nForce3: Return of the IGP

NVIDIA will be using an othodox chipset to provide integrated graphics solutions for the AMD64 platform with the addition of the IGP1, a ”DirectX 9.0 Graphics CK8-04 Companion Chip”. Anton Shilov has the details over at X-bit labs:

Sources close to NVIDIA Corporation said the firm’s code-named CK8-04/Pro core-logic will consist of two chips: an MCP and IGP1 “DirectX 9.0 Graphics CK8-04 Companion Chip”. This will be NVIDIA’s first chipset with graphics core designed for AMD Athlon 64 and Athlon 64 FX microprocessors and also the company’s first core-logic for AMD’s 64-bit CPUs that consists of two actual chips. It should be noted that only version with “integrated” DirectX 9 graphics core will require additional chip, whereas the CK8-04/Pro itself will still exist as a discrete solution for AMD64 chips.

NVIDIA’s CK8-04/Pro solution is rumored to sport 1.0GHz HyperTransport bus, PCI Express x16 for graphics cards, PCI Express x1 for add-in cards, 4 PCI slots, 2-channel Parallel ATA-33/66/100/133 controller, 4 Serial ATA-150 ports, 10 USB 2.0 ports, Azalia 24-bit/96kHz 8-channel audio and so.

Precise specifications of IGP1, the “DirectX 9.0 Graphics CK8-04 Companion Chip”, are to be determined at a later date. In fact, it is not fully clear, whether the “companion chip” is a separate graphics core, such as, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200, that should be plugged into mainboard and utilize system memory as frame-buffer, or a specifically designed chip that operates via a special bus.

X-bit labs
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