DH REVIEW: ATI Radeon Xpress Chipset for AMD

***Veridian3*** · Nov 8, 2004, 01:03 PM

We've just posted our latest review which looks at ATI's Radeon Xpress chipset. Click the link below to find out about the best thing to happen on the AMD platform in a long time...

"Looking at that list of features and the one that’s immediately worth talking about is the onboard graphics. As mentioned previously it’s based on the X300, pipeline configuration and is as follows 2 pixel pipelines with 1 texture unit and 4 vertex units per pipeline. Interestingly, the Vertex Shader performance is assisted by the CPU so the faster the CPU you have the better your onboard graphics will perform. With the onboard graphics there is also one very surprising, but excellent, feature. The board has onboard DVI in addition to VGA."

Read Here

~~HawK~~ · Nov 8, 2004, 01:33 PM

Very very promising I must say, this could well be my next Mobo, or atleast based on the ATI chipset.
Thanks again for the good (informative & to the point) review Veridian3

germanjulian · Nov 8, 2004, 01:37 PM

so what ATI managed to make a good chipset of Athlons 64 now?
I am impressed?
Now we have to wait for the mobo makers to use ATI.

***Veridian3*** · Nov 8, 2004, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by germanjulian

so what ATI managed to make a good chipset of Athlons 64 now?
I am impressed?
Now we have to wait for the mobo makers to use ATI.

MSI are shipping boards now...

davidnsibs · Nov 8, 2004, 01:59 PM

hmm, sounds great, what about overclocking though

Asmoday · Nov 8, 2004, 01:59 PM

Looking good...

but what about overclocking?

Asmoday · Nov 8, 2004, 02:00 PM

Ahaha....we posted at the same time davidnsibs..

***Veridian3*** · Nov 8, 2004, 02:08 PM

I may find time for some overclocking in detail over the next few days, time ran out for the main article though. From what i've seen you'll OC more on this board than on any other available (including Nforce 4), especially when mixing with a FX chip.

davidnsibs · Nov 8, 2004, 02:17 PM

lol, yeah, im starting to think about an a64 platform, but id be looking at one of those new 90nm ones, possibly the 3000 as theyre now about £110 (absolute bargain!) id be interested to know if i could get that to say 2.2/2.3 ish without having to go crazy on cooling

***Veridian3*** · Nov 8, 2004, 02:39 PM

I had hit 220 up from 200 on the board before running out of time (at stock volts and multiplier). Bearing in mind that 217 usually takes more volts on the via based board i think i'll be hitting about 225. Thats on a 4000+ with the excellent OCZ memory still at 2-2-2-5 (and 2-2-2-10).

I see other reviews using FX's getting over 280 with lower multipliers... when i find the limit of the 4000+ i have i'll move on to the FX53. Maybe by the weekend i'll have some conclusive results.

mkk · Nov 8, 2004, 02:47 PM

Quite nice and informative.

My hopes for using an ATI chipset motherboard when moving up to A64 has not diminished. Perhaps especially nice to see was just as noted that the onboard graphics was actually usable even to a gamer. I could see quite a few customers using it as a stepping stone after a mobo+CPU upgrade, to save up money for a really nice PCIe graphics card a while later. Alleviating the AGP to PCIe graphics hurdle that weighs heavy on the minds of many system upgraders this winter.

***Veridian3*** · Nov 8, 2004, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkk

Quite nice and informative.

My hopes for using an ATI chipset motherboard when moving up to A64 has not diminished. Perhaps especially nice to see was just as noted that the onboard graphics was actually usable even to a gamer. I could see quite a few customers using it as a stepping stone after a mobo+CPU upgrade, to save up money for a really nice PCIe graphics card a while later. Alleviating the AGP to PCIe graphics hurdle that weighs heavy on the minds of many system upgraders this winter.

Yes, another great use for the integrated graphics.

knuth · Nov 8, 2004, 06:10 PM

Wow, this board is performing incredibly well, im impressed.

How much are they expected to sell for ?

hazeldene · Nov 8, 2004, 06:34 PM

Any plans for an AGP version for those that bought X800's early?

Robbeh · Nov 8, 2004, 10:43 PM

a recent article (i forget which) said that the ati implementation of SLI wouldnt need 2 identical cards, it would load balance according to the power of the 2 cards used. Imagine if they could get it working with this, it would be a big incentive to buy a ATI mobo and graphics card, even if it only upped performance by 10% or so. Also combine that with a real SLI setup, ud have 3 cards sharing the work. In a system with 2 x800's ud have 34 pixel pipelines, 20 vertex shaders and up to 1gb of ram! Id love to see the performance if ATI could pull it off. Obviously theyd need to spread the work over the 3 cards very unevenly, im not comparing the integrated graphics to a x800.

Chaos · Nov 8, 2004, 11:59 PM

Very interesting indeed. I am going to hold off and see what other mb manufactures can pull off with the chipset before I delve in to the next generation

Dom · Nov 9, 2004, 08:29 PM

How's the PCB construction and NB cooler quality?

Sargentwhitey · Nov 10, 2004, 01:11 AM

*nods* im currently contemplating upgrading to 939 within the next 6 months and it will definitely be with this motherboard... and I love the idea of integrated graphics.. it means I can finally let my Voodoo 3 rest... and the good thing about PCIe is that I'll have a complete other PC running with a great Graphics Card in it

hohum · Nov 10, 2004, 01:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkk

Quite nice and informative.

My hopes for using an ATI chipset motherboard when moving up to A64 has not diminished. Perhaps especially nice to see was just as noted that the onboard graphics was actually usable even to a gamer. I could see quite a few customers using it as a stepping stone after a mobo+CPU upgrade, to save up money for a really nice PCIe graphics card a while later. Alleviating the AGP to PCIe graphics hurdle that weighs heavy on the minds of many system upgraders this winter.

Exactly why it got my interest :o Wonder if an intel version will appear too?

Judas · Nov 10, 2004, 05:08 AM

mmm.... it turns my head

MindlessOath · Nov 10, 2004, 07:34 AM

their next chipset is suppose to be promissing and compeat more with nforce. hopefully they will add on a really nice dolby soundchip, and additional stuff. this is really neet, and i like the board design. looks great. but i think im still getting nforce4, no doubt about it, but if ati lays out their next design, im going to wait to buy that, depending how it compairs.

~~Darth Punk~~ · Nov 11, 2004, 12:00 PM

i am not shure if i will take this board. i am even not shure i will buy an ati video card in jan/feb 2005. in jan/feb 2005 i will buy and build my new rig, but the drivers for ati video cards for linux/unix are really horrible. No Xorg support and even no support for XFree 4.40. not to mention the bad performence in OPENGL.

Please do not misunderstand me, i really want to buy an ATI x800 pro vivo/XT and in combination with this board, it will be an killer rig under windows only.

and since i also wants to run BSD, i need hardware with good software (support) other then windows too.

yup its bad that i only have the money to buy ONE pc :/

so please ATI!!!! go to work and come back with GOOD drivers

pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!

i am begging j00

Falstaff · Nov 22, 2004, 07:20 PM

this is fascinating, I wonder if it would improve the XGI Volare performance?

Zardon · Nov 22, 2004, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallang_jeff

this is fascinating, I wonder if it would improve the XGI Volare performance?

maybe if they release a PCIe variant.

Nov 8, 2004, 01:03 PM	#1
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 4,834 Rep Power: 174	DH REVIEW: ATI Radeon Xpress Chipset for AMD We've just posted our latest review which looks at ATI's Radeon Xpress chipset. Click the link below to find out about the best thing to happen on the AMD platform in a long time... "Looking at that list of features and the one that’s immediately worth talking about is the onboard graphics. As mentioned previously it’s based on the X300, pipeline configuration and is as follows 2 pixel pipelines with 1 texture unit and 4 vertex units per pipeline. Interestingly, the Vertex Shader performance is assisted by the CPU so the faster the CPU you have the better your onboard graphics will perform. With the onboard graphics there is also one very surprising, but excellent, feature. The board has onboard DVI in addition to VGA." Read Here

Nov 8, 2004, 01:37 PM	#3
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	so what ATI managed to make a good chipset of Athlons 64 now? I am impressed? Now we have to wait for the mobo makers to use ATI. __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Nov 8, 2004, 01:59 PM	#5
davidnsibs 9500pro Forever Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Bath, UK Posts: 273 Rep Power: 0	hmm, sounds great, what about overclocking though __________________ Goodbye 9500pro, you've been a faithful servant through Half life, Deus Ex, Unreal 2, Max Payne 1+2, Nolf 1+2, CoD, Far Cry, Civ IV, F.E.A.R and many more

Nov 8, 2004, 01:59 PM	#6
Asmoday Demonic Join Date: May 2002 Location: In the cold, dark north... Posts: 5,198 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	Looking good... but what about overclocking? __________________ How You can help Hardwareheaven by using Digg

Nov 8, 2004, 02:00 PM	#7
Asmoday Demonic Join Date: May 2002 Location: In the cold, dark north... Posts: 5,198 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	Ahaha....we posted at the same time davidnsibs.. __________________ How You can help Hardwareheaven by using Digg

Nov 8, 2004, 01:33 PM	#2
~~HawK~~ Banned Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 2,092 Rep Power: 0	Very very promising I must say, this could well be my next Mobo, or atleast based on the ATI chipset. Thanks again for the good (informative & to the point) review Veridian3

Nov 8, 2004, 02:08 PM	Thread Starter #8
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 4,834 Rep Power: 174	I may find time for some overclocking in detail over the next few days, time ran out for the main article though. From what i've seen you'll OC more on this board than on any other available (including Nforce 4), especially when mixing with a FX chip.

Nov 8, 2004, 02:17 PM	#9
davidnsibs 9500pro Forever Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Bath, UK Posts: 273 Rep Power: 0	lol, yeah, im starting to think about an a64 platform, but id be looking at one of those new 90nm ones, possibly the 3000 as theyre now about £110 (absolute bargain!) id be interested to know if i could get that to say 2.2/2.3 ish without having to go crazy on cooling __________________ Goodbye 9500pro, you've been a faithful servant through Half life, Deus Ex, Unreal 2, Max Payne 1+2, Nolf 1+2, CoD, Far Cry, Civ IV, F.E.A.R and many more

Nov 8, 2004, 02:39 PM	Thread Starter #10
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 4,834 Rep Power: 174	I had hit 220 up from 200 on the board before running out of time (at stock volts and multiplier). Bearing in mind that 217 usually takes more volts on the via based board i think i'll be hitting about 225. Thats on a 4000+ with the excellent OCZ memory still at 2-2-2-5 (and 2-2-2-10). I see other reviews using FX's getting over 280 with lower multipliers... when i find the limit of the 4000+ i have i'll move on to the FX53. Maybe by the weekend i'll have some conclusive results.

Nov 8, 2004, 02:47 PM	#11
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,384 Rep Power: 120 System Specs	Quite nice and informative. My hopes for using an ATI chipset motherboard when moving up to A64 has not diminished. Perhaps especially nice to see was just as noted that the onboard graphics was actually usable even to a gamer. I could see quite a few customers using it as a stepping stone after a mobo+CPU upgrade, to save up money for a really nice PCIe graphics card a while later. Alleviating the AGP to PCIe graphics hurdle that weighs heavy on the minds of many system upgraders this winter.

Nov 8, 2004, 06:10 PM	#13
knuth DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Johannesburg, South Africa Posts: 73 Rep Power: 0	Wow, this board is performing incredibly well, im impressed. How much are they expected to sell for ?

Nov 8, 2004, 06:34 PM	#14
hazeldene DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 53 Rep Power: 0	Any plans for an AGP version for those that bought X800's early? __________________ Coolermaster ATC201B With 4 x SilenX 80mm 11dBa Fans Tagan 480w PSU ABIT AT8-32X Athlon X2 4800 2 x 1024MB Crucial Ballistix 2 x GeCube X1600XT Crossfire 2 x Maxtor +9 80Gb SATA RAID 1 x WD1200BB Thru Rocket head 1 x Maxtor +9 80GB Thru Rocket head LG GSA-4163B Supermulti Artec 52x24x52x16 Combo Hyundai Q17S Display Benq FP737S-D

Nov 8, 2004, 10:43 PM	#15
Robbeh DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 33 Rep Power: 47	a recent article (i forget which) said that the ati implementation of SLI wouldnt need 2 identical cards, it would load balance according to the power of the 2 cards used. Imagine if they could get it working with this, it would be a big incentive to buy a ATI mobo and graphics card, even if it only upped performance by 10% or so. Also combine that with a real SLI setup, ud have 3 cards sharing the work. In a system with 2 x800's ud have 34 pixel pipelines, 20 vertex shaders and up to 1gb of ram! Id love to see the performance if ATI could pull it off. Obviously theyd need to spread the work over the 3 cards very unevenly, im not comparing the integrated graphics to a x800. Last edited by Robbeh; Nov 8, 2004 at 10:54 PM.

Nov 8, 2004, 11:59 PM	#16
Chaos Number Nine Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nova Scotia Posts: 5,269 Rep Power: 165 System Specs	Very interesting indeed. I am going to hold off and see what other mb manufactures can pull off with the chipset before I delve in to the next generation

Nov 9, 2004, 08:29 PM	#17
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	How's the PCB construction and NB cooler quality?

Nov 10, 2004, 01:11 AM	#18
Sargentwhitey Has a JOB.. Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: NJ Posts: 1,473 Rep Power: 0	nods im currently contemplating upgrading to 939 within the next 6 months and it will definitely be with this motherboard... and I love the idea of integrated graphics.. it means I can finally let my Voodoo 3 rest... and the good thing about PCIe is that I'll have a complete other PC running with a great Graphics Card in it __________________ Mobile:Intel Celeron M 1.5GHz, 40GB WD, 1GB PC24000, Intel Mediocre Graphics 2, SB Audigy 2 Notebook

Nov 10, 2004, 07:34 AM	#21
MindlessOath DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 1,121 Rep Power: 0	their next chipset is suppose to be promissing and compeat more with nforce. hopefully they will add on a really nice dolby soundchip, and additional stuff. this is really neet, and i like the board design. looks great. but i think im still getting nforce4, no doubt about it, but if ati lays out their next design, im going to wait to buy that, depending how it compairs. __________________ ATI Radeon X800XT PE <---- LOOK UPDATED!! AMD Athlon 2Ghz, nforce2, 512mb ddr3500 LINKS U SHOULD KNOW!!!! DriverCleaner - use every time u install new drivers! ATI driver feedback - to report driver problems Tacticalcenter - my Gaming website and forums ATI 3rd party Optimized Driver Compairison

Nov 11, 2004, 12:00 PM	#22
~~Darth Punk~~ banned Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 10 Rep Power: 0	i am not shure if i will take this board. i am even not shure i will buy an ati video card in jan/feb 2005. in jan/feb 2005 i will buy and build my new rig, but the drivers for ati video cards for linux/unix are really horrible. No Xorg support and even no support for XFree 4.40. not to mention the bad performence in OPENGL. Please do not misunderstand me, i really want to buy an ATI x800 pro vivo/XT and in combination with this board, it will be an killer rig under windows only. and since i also wants to run BSD, i need hardware with good software (support) other then windows too. yup its bad that i only have the money to buy ONE pc :/ so please ATI!!!! go to work and come back with GOOD drivers pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase! i am begging j00

Nov 22, 2004, 07:20 PM	#23
Falstaff Old Codger Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USAFA Posts: 19,047 Rep Power: 206	this is fascinating, I wonder if it would improve the XGI Volare performance?