Timeline for review of AMD/ATI 690G based boards?

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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
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According to this thread here, First AMD 690G mainboard appears, it looks as the first motherboard based on the AMD (previously, still? ATI) RS690 northbridge has been spotted on a review or news site.

Just wondering if AnandTech had any sort of timeline on when we could hope to see a review on a board based on this chipset? Seems to be the best onboard video solution to date...whenever it arrives at least...

Thanks either way!

Chuck
 
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JKing76

Senior member
May 18, 2001
262
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Hopefully it's soon. It'd be great if these boards came out at the same time as the 65 nm AMD parts.

Isn't Dell using the 960G in their new AMD laptop? They'd better not be sucking up all the chips.
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Honestly I don't know now if I should be pulling for this chipset to hit, or hoping for the equivalent Intel desktop version of this chipset to hit (Radeon® Xpress 1250 for Intel Notebooks), as the performance of the E6300 Conroe at the current $180 is very very tempting considering it pretty much spanks the current $150 Socket AM2 3800 X2...with an upgrade path to Kentsfield type CPU's to boot.

The upgrade path if someone goes with Socket AM2 right now is Socket AM2+...and really I'm not sure if that's a good gamble considering where Intel and AMD are at right now for their respective products.

It does suk though that this chipset that was supposed to have launched in July 2006 is not out yet...someone in my family wants me to build them a budget build and this coupled with a Sempron and 512MB of DDR2 would be like an ultimate low budget build with great guaranteed upgrade potential (I've been waiting for this chipset to be release myself for the exact same reason).

I don't know what took this thing so long (especially given that there are systems being sold by NEC with the afore linked Intel version of this chipset), but whoever at ATI/AMD caused the AMD version of this chipset to slip so much, really missed the boat.... :(

Can you imagine a board with this chipset with a fanless chipset cooling solution, running one of those 35W AM2's? Talk about a great silent HTPC...

Chuck
 
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Gary Key

Senior member
Sep 23, 2005
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We will have a production level board in the middle of December. The engineering samples are working well at this time and there is no reason not to consider AM2 for a HTPC machine. ;)
 
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JKing76

Senior member
May 18, 2001
262
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Great news! Will it be a stand-alone review, or part of the HTPC guide that was mentioned a while ago?
 
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Gary Key

Senior member
Sep 23, 2005
866
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Originally posted by: JKing76
Great news! Will it be a stand-alone review, or part of the HTPC guide that was mentioned a while ago?
Click to expand...

Hopefully we can get in time for the HTPC roundup, if not then it will be a stand alone review.

 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Gary,

Thanks for giving us some info, it's definitely appreciated!

I think 690G will be too late for my either of my cousins (now I'm up to two builds for Christmas that could have used this platform, you listening ATI/AMD???), however I can tolerate what I'm running now until it comes out.

By then I'll be going back and forth whether to wait on Intel's "Bearlake" G35 chipset. AMD better get moving, else it's going to have one tough entry level combo to beat with cheap Core 2 Duo pricing and Intel's G35. First Tier OEM's and system builders will flock to the G35 providing the pricing can be kept in line. AMD will have lost not only the high end performance crown but also the lower budget...not a good position to be in... :(

I eagerly await Gary...I just hope the wait is going to be worth it in the end...

Chuck
 
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JKing76

Senior member
May 18, 2001
262
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chucky,

Have you looked at the Abit NF-M2 nView or MSI K9NGM2-FID for the budget builds? I don't like them for HTPC, because they're missing at least one of: S-video, HDMI, optical SPDIF, undervolting support. But for an inexpensive regular machine they might work.
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
JKing76- I very briefly looked at them but then decided I better check into what's going on in the current CPU scene first as far as price/performance and wattage was concerned, and also what the future CPU releases on the current Intel and AMD sockets were going to look like 6-12 months out from now. I'd really hate to stick either of them into a platform that effectively is EOL'd when I build it.

The current 965 chipsets from Intel look like they'll be good for a good while, and so will AM2 for AMD. However, I'm leery of current/about to be current AM2 actually supporting AM2+ CPU's (even in a slightly limited mode) as we've seen in the past claims about upgradeability from vendors and then it not actually panning out. Or, it works, but it's unstable...meaning it just doesn't really work.

The more and more I'm looking into this, and trying not to just go with the underdog AMD out of habit, I'm actually thinking the current Intel solutions are the better upgrade path for the long term. AMD socket AM3 CPU's will not work in AM2 boards, so AM2 dies with the last AM2+ CPU's...and for all we really know, AM2+ might not work that great in the current AM2 boards anyways. Contrast that with Intel boards out right now that support even the quad core Core's, and it becomes not so clear as it once was when Intel was changing sockets frequently.

The only real saving grace with the AM2 platform as I see it, and that AnandTech just published today for the CPU buyers guide, is that one can get a pretty cheap AM2 CPU to hold you over until either the current higher end AM2 CPU's come down in price, or, something better comes out from AMD; or even Intel, as at least with a cheap AMD board and AM2 CPU, you'd only be out that little bit and the switch wouldn't be so hard to take.

Sorry for the mind dump...but with the 690G running so late (again, why did ATI drop the ball on this so bad????), it's effectively opening up options that wouldn't have need to have been considered had 690G come out on time in July.

I will check those boards out though JKing76, thanks for the suggestions!

Chuck
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Hey Gary, forgot to ask you...was there ever a target date for a HTPC roundup, regardless if AMD 690G was ready for it or not?

Thanks either way!

Chuck
 
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yehuda

Member
Apr 15, 2006
83
0
0
Originally posted by: JKing76
I don't like them for HTPC, because they're missing at least one of: S-video, HDMI, optical SPDIF, undervolting support.
Click to expand...

Well, it might be too early for HDMI, but all the other stuff could have peacefully coexisted on a modern GF 6150 motherboard for a long time now. It's just that no one got it quite right up to this day.

ABIT is close though, and I believe they can enable undervolting at any time with a BIOS update. It shouldn't be much of a trouble for them to do that (certainly less than what it would take for Asus to free their M2N-VM DH of the MCP61P misfit). Some time ago I filled a suggestion form on ABIT's website asking for it. They haven't since got back to me, but I hope they were listening. If Gary were to whisper it to their ears it might sound a little more convincing. :)
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Well, I called DFI and Asus here in America, and basically it sounds like there's a DFI board coming based on this chipset but it won't be here until 1Q next year (didn't get the feeling it'd be late 1Q, more like early to mid). Asus couldn't say without a model number, but it didn't sound like they even knew what I was talking about, so, not a good sign.

All in all, for anyone waiting for an actual production release of a board by the likely majors for the remainder of the year, look at other options, cause it don't sound like it's going to happen.

Truly a bummer...anyone buying a nVidia 61xx option now basically shoots themself when something based on this comes out in a month or two/two and a half. Or, they go Intel G965 and either have to shell out for Conroe or put up with a mini space heater for a CPU.

Whoever can wait until RS690, probably that'll be your best bet...

:(

Chuck

P.S. Given that I'm just a normal end user, and we are talking about a call into some support line, take everything I said above with a grain of salt...but, in the absense of a timeline by one of the major motherboard manufacturers or someone like Gary/AnandTech, unfortunately that's as good as it gets for right now.
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Well, it looks like a Chinese site called PCOnline.com has got a review of a sample 690G based board up, and compares it to an nVidia C51G based board. Given the benches in the below link, I seriously hope this is either a 690G hardware, BIOS, or driver issue...or, some combination of the 3. Else, other than the HDCP for the HDMI, 690G will have been a total let down. Of course I'll wait for AnandTech to come out with their review...not only will I be able to understand it better, but for sure we can trust it to be representative of what we'll really see from 690G.

Link is with babelfish translating from Chinese Simple to English:

Conformity X700/HDMI! AMD first section conformity motherboard 690G evaluation :)

Chuck
 
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Heidfirst

Platinum Member
May 18, 2005
2,015
0
0
Originally posted by: yehuda

ABIT is close though, and I believe they can enable undervolting at any time with a BIOS update.
Click to expand...
from what I understand you can do it in software at the moment.

 
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JKing76

Senior member
May 18, 2001
262
0
0
if the 960G was delayed so AMD could get it working with their crappy 4x4 gimmick, I'll be pissed.
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
You and me both man...choosing to delay the best integrated platform out by far for what honestly is a pointless "quad core" solution (which it even isn't), would show possibly the worst read on the market as a whole and niche as one could probably make.

There will be far more enthusiast adopters of RS690 - and especially the 2Q RS790 - than 4x4 will ever have...

Chuck
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Searching on "690G" today on Google I found this:

OCWorkbench: EPoX EP-AT690G Pro AMD 690G (Radeon X1250) ATX Mainboard with DVI

16GB of memory supported...DVI and D-Sub....3 PCI, 2 PCIe 1x, and 1 PCIe 16x....

...the only thing it appears to be lacking is a Firewire port on it (which is really inexcusable if that's really the case), however that wouldn't be that much of a deal breaker considering how cheap Firewire cards are.

EPoX is not typically a launch partner I don't think, and I never heard of YingTong which was the first board pics we saw with this chipset, so I'm hoping that Asus, Gigabyte, and/or DFI have something even farther down the line and at least as good.

The wait is killing me... :laugh:

Chuck
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Yeesh, OCWorkbench is reporting that AMD 690G might be delayed until Feb. of next year...just in time for nVidia to launch their own new DX 9 integrated chipset (I'll buy whichever one comes out first)...

AMD 690G and NV MCP68 / MCP78 updates

I'm seriously wondering just what has happened over at AMD/ATI, someone with contacts over there ought to start asking just WTF is going on with their chipset division. Roughly half of all PC's sold have integrated video...Core 2 Duo beats X2 clock for clock, but on the G965 vs. the current 61x0 boards, it's not a total slaughter. Getting 690G out the door would at the minimum put AMD back into competition with Intel on the integrated video front in terms of performance, beat it on features, and force Intel to bump up to an add in video card to top AMD...which would drive up prices.

Instead, we get 4x4....a massive waste of AMD human resources, as the only people who buy it will be enthusiasts, and they've already bought Conroe.

Again, WTF is AMD doing with these delays?!?!?!

Chuck

P.S.. Yeah, OK, I'm venting...but still, I'm not out of line venting...
 
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Gary Key

Senior member
Sep 23, 2005
866
0
0
Originally posted by: chucky2
Hey Gary, forgot to ask you...was there ever a target date for a HTPC roundup, regardless if AMD 690G was ready for it or not?

Thanks either way!

Chuck
Click to expand...



Yes, working on it during my vacation next week, will post up before CES. The 690G we had scheduled was delayed another week, apparently a last minute revision was made a couple of days ago.
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Cool, thanks for the update Gary!

You think you'll roll out the HTPC roundup with 690G, or just release the roundup and then do a 690G review/update the original HTPC roundup?

Thanks either way, just knowing you all are still working on it and it's getting close is great to know!

Chuck
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Searching Google for AMD 690G info, I came across someone over at Tom's forums talking about 690T.

Did a search on AMD 690T and turned up a few links with decent info, one of which was this one from over at HKEPC:

No more to ATI chipset?!

It's dated 11/16/2006 but has some good info in it...stuff I hadn't seen before...for those interested, it's definitely worth a look!

Chuck
 
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Gary Key

Senior member
Sep 23, 2005
866
0
0
We have the final chipset spin coming at the end of next week or early the following week. The early sample had too many issues to even think about doing a preview on it. Nothing out of the ordinary considering it was a beta board and chipset but we have been assured the final version works very well and should be a decent overclocker to boot.
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Gary when you say that, does that mean you'll be getting motherboards that have the final silicon chipset early next week...

...or does that mean motherboard manufactures will be getting it early next week and then I'd imagine it'd take a little while to get you a board based on the final silicon chipset to review?

Thanks either way!

Chuck
 
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chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
Well, looks like according to OCWorkbench the launch date for AMD 690G will be Feb. 9th, 2007: Official launch date of AMD 690G (ATi RS690)

I'm probably wrong on this, but the more I think about this, I'm thinking this chipset was intentionally delayed. The reason I say this is because, other than using an X700 core and supporting HDMI and HDCP, and also using the SB600 southbridge, this chipset appears to be pretty much the same as the ATI RS48x.

Knowing that this chipset if it was released (at least) 4+ months ago when it was supposed to have been, nVidia would have taken a beating in the integrated video AMD segment, I've got to think nVidia went to AMD and said, Look, we've been doing business for a long time, you have nothing for your 4x4, and we've got tons of nForce 61x0 out there...

...you get ATi - who you're about to aquire - to hold off on RS690 until our 61x0 inventory is consumed and we're close to being able to release a competing part (and they are close to having their new integrated DX9 and DX10 chipsets ready now), and we'll help you out on 4x4 (and who knows what else).

I mean we're talking millions of dollars on all sides, not to mention priorities...I just cannot imagine that it would take someone like ATI (and then AMD) so rediculously long to take their current chipset, upgrade it to X700 level, have it support HDMI and HDCP (RS48x already supported DVI, so come on, not that hard), and have it talk to their new SB600 southbridge (again, should be very easy)...truly, while this is going to be a great integrated video chipset - the best out if it ever actually gets here - there's just no reasonable way it could have taken this long.

Really makes me wonder now, What does nVidia have up its sleave for the integrated video AMD world....

Chuck
 
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