New NVIDIA MCPs for AMD and Intel
by Kristopher Kubicki on November 1, 2005 11:16 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
We just got word of NVIDIA's new AMD and Intel roadmaps. Following the Intel core logic moniker, NVIDIA will release a C51XE version of their original C51 chipset, although NVIDIA's roadmaps do not reveal any information about what this update might be other than a slightly different electrical interface for Socket M2. NVIDIA's roadmaps also extensively refer to the new MCP55. MCP55 s almost identical to MCP51, although we do know it has an additional gigabit PHY and 28 PCIe lanes. This still isn't enough to support x16 SLI without a CK804 or MCP51 acting as a southbridge, unfortunately, so MCP55 will still need to be paired with an MCP51 or CK804 in order to provide true dual x16 support.
Our initial roadmaps claimed MCP55 would show up right around Cebit 2006, which made sense considering we had also heard Socket M2 would launch then. However, these newest NVIDIA roadmaps claim that MCP55 won't show up on motherboards until late Q2'06; right in the June/July timeframe. Unless AMD is planning to launch Socket M2 on a VIA chipset exclusively for three months (I'll give you a hint, they won't) don't expect AMD DDR2 processors to launch at Cebit anymore. Low end C51PV and MCP51 chipsets will also launch right around the same timeframe specifically for Socket M2 Sempron.
On the Intel side of things, we also noted two new chipsets; C19XT (with MCP51) and C19 Ultra (also with MCP51). Right now all nForce4 Intel Edition chipsets use MCP04 or CK804 for the southbridge. By early next year, only the high end nForce4 SLI x16 will use C19 with CK804; the existing C19 + MCP04 combinations will be phased out. Again, NVIDIA's roadmaps don't claim any substantial differences between each chipset other than the fact that C19 Ultra will apparently lack the GeForce 6100 core.
NVIDIA has targeted the following prices for motherboards using the new chipsets:
NVIDIA Intel Core Logic Pricing |
||||
| Product | Segment | Retail Price | ||
| nForce4 SLI X16 | Enthusiast | > $160 | ||
| nForce4 SLI | Performance | $100 | ||
| nForce4 SLI XT | Mainstream | $90 | ||
| nForce4 Ultra | Value | $79 | ||
At $79, Intel certainly will have a run for their money as Intel's cheapest dual-core ready motherboards run in the $110 range (if you ignore the very minimalist ECS alternative). nForce4 is obviously a very competitive chip for the Intel platform, but prohibitively expensive if you don't require SLI; a point we have brought up many times in our price guides. NVIDIA, it seems, has responded to our criticism quite adequately, with entry-level SLI boards planned for under $100.
The new MCP sounds interesting and gives some merit to the details we unveiled a couple days ago with "GeForce 6250" floating around inside the NVIDIA drivers.
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Ecmaster76 - Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - link
Isn't Hypertransport still Hypertransport?I mean, the chipsets work all the same for all three current K8 sockets. Not all of them could work at the 1Ghz HT speeds, but they would still work.
And oh yeah, AMD has launched on VIA before. And don't forget ATI, SIS, ULI, and *gasp* AMD itself have been known to release a product every now and then.
johnsonx - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
I thought Socket M2 is also bringing HyperTransport 2.0, which is what actually requires a new chipset.As always, I could be wrong.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
They have done so in the past, but if you haven't noticed we're not getting a lot of news about VIA-based motherboards these days. We may see M2 chipsets and boards as early as June, but I have a feeling that any delays are likely more a factor of getting the CPU and memory controller to work properly. Supporting a new RAM type isn't really a simple change, especially in a chip that's running at 2.0+ GHz. Better to launch a month or even three late then to launch an unstable product.mino - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
Well, the real question is whether the M2 chips will use the same HT version as now or some newer version?Considering how K8 strugles for HT bandwith IMHO new K8 cpu's will be elecrically supported by all current and past chipsets(maybe except nF3 150).
The only thing except a bit different wiring cased by DDR2 slots will be requirement for 266 clock generator since only other frequency to change is DDR->DDR2.
mino
JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
HyperTransport is actually used for core-to-core as well as socket-to-socket communications. HT also is used as the connection to the Northbridge (or multiple chipsets in the case of some Opteron boards). Once you understand that, you can see that even 1000 MHz HT is rarely a bottleneck. For that matter, the switch from 800 MHz HT to 1000 MHz HT has very little impact on most applications. (The problem with nForce3 150 was that it was 600 MHz and 8-bits - upstream - as opposed to 800 MHz and 16-bits. That much of a difference will be more noticeable.)Memory bandwidth and performance can be a limiting factor, but memory communication doesn't go over HT. If it did, perhaps we could have CPU sockets with 500 pins instead of 939. The extra 185 pins of 939 is almost entirely for the second memory channel. 128 pins are definitely required, but I'm not sure how many of the remainder link up to memory. Anyway, DDR2 is a memory controller change and can be done independently of HT changes.
KristopherKubicki - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
The few manufacturers adopting K8T900 say that there are so many bugs they might drop it in favor of a ULi or ATI chip.Kristopher
JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
Ouch. LOL. Maybe they can get Sony to make a chipset as well?bob661 - Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - link
Ouch is right. Wow!