across all four SATA ports (all four ports are required for RAID 10 functionality, Alert Standards Format (ASF) 2.0 and high-definition audio codec support. Also, the chipset says it supports 64-bit DMA but it really only supports 32-bit.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ HKEPC report
  2. ↑ HKEPC test report on RS690 IGP chipset
  3. 1 2 (Spanish) ChileHardware on "ATI chipset update"
  4. ↑ ATI adds to CrossFire lineup
  5. ↑ http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/white_papers_and_tech_docs/42119_sb600_ds_nda_3.02.pdf PDF (1.29 MB), page 85 of 106. Retrieved February 21, 2008
  6. ↑ AMD SB600 product page
  7. ↑ [PATCH] ahci: disable 64bit dma on sb600

External links

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