AMD's New 780G Chipset
With today’s introduction of its new 780G chipset, AMD is finally enabling users to build an HTPC or multimedia computer for HDTV, HD-DVD or Blu-ray playback that doesn’t require an add-in graphics card. AMD already included HDCP support and an HDMI interface in the predecessor, the 690G chipset. The northbridge chip of the new 780G chipset also features an integrated Radeon HD3200 graphics unit that can decode any current high-definition video codec. As a result, CPU load is decreased to such a degree that even a humble AMD Sempron 3200+ is sufficient for HD-video playback. Also, while Intel’s chipsets get more power-hungry with every generation, AMD’s newest design was designed with the goal of reducing power consumption.
The older 690G chipset was originally designed by ATI and was basically only rebranded with the AMD logo after the two companies merged. The new 780V and 780G chipsets unveiled today are the first chips to be designed since AMD’s acquisition of ATI and can thus be considered “real” AMD chips. AMD has every reason to be proud of its design, which is one of the best chipsets we have ever tested. It bests Intel’s chipsets in functionality, power consumption and production process. With the move to a 55 nm production process, AMD was able to lower the power consumption of its chipset. Intel, on the other hand, still manufactures its G33 and G35 chipsets in 90 nm, resulting in a much higher thermal dissipation loss. The 780G chipset sets a new record for the lowest power consumption.
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Thus it uses more power; some will have to upgrade causing needless waste.
DRM/Encryption is bad for the environment. I say ban it.
Any chance of that please.
Can you add faster ram than the main system uses? Is it DDR2 or 3 let me know.
Page 2 - "HD3400 in the northbridge"... "The 780G comes with a Radeon HD3200 chip"
What the author meant to say that the 780G incorporates an HD3200 GPU, which is an HD3400-class graphics processor.
Why were there gaming benchmarks in this review? Surely nobody is going to use this solution for gaming? HTPC is it's forté.
The gaming benchmarks serve as a point of reference, letting you compare the performance of the 780G to dedicated graphics cards. Also, casual gamers may use this board in their main system. And let's face it - considering this is an integrated GPU, the performance is really pretty amazing.
Remember Nvidia's first nForce? Yeah, just saying...
I would like to see the benchmarks done with the dedicated memory slot for the GFX used. ...
Trouble is that none of the motherboard companies have actually announced produccts that will take advantage of this feature. Thus, the lab team weren't able to test this feature. Let's hope for such a product in the future, though.
Cheers,
BEN
Does anybody has an idea if it can support HD-audio as well?...
At least as bitstream through hdmi...
Is it HDMI 1.1? 1.2? 1.3a,b?
Its new generation chipset... so, does it FULLY supports the new formats?...
Nobody knows, and the reviewers are too busy to say that it gives 14fps in quake with 320% performance gain (wich is useless) than to fully test it in HD content...