NVIDIA nForce 500 Series technology overview

The nForce 500 series does have a lot in common with the nForce 4, but NVIDIA didn’t just grab an existing design, change the socket and stamp a new model number to support new CPUs from AMD (immediate) and Intel (forthcoming). They have added a fair number of new features and some architectural changes that should bode well for the intended market.

While the 590 and 570 based products support the Athlon FX, as well as the Athlon X2 and Athlon 64, the nForce 550 is limited to the Athlon 64 and AMD Sempron. This board is aimed at the cost conscious crowd, and in order to meet that price point, some of the more advanced features mentioned earlier will not be included here.

On a side note, NVIDIA do have plans to introduce nForce 4 boards for AM2, complete with DDR2 support.. ..We did not get much info for Intel, but what we can tell you is that Conroe, Intel’s next-gen chip, will be supported by the Intel Edition of the nForce 500 series as well as all of Intel’s current LGA775 CPUs. The features will be identical with the exception that NVIDIA will have much more flexibility in board design given that they will be responsible for the memory controller.

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