NVIDIA Promises Powerful sub-$45 Processing Platform

[malware]

It all starts with NVIDIA CEO's Jen Hsun-Huang statement "We're going to open a can of whoop-ass" on Intel, which quickly became a synonym for the announcement of NVIDIA and VIA jointly developed low-cost processing platform. During NVIDIA's financial analyst meeting today, the company revealed plans for what it calls "The World's Most Affordable Vista Premium PC". The platform will use a VIA Isaiah C7-M processor coupled with an integrated NVIDIA IGP chipset. NVIDIA reckons that this combo will be good for a total of 36 GFLOPS in comparison to a mere 6.4 GFLOPS for a comparable Celeron-based system with an Intel 945 IGP/ICH4 chipset. NVIDIA also claims that its platform will be Windows Vista Premium capable, support Blu-ray HD and DirectX10, and cost less than $45.



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[a111087]

so, its a mini PC? nice

 

[DrPepper]

Thats cheaper than the OLPC might get one for schoolwork

 

[ShadowFold]

So we will be seeing Via CPU's with Nforce chips in the motherboard? I dont get it. Are the VIAs 775?

 

[substance90]

I think you misinterpret the news a little. Who said this is going to be a desktop PC? No need for s. 755. They might be talking about a UMPC or something of that sort. At least I hope so!

 

[malware]

So we will be seeing Via CPU's with Nforce chips in the motherboard? I dont get it. Are the VIAs 775?

VIA C7-M CPUs use NanoBGA2 package, they're integrated onto the PCB, just like the north and southbridge are soldered to the motherboards.

 

[DrPepper]

I wonder how much RAM it will use and if its shared between the gpu and cpu ?

 

[EastCoasthandle]

There is something about that word "capable" that is reminiscent of marketing. I await benchmark results.

 

[malware]

I wonder how much RAM it will use and if its shared between the gpu and cpu ?

It's SODIMM capable, so I guess up to 4GB of RAM on a single DIMM. How much of it will be shared for the GPU, is a mystery for now.

 

[DrPepper]

Oh ... hadn't looked close enough

 

[Sasqui]

How many GFLOPS is a dual core E6600 capable of?

Edit: Did a little searching, depends on the number of threads, but seeing results around 10 GFLOPS. If they are serious about 36 GFLOPS, that is something to take notice of.

 

[DrPepper]

I'd think maybe 256 would be shared if not 128

 

[Easy Rhino]

nvidia + via > ati + amd

 

[DrPepper]

nvidia + via > ati + amd

I was beginning to think nvidia was looking for a partner who made cpu's, thought it might have been IBM or maybe slightly intel never thought of via

 

[Easy Rhino]

I was beginning to think nvidia was looking for a partner who made cpu's, thought it might have been IBM or maybe slightly intel never thought of via

i know, but it makes sense. both ibm and intel are massive companies. via is, from what i understand, a smaller company that consistantly makes moderate profits.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

lets see how this pans out .. if it result in cheap energy efficent power .. go nvidia ...

 

[MrW]

i know, but it makes sense. both ibm and intel are massive companies. via is, from what i understand, a smaller company that consistantly makes moderate profits.

Same here. Never saw it coming but it makes sense, it will let Nvida diversify like ATI without being taken over. Hopefully this will result in more competition in both the CPU and GPU sectors.

 

[WarEagleAU]

I Wouldnt go out on a limb and say nvidia/via is greater than ati/amd.

However, is this the whole platform, meaning mobo (with IGP and nb.sb and such) plus a proc for 45 bucks? IF so, that is a hell of a deal.

 

[newtekie1]

What is this 1+8 cores business? It is counting a bunch of co-processors in this number? If so, what are these co-processors capable of? Or is it counting the 8 Video Shaders as cores and counting that in the number? The Isaiah definitely isn't capable of 36GFLOPs.

Edit: After reading the article, it seems nVidia is counting the 8 IGP Shaders in that 36GFLOPS. While it might be a capable computer, their marketing is a little shady. Especially comparing their current top of the line IGP agains Intel's 945 IGP which has been obsolete for a long while.

 

[wazzledoozle]

I wouldnt call anything with a single core vista ready.

 

[Mussels]

Single cores run vista fine... as long as you have enough ram.

with 2GB of ram, i'm seeing a new wave of HTPC's....

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Ive ran Vista x64 just fine with a single core Athlon64 3200 with 1 and 2GB of RAM.

 

[Mussels]

Ive ran Vista x64 just fine with a single core Athlon64 3200 with 1 and 2GB of RAM.

throw onboard video with HDMI and the ability to decode DVD and bluray...

even if it used a 2.5" laptop drive (SDD! SSD!) you could imagine running a lot of media through a box like this over a wireless N network.

 

[beyond_amusia]

Via chips are nice... We often forget that AMD is not the minority in the x86 world... Via is, and Via is just kick ass all the way around... they make the world's smalled mobo...

 

[beyond_amusia]

I think Via will be launching mulicore CPUs in the near future btw...