-
MSI is the official motherboard sponsor for Overdrive, providing
Nehalem and P45 platforms for the Championship. -
HyperX DDR3 modules are specifically engineered and designed to meet the rigorous
requirements of PC enthusiasts.HyperX modules rated at DDR3-2000+are used in the
Overdrive Championship -
Samsung Hard Drives and Optical Drives - The Center of Innovation
-
1,000 W modular 80plus high-efficiency EVEREST 1010 power supplies used for
the Overdrive Championship. -
Logitech's G11 gaming keyboard offers illuminated keys and 18 configurable
multi-purpose keys plus a USB hub. The G5 Laser Mouse allows adjustable
weight and up to 2000 dpi sensitivity for maximum precision.
- The M1697 Concludes The ULi Portfolio
- MSI K8N Diamond Plus
- BIOS from A to Z
- Asus, DFI, MSI Give Mobos The Crossfire Treatment
- Dual Graphics Platforms, Part II
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- The Pentium Elite, Part 2: 955X versus nForce4 IE
- BIOS for Beginners
Source: Tom's Hardware US – Keywords: ati, crossfire, xpress, 3200, chipset, takes
Topics: AMD/ATI, Overclocking
Syndication:
110 nm Manufacturing Process, 8 W TDP

Looking at just the silicon, ATI is the clear winner over Nvidia this time. The Crossfire Xpress 3200 Northbridge - aka RD580, or 'Skeletor', as it is called internally at ATI - is produced by TSMC using a 110 nm process, making it the smallest core logic building block today. Its 22 million transistors require only 39 mm2. In addition to that, ATI states a Thermal Design Power (TDP) specification of only 8 W. As a result, the chipset does not require active cooling, nor a sophisticated (meaning expensive) heat pipe solution, as can be found on more and more enthusiast class motherboards with high-end chipsets.
Another benefit of the modern manufacturing process is that the RD580 overclocks pretty well without the need to increase voltage - and without creating high heat dissipation. We were able to run the Asus A8R32-MVP motherboard with a system base clock of up to 390 MHz, which represents an over 90% increase when compared to the 200 MHz stock speed. We could also achieve similar speeds with the A8N32-SLI, which uses the nForce4 SLI X16 chipset - although this achievement relies on sophisticated cooling.
As you will see in the power consumption section of the test results, the RD580 definitely offers an advantage over the Nvidia chipsets here, although the RD480 (aka Radeon Xpress 200) required less power.
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