AMD Intros 890GX Graphics ChipsetAMD Intros 890GX Graphics Chipset

Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday launched the first of its 8-series integrated graphics chipsets that the company says will offer higher performance and throughput and will be compatible with AMD's upcoming six-core processor.

The 890GX chipset is for motherboards used in building PCs capable of playing high-definition graphics, including Blu-ray. For serious gaming, however, users will have to add a separate graphics card, such as AMD's ATI Radeon HD 5450 or HD 5870.

The 8-series chipsets will support AMD's latest 45-nanometer processors, which will compete with the 32-nm processors Intel started rolling out late last year. AMD has placed more focus on its chipsets in competing against its rival, rolling out its first server chipset last year.

AMD plans to roll out 8-series chipsets for laptops, desktops, and servers. The 890GX is targeted at middle-of-the-road desktops.

The latest product includes AMD's RV620 graphics core, which is a successor to the RV610. The graphics component has 40 unified shaders, a 700-MHz 3-D engine, and a 64/128-bit memory interface.

The 890GX supports the SATA 3.0 6-Gb-per-second hard drive interface, which translates into faster application performance and boot times, according to AMD. In addition, 890GX-based motherboards feature USB 3.0 support. The so-called "SuperSpeed" bus has a raw throughput of 4 Gb/s.

USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 set up supporting platforms to drive a new generation of high-speed hard drives, high-resolution digital camcorders, and media players that are hitting the market.

Other 890GX-supported technologies that provide faster data flow include Gigabit Ethernet, HyperTransport 3.0, and PCI Express Generation 2.0. AMD plans to release in the second quarter desktop platforms based on 8-series chipsets, which will be compatible with the upcoming AMD Phenom II X6 six-core processor.