AMD 690 chipset series

AMD chipsets
Table name = AMD 690 chipset series/Radeon Xpress 1250


img_w = 100px
CPU = Athlon 64/X2/FX
Sempron
Turion 64/X2
Pentium 4/Pentium D
Celeron D/Celeron M
Intel Core/Core 2 series
Socket = Socket AM2
Socket S1 (Mobile)
LGA 775 (1066 MHz FSB)
Socket P (Mobile, 800 MHz FSB)
Desktop = y
Value = 690V, M690V (Mobile)
Mainstream = 690G, M690 (Mobile)
Performance = M690T (Mobile)
Date = February 2007
D3D = 9.0b
SM = 2.0b
Predecessor = AMD 580 chipset series (chronologically)
Xpress 1600
(IGP generations)
Successor = AMD 700 chipset series

The AMD 690 chipset series is a chipset family developed and manufactured by AMD subsidiary ATI for the AMD platform. It's focused on both desktop and mobile computing markets. The corresponding chipset for the Intel platform has the codename "RS600" and shares a similar internal chip design. Mobile versions of both chipsets have codenames "RS690M" and "RS600M". The marketing name for this chipset on the Intel platform is the "Radeon Xpress 1200 series" (Radeon Xpress 1200 to Radeon Xpress 1270) while the name for the chipset on the AMD platform is "690G". Both the 690G and Radeon Xpress 1200 chipsets include an integrated graphics processing unit (IGP) based on the ATI Radeon X700 series GPUs with ATI AVIVO technology included for hardware video acceleration. Mobile versions have reduced power consumption Fact|date=August 2007 with adaptive power management features (PowerPlay). The 690G and Radeon Xpress 1250 chipsets are direct successors to Xpress 1600 integrated graphics chipsets (codenamed "RS480" and "RS400").

The 690 chipset series consists of three members: 690G, 690V and M690T. The planned "RD690" enthusiast chipset was canceled in the official roadmap without explanation and no release date was given for the "RX690" chipset which has no IGP and only one PCI-E x16 slot [zh icon [http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/hwdb.php?tid=728310&tp=amd-rs690&rid=728312 HKEPC coverage on 690G benchmark (page 1)] cquote2|The next generation 690 [chipset] family will not feature the CrossFire ready RD690 version. The last-generation RD580 chipset will still be the principal product for the enthusiast segment.] [zh icon [http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/hwdb.php?tid=728312&tp=amd-rs690&rid=728314 HKEPC coverage on 690G benchmark (page 4)] , the ASIC part number for RD690 presents but being labelled as "deleted"] .

After ATI was acquired by AMD in July 2006, plans for the Radeon Xpress 1250 chipset for the Intel platform were canceled while the 690G/M690 chipsets for the AMD platform became the main production target. AMD released the chipsets to only two vendors, Abit and AsRock. Abit signed on prior to the AMD acquisition and AsRock was given the remaining inventory of RS600 chips for the Chinese market.

The 690 chipsets began production in late 2006 and were announced in February 2007. Starting in late 2006, mobile versions of the 690 chipset ("RS690M") were being rolled out in mass by major notebook computer manufacturers, including HP, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, and others. For some OEMs (including Dell and Acer), the M690 series chipset was going to replace the Radeon Xpress 1150 (codenamed "RS485M") on the mobile platform. On AMD Technology Analyst Day 2007, AMD announced that 4 million units of 690 chipsets had been shipped to customers, calling it a commercial success. While AMD, on the other hand, announced on January 21, 2008 that the series will be further extended to embedded systems with the latest member, the AMD M690E chipset. [cite press release |title=AMD Increases Choice and Maintains Consistent Platform for Embedded Systems |publisher=AMD |date=2008-01-21 |url=http://www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoom/0,,51_104_543~123436,00.html |format= |language=English |accessdate=2008-01-22 |quote=Coupled with the new processors, a new chipset has also been added to the portfolio. Based on the award-winning AMD 690 Series chipsets, the AMD M690E provides additional display design flexibility for embedded graphics and enables seamless playback of high definition video content for embedded applications. ]

Lineup

The chipset has several variants, they are summarized below, sorted by their northbridge codename.

The first one is the "RS690" which is the basic chipset and implemented now as 690G. The second one is the "RS690C" which is a simplified version of 690G and without TMDS support and named as 690V. The third one in the series is the "RS690M" for mobile platform, named M690 with the fourth one is the "RS690MC", a simplified version of M690 and without TMDS support, called M690V. Another one in the lineup is the "RS690T", another variant to the M690 chipset with local frame buffer (see below). A member for the embedded systems, the M690E, is basically a M690T with different display output configurations.

Features

IGP General features

Chipset models in the series (excluding RD690 and RX690) feature an Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP) which is incorporated into the northbridge and manufactured on an 80 nm fabrication process. The IGP's 3D architecture is based on Radeon R420 and contains 4 pixel pipelines capable of Shader Model version 2.0b with DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0 compatibility but lacks hardware vertex processing. It uses a shared memory architecture, meaning system RAM is shared with the IGP. The IGP also includes AVIVO capabilities used in Radeon X1000 series, for hardware decoding of videos of resolution up to 720p/1080i.Gasior, Geoff. [http://techreport.com/articles.x/11931 AMD's 690G chipset: Platformization ahead] , Tech Report, February 28, 2007.]

Both chipsets in this family are fully compatible with the Windows Aero interface and are Windows Vista Premium certified. Also supported by the chipset are PCI slots, high definition 7.1 channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet.

The northbridge is operated with a TDP of 8 Watts [http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/chipsets/display/amd690g_2.html XBit Labs report] ] [es icon [http://www.chilehardware.com/foro/daamit-rs690-t49650.html?s=148db4b9be8f739110e7f3ac255c13e8&s=406f1e03d3b30caf4a9a5bee5ff8bbb2&p=653086 ChileHardware Original Thread] ] or 13.8 Watts, [http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/hwdb.php?tid=728312&tp=amd-rs690&rid=728314 HKEPC test report on RS690 IGP chipset] ] and is pin-to-pin compatible with RS485 northbridge. The northbridge supports HyperTransport 2.0 at 1 GHz, and an additional 3 PCI Express x1 slots. The northbridge and southbridge (SB600) are connected through "ALink II". This is based on 4 PCIe lanes, providing 2 GB/s bandwidth.

690G

For 690G, the IGP was named as "Radeon X1250" operating at 400MHz IGP clock frequency, with HDMI and dual link DVI-D output with HDCP support and TMDS support for HDMI output. The chipset also support dual "VGA and DVI" or "DVI and HDMI" output simultaneously, to achieve a maximum of three monitor output, called "SurroundView", and up to four independent displays with an additional video card.

The 690G chipset also support a maximum of 24 additional PCI Express lanes and a PCI Express x16 lanes expansion slot, and the chipset mixed audio and video signals and output through the HDMI interface. The mobile version of the chipset is the M690 chipset (codenamed "RS690M").

690V

For 690V, "Radeon X1200" was the name of the IGP, with clock frequency of 350MHz. The major differences between the 690G and 690V chipsets is that the 690V chipset lacks support for TMDS output and no HDMI output, therefore limited to VGA or LVDS output only. The mobile version of the chipset is the M690V chipset (codenamed "RS690MC").

M690T

Originally codenamed "RS690T", the chipset is for mobile platform only. Featuring an optional 16-bit DDR2 side-port memory with maximum 128 MiB [http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_14603_14937^14941,00.html AMD M690T specification page] ] capacity as local frame buffer. Sources revealed that the RS690T chipset may pair with SB700 southbridge and named as the "trevally" platform focusing the mobile market. [es icon [http://www.chilehardware.com/foro/amd-trevally-t61128.html ChileHardware Report] ] It is worth to note that the RS690T chipset has been added to AMD "longevity programme", that is AMD committed to supply the chipset for at least five years after general availability [ [http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=37213 The Inquirer report] ] . However, currently, M690T chipset was coupled with SB600 southbridge . The chipset was officially referred as "M690T chipset with Radeon X1270 graphics" [ [http://www.amdquizzes.com/asp/T_AMD_Mobile_Platform_070111_v3_english_OK.pdf AMD Mobile Platform sales training document] (Page 5): AMD M690T with ATI Radeon X1270 Graphics] .

M690E

Announced on January 21, 2008, the M690E chipset as the suffix "E" suggests, is solely for embedded systems, providing the same feature sets as the M690T chipset, but with the analog TV output replaced with a secondary TMDS output, providing a total of two DVI/HDMI video outputs. [cite web |url=http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/42656B_M690T_Prod_Brf.pdf |title=AMD M690T/M690E Chipsets for Embedded Designs Product Brief |accessdate=2008-01-22 |format=PDF |date=2008-01-21 ]

Radeon Xpress 1250

Intel counterpart of the 690G chipset [ [http://ati.amd.com/products/radeonxpress1250dsk/specs.html Radeon Xpress 1250 product page] ] , supports all of 690G features and Intel processors, codenamed "RS600" [ [http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4088 Guru3D report] ] , replaced the HyperTransport controller with QDR FSB controller together with DDR2 memory controller on the Northbridge. IGP ran at 500 MHz clock frequency instead of 400 MHz in other 690 chipset counterparts.

Since Intel has not given the 1333 MHz FSB license to ATI Technologies after the company was purchased by AMD, the Radeon Xpress 1250 only comes with official support of 1066 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). However, supporting 1333 MHz FSB was obviously given higher priorities when RS600 was being developed, resulting Xpress 1250 motherboards actually have the support for 1333 MHz FSB via overclocking, and support all 1333 MHz FSB Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad microprocessors Fact|date=July 2007.

Only Abit has released a motherboard with this chipset as a result of signed agreement before the AMD-ATI merger, while ASRock was reported to have purchased all of the remaining inventory of RS600 resulting from a strategic move of AMD to clear all RS600 inventories [ [http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20070712PD216.html DigiTimes report] , retrieved July 14, 2007] , thus making Abit and AsRock the only RS600 motherboard manufacturers.

List of 690 chipset

The lineup and output features comparison for 690 chipset series motherboards are summarized below.

"Note": data below does not include RS690M and RS600M - mobile editions of RS690 and RS600 chipsets.

References

ee also

*Advanced Micro Devices
*ATI Technologies
* AMD 580 chipset series
*Comparison of ATI Chipsets
*Comparison of AMD Chipsets

External links

* [http://ati.amd.com/ ATI official website]
* [http://www.amd.com/ AMD official website]
* [http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_14603_14762,00.html AMD 690 Series Chipset]
* [http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/extension/MotherboardFilter.aspx Motherboards with AMD Chipsets]
* [http://www.amd.com/embedded/catalog Embedded single board computers with AMD Chipsets]