The IXP200 Southbridge
By default the integrated graphics core is clocked
at 300 MHz, team that up with the 400 MHz DDR memory and it easily beats the
Intel Extreme Graphics 2 found in the i865G. The Radeon 9100IGP
also looks to be a capable video decoder.
Radeon 9100IGP shown with the IXP250
Southbridge
ATI has outfitted
the 9100IGP with a 4-tap horizontal and vertical filter, hardware motion compensation, iDCT, and sub-picture
decoding intended primarily for DVD playback. The 128-bit 2D engine sports a hardware cursor, along
with support for a Windows XP alpha cursor.
Finally, the RADEON 9100 IGP has an integrated TV encoder with a 10-bit DAC for
outputting to a television at up to 1024x768. The chip supports up to 16X AF
(Anisotropic Filtering) and 4X FSAA (Full Scene Anti-Aliasing).
The IXP 200 Southbridge
 ATi currently have
three variations of the IXP southbridge; the IXP250, IXP200 and IXP150. The IXP250 in all fairness is actually a notebook Southbridge as
the only difference between it and the IXP200 are power saving
features. The IXP150 lacks the on board ethernet MAC and is
intended for those low end systems.
The entire IXP line are missing quite
a few features that are standard with the other Southbridge's on the market...
For instance, whereas the IXP 200 supports six
USB 2.0 ports, Intel's ICH5 boasts eight. Furthermore, Intel offers
gigabit Ethernet through the CSA
architecture. ATI, on the other hand, has an integrated 3Com controller
that tops out at 10/100 speeds.
While ATI facilitates six-channel audio through an
AC'97 codec, it is in no way as advanced as NVIDIA's MCP-T (Soundstorm) and its
Dolby Digital encoding capability. Finally, the IXP's most glaring weakness is a
lack of Serial ATA support, something both Intel and VIA have already added to
their respective arsenals. It does support Ultra ATA-100 drives however.
|
RSS Newsletter
