NVIDIA's MCP78 IGP chipsets to launch this November

[B3D News]

Originally expected to start shipping by October, the latest chipset from NVIDIA, MCP78, will finally take off by November. Amongst the three chipsets from the MCP78 family scheduled to launch this November, only two support integrated graphics capabilities.

Read the full news item

 

[iwod]

If this comes out earlier it will actually make AMD a much more attractive Platform then Intel.

You get VP2 with it as well as AM2+ and HT 3.0. It means that you can upgrade your system to future AMD processors for the next 3 years.

While Intel's Chipset has been behind in terms of Video Features as well as much more expensive.

 

[AnarchX]

What do you think about performance/execution units of MCP78s IGP?

http://www.pcgameshardware.de/?article_id=607389

This indicates that MCP78 is fast as a 8400GS (G86@64Bit), which would be a very big step from the current 2 Pipe G7x-IGP.

But would be the transitorcount not to high?

 

[Geo]

That schedule does look like a little bit of rosy scenario there on the part of Digitimes sources. Three months from first tape-out to launch? I suppose it could happen, if the stars align, the angels smile, and etc.

 

[INKster]

But would be the transistor count not to high?

If shrunk down from 80nm to 65/55nm ? I don't see it as too much of a problem, IMHO. The use of PCIe 2.0 bandwidth can also be of significant impact in this IGP's performance.
They can play with other items, such as a more streamlined design (G70 vs G71), the absense of a complex memory controller in AMD64 platform chipsets (since it's already integrated on the CPU die) and soon, also in Intel platforms ("Nehalem"), or the eventual higher shader core clocks that might be possible on advanced fab processes.

Once stripped down of it's main performance differentiator (memory controller implementation) the stock speed of a chipset becomes somewhat irrelevant, while the added feature list gains increased visibility.

 

[iwod]

What are the chances of Apple using this instead of Intel IGFX. Which is like crap compare to Nvidia.

 

[Arun]

What are the chances of Apple using this instead of Intel IGFX. Which is like crap compare to Nvidia.

MCP78 is an AMD chipset, so obviously not for Intel models unless you paired it with an extra northbridge, which I doubt NVIDIA will do for the low-end segment! MCP73, on the other hand, is incredibly low-end so I'm not sure it's an option except for something like the Mac Mini...

MCP79, which is a Q1/Q2 2008 product AFAIK, is a very possible candidate for Apple however, and would make a fair bit of sense. So it will be interesting to see what Apple decides in their next refresh cycle, obviously.

It is certainly true that this is the kind of factor that justifies Jen-Hsun's claim that comparing their potential success in the Intel IGP market to that of others isn't fair, and that they expect to do much better than that. It's not hard to imagine how lucrative it would be to get 50%+ of VIA/SiS' existing business with MCP73, and get MCP79 at Apple and in some HP models.

That would suddenly more than double the size of NVIDIA's MCP business... And I'm being conservative here, even excluding their potential momentum in the channel. So we'll see, it depends a lot on their execution really. They really need to get MCP73 out of the door ASAP, and MCP79 ready in time for the next notebook design cycle.

 

[INKster]

Sorry for the thread digging, but MCP73 has (finally) surfaced.