AMD Officially Launches AMD 780 Series

[Jimmy 2004]

AMD today announced the availability of the industry's most advanced motherboard GPU, the AMD 780 Series, delivering a rich computing experience for casual gamers and multimedia enthusiasts as the core of quiet and energy-efficient PC designs. When paired with an AMD Phenom 9000 series quad-core processor or Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor, the AMD 780 Series delivers significant enhancements in gaming and high-definition experiences for mainstream PC customers. The AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU is scheduled to be widely available from more than 40 AMD partners at launch. Global OEMs are expected to offer AMD 780 Series-based PCs starting in Q2 2008.

The AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU is a core platform component for both the AMD desktop PC platform codenamed "Cartwheel" and AMD notebook PC platform codenamed "Puma" which are both scheduled to launch in Q2 2008, as AMD innovation creates unprecedented high definition (HD) and 3D capabilities at mainstream PC price points.

"The launch of the AMD 780 Series marks an uncommonly large step forward in mainstream PC capabilities. Starting today, consumers can attain superior HD video and casual 3D gaming experiences, as well as remarkable energy efficiency," said Phil Eisler, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Chipset Division. "The release of the AMD 780 Series is in keeping with the AMD vision that computing can deliver The Ultimate Visual Experience and now at mainstream PC price points."

ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology & Mainstream DirectX10 Gaming
As the first AMD chipset to offer DirectX 10 game compatibility, casual gamers can now enjoy enhanced game performance, truly lifelike 3D graphics and dynamic interactivity in the latest game titles. Gamers looking to scale their performance with the addition of a discrete graphics card can achieve superior performance with ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology. This technology harnesses the graphics power of both a discrete graphics card and the motherboard GPU in tandem, delivering in some applications up to 70 percent improvements in 3D performance. In addition, the AMD 780G chipset is the second generation AMD chipset to feature AMD OverdriveTM, a simple user interface that brings performance tuning to the masses.

"AMD continues to deliver innovative hardware technology so that consumers and game enthusiasts can enjoy improved graphics experiences on Windows Vista," said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows, Microsoft. "The new 780G series chipset provides enhanced performance scalability in DirectX 10 to gamers of all types, from casual to hardcore, so that everyone using DirectX 10 on Windows Vista can have a fantastic gaming experience that is tailored to their needs."

The Ultimate Visual Experience for HD
The AMD 780G chipset brings a full HD experience with support for the latest and most demanding formats, including VC-1, MPEG-2 and H.264 to the mainstream PC. Featuring the AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD), it directs HD playback to the better-suited GPU rather than to the CPU so consumers may enjoy a smooth HD viewing experience-no lag, stalling or dropped scenes-in the latest HD-DVD and Blu-rayTM titles. As a cool and quiet solution, AMD 780G-powered PCs may be placed in the living room as part of a home theater. In addition, PC's built around the AMD 780G can give consumers tremendous flexibility with a broad range of video interfaces, including DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI, and with support for AMD SurroundviewTM consumers may connect to multiple monitors.

Energy Efficient Computing
As the world's first chipset to deliver 55nm process technology, the AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU delivers optimal power management both in idle, or when playing Blu-ray movies, without compromising performance. This motherboard GPU provides more computing power than the previous generation, yet draws less energy at idle, making the AMD 780 Series- based PCs ideal for consumers and enterprises looking for cool, quiet, energy efficient PCs.

Ecosystem Support
The AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU will be widely available from partners, including ASUS, ASRock, Colorful, DFI, ELITEGROUP COMPUTER SYSTEMS CO., LTD, Foxconn Technology Group, GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD, J&W Technology Ltd., MSI Computer Ltd, Onda, PCPartner Ltd., Sapphire, Shuttle Computer Group Ltd., SOYO Group Inc., Speedway, SUPoX, Universal abit Inc., Unika and Yeston.

In addition, numerous system integrators are on board including Altech Computers, CDC S.p.A., Compuzone Inc., CyberPower Inc., Equus Computer Systems Inc., Firstway, Founder, iBUYPOWER, Icoda, Komplett, Leo Computer, Maingear PC, MESH Computers, Olidata, Pro2000, Rain Recording, ThirdWave, TongFong, Tsukumo, UnitCom, Velocity Micro, Vero, Vigor Gaming, Wolf & Fox and ZT Systems.

For press collateral pertaining to the AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU, including images and videos, please visit www.amd.com/780chipset/presskit.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[OrbitzXT]

I really prefer Intel processors but this technology sounds interesting enough that I might be content with an okay performing Phenom to make use of the Hybrid graphics. I'd have to see some numbers first to see if its worth it or not though.

 

[btarunr]

The bigger news ofcourse is with this, AMD launches the SB 700 southbridge that comes with upto six SATA II ports to replace the aging SB 600.

The GA-MA78GM-S2H that looks like a perfect HTPC / entry-level desktop platform to build on:

and in contrast, the ASUS M3A78-EH that looks a good mid-range board to me (schematic below). So, the AMD 780G + SB 700 has a broad spectrum of applications.

 

[ktr]

Ahh yes! The long waited sb700 has arrived.

 

[Ravenas]

Yup, entry level, I'm just the type who can't stand only 1 x16 slot! I must have 3 to keep my stomach full!!

 

[tkpenalty]

Too bad that a lot of the manufacturers didnt add a memory chip-the 780 chipsets shine with it. Gigabyte excluded it, but ASUS has seemed to include it from that image above.

 

[devguy]

Asus and Gigabyte matx 780g boards now available at newegg. Also, there's an ATX ECS board, although I wouldn't use an ECS board if it were free...

I've been following the discussion of the Gigabyte 780G board at avs and apparently it works very well, but has overheating problems on the northbridge. When you look at pictures of the board online, some sites have a nicer northbridge heatsink that still doesn't interfere with the pcie x1 slot, but the newegg photos have the crappy tiny heatsink. It looks like ASUS is the only one of the three on there with a decent heatsink over the northbridge, but it seems to be from my past experiences that when ASUS releases a motherboard with that ugly-ass color, enthusiasts need to stay away.

I really want the gigabyte board as it has the ALC889A codec (DTS: Connect ). The Asus one doesn't even list its audio support at newegg, and I can't find it at all on the Asus site...

 

[btarunr]

Finally, ECS sheds the pirate purple

Nice board layout. ECS A780GM-A. Price tag of ~$70 makes it interesting.

 

[GJSNeptune]

It seems worth it just for the SB700. Plus these are reasonably priced.

 

[btarunr]

Yes, we could see revisions of the current 790 FX / 790 X boards coming out with this new southbridge. In the ECS board above, you can see 5 SATA II ports + there's an E-SATA port.

 

[KBD]

yay, go AMD