Gigabyte Offers "Graphics Free" ATI-Based Mainboard
 

Gigabyte Technology, a first-tier mainboard maker, has quietly added a new Powered by ATI mainboard into the product family, delivering the world’s first platform with ATI Technologies’, a graphics chip designer, chipset that sports no integrated graphics core.

“The first discrete solution of ATI, RX330, is the exclusive product by Gigabyte. GA-8TRX330-L motherboard specially designed for Intel Pentium 4 platforms, powered by ATI top performing RX330 chipset and a variety of new cutting edge technologies,” the mainboard company said in the statement that can be located on this page of its web-site, but could not be found on the main page of the company’s web-site at press time.

RX330 seems to be a code-name of a cut-down version of the RS350 core-logic, or RADEON 9100 PRO IGP, that does not contain graphics core. RADEON 9100 PRO IGP chipset is basically a superset of the famous RADEON 9100 IGP core-logic unveiled last year. The newer flavour boasts with improved dual-channel memory controller that allows better memory performance and flexibility, in addition to some improvements in AGP 8x performance field. Thanks to the revamped North Bridge architecture, the new RADEON 9100 PRO IGP delivers faster performance over predecessor.

ATI does not list RX330 on its web-site.

Gigabytes GA-8TRX330-L mainboard is designed for Socket 478 microprocessors, features DIMM 4 slots for memory, an AGP 8x, 5 PCI slots, 10/100Mbps network controller from Realtek, Serial ATA-150 support via ATI’s own I/O controller SB300, 6-channel audio, USB 2.0 and other capabilities found on today’s mainstream mainboard.

Representative for ATI Technologies declined to comment for the report.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mainboa...920000332.html