ATI unveils AM2-compatible chipsets - CrossFire Xpress 3200, ATI Radeon Xpress 1100

ATI chipsets for new AMD processors compatible with socket AM2 include a new southbridge and bring superior performance that is ready for Windows Vista

Press release - ATI Technologies Inc. is bringing its technology leadership to a new generation of AMD PC users with the introduction of the CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset and the ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 series of chipsets, all compatible with socket AM2.

The CrossFire Xpress 3200 is the top-performing enthusiast chipset available today and the Radeon Xpress 1100 prepares users for Windows Vista with ATI’s fastest integrated graphics ever.

The feature-rich platforms employ ATI’s new southbridge technology, the SB600 series. The SB600 series provides the most connectivity options available today, including 10 USB 2.0 ports, 4 SATA Generation II ports, RAID support, high-definition audio, and support for established connectivity options, such as parallel ATA. The SB600 also makes use of disk controller technologies such as the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) with native command queuing (NCQ) to provide super-fast access to data storage, making games, applications, and files load faster. In Windows Vista, the new controller also ensures blazing disk performance on AMD systems using the native AHCI driver - something that’s only supported today on ATI platforms.

"With the new AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 and AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ dual-core processors, we’ve set out to bring next-generation computing to the world, and with the addition of ATI’s CrossFire graphics and CrossFire-enabled chipset platforms for socket AM2, we’re jointly able to deliver that. AMD dual-core processors combined with ATI’s graphics and chipset technologies result in unbelievable 3D games and multimedia, and highly effective productivity thanks to seamless multitasking, to prove that the next generation starts now," said Bob Brewer, corporate vice president, Desktop Division, AMD.

Developed from the ground up for multi-GPU gaming, the CrossFire Xpress 3200 now for socket AM2 delivers advanced tuning capabilities in an enthusiast motherboard, and the world’s fastest gaming performance, made even faster with AMD’s new dual-core processors. CrossFire Xpress 3200 is the only advanced chipset that unleashes true, unrestricted dual x16 PCI Express(R) performance, enabling high-definition gameplay using a CrossFire multi-GPU setup such as a top-performing ATI Radeon(R) X1900 CrossFire solution, or mainstream graphics with ATI Radeon X1600 CrossFire.

The Radeon Xpress 1100 series of chipsets compatible with socket AM2 brings strong performance to mainstream systems in areas such as graphics-intensive business applications, the latest 3D games, and high-quality multimedia and digital entertainment. Boasting 33 percent faster graphics than the Radeon Xpress 200, the Radeon Xpress 1100 series also includes support for DirectX 9 and DDR2 up to 667 MHz. Digital content creation, viewing, and editing; and smooth DVD playback is assured thanks to integrated video processing and acceleration. And to ensure that PC users get the most from their investment, the Radeon Xpress 1100 series also provides support for the Windows Vista premium experience.

The new CrossFire Xpress 3200 and Radeon Xpress 1100 series of chipsets for socket AM2 from AMD, featuring ATI’s new south bridge technology, will be available from ATI partners including ASUS, AsRock, Abit, AOpen, DFI, ECS, Epox, Jetway, and MSI. For more information on ATI’s new socket AM2 offerings, or the SB600 series, visit ATI online at ati.com.