ATI RADEON 9100 IGP Chipset?

[Kov-Ice]

I was considering putting together another computer, used basically as a web browser/word processing station, and wanted to know what you thought of the chipset on THIS (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-150&catalog=280&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1) mobo. That's gotta be pretty decent onboard video as well, and it supports HT. This a solid buy from ASUS? Thx.

[glc]

Here's the conclusion from Xbit's review:

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The results of our today’s tests suggest that the current ATI Technologies’ attempt to enter the integrated chipset market has a chance to become a lucky one. The new chipset, RADEON 9100 IGP, features a high-quality integrated graphics core, which provides good compatibility with current games and high performance (for its class). The performance is enough for you to play comfortably a 3D game of the previous generation in resolutions up to 1024x768. Thus, the ATI RADEON 9100 IGP suits well as a foundation of an inexpensive system.

As for the prospect of a future upgrade, there may be problems. Although the RADEON 9100 IGP supports the newest Socket478 processors and features an external AGP 8x port, its performance after installation of an external graphics card can hardly be called satisfactory. Unfortunately, the memory controller that resides in the RADEON 9100 IGP is slow and badly-compatible with DDR400 SDRAM. As a result, RADEON 9100 IGP-based mainboards fall behind analogous products that are based on competitor chipsets.

Summing it up, I’d say that this chipset should become popular exactly as an integrated solution, considering the low price of the mainboards based on it. It will sure find its way into small form-factor PCs and inexpensive systems. At the same time, ATI Technologies has a long time yet to become a really successful chipset maker. If it were not for the graphics core, the ATI RADEON 9100 IGP wouldn’t grab any interest at all. The ATI engineering team has to learn yet how to develop and optimize memory controllers and improve South Bridges. I hope the next chipset from this manufacturer will be higher-performing and also hope that it will arrive in the near future rather than in a year or two.

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I'd say that if you are planning on putting a 800 FSB P4 in it, stick with an 865G solution. Take a look at the P4G800-V or the P4P800-VM.

If you are going for bare budget with a Celeron, the ATI chipset looks like a good deal and I'd take it over a Via or SiS chipset in a heartbeat.

[largosama]

Wow, they're integrating semi-mid stream graphics into Motherboards already? How does it compare to the regular 9100?