AMD and Nvidia Platforms Do Battle

Chipset Comparison Table

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Socket940 Pins AM2+940 Pins AM2+
Chipset DesignDual ChipSingle Chip
NorthbridgeAMD 780GNvidia GeForce 8200 mGPU
Northbridge CMOS55nm80nm
SouthbridgeAMD SB700N/A
Southbridge CMOS55nmN/A
CPU InterfaceHT 3.0 (1.8 GHz)HT 3.0 (1.8 GHz)
Chipset InterlinkPCIe x4 (2GB/s)N/A
Memory Row 8 - Cell 1 Row 8 - Cell 2
Memory TypeDual Channel DDR2Dual Channel DDR2
Memory SpeedDDR2-667/800/1066DDR2-667/800/1066
Maximum Memory8 GB8 GB
ECC SupportNoNo
Connectivity Row 13 - Cell 1 Row 13 - Cell 2
PCIe Support26 PCIe 2.0 Lanes19 PCIe 2.0 Lanes
PCIe Usage16 lanes for graphics16 lanes for graphics
Row 16 - Cell 0 4 lanes for chipset interlink3 lanes for add-on devices
Row 17 - Cell 0 6 lanes for add-on devicesRow 17 - Cell 2
NetworkingPCIe Gigabit EthernetIntegrated Nvidia Gigabit Ethernet controller
USB Ports12x USB 2.012x USB 2.0
Row 20 - Cell 0 2x USB 1.1Row 20 - Cell 2
PCI Support5x 32 Bit PCI 2.35x 32 Bit PCI 2.3
Storage Row 22 - Cell 1 Row 22 - Cell 2
SATA Ports6x SATA/300 w/ NCQ6x SATA/300 w/ NCQ
eSATAPossiblePossible
UltraATA Ports2x UltraATA/133 (four devices)1x UltraATA/133 (two devices)
RAID Modes0, 1,10, JBOD0, 1,10, 5, JBOD
Graphics Row 27 - Cell 1 Row 27 - Cell 2
CoreRadeon HD2400 (RV610)-basedGeForce 8400 GS (G86)-based
TechnologyDirect X 10.0, Shader Model 4.0Direct X 10.0, Shader Model 4.0
Clock Speed500 MHz500 MHz
Core Design40 stream processors16 stream processors
Multi-GPUCrossfire X possibleHybrid Graphics-only
Hybrid GraphicsHybrid CrossFire X for PerformanceNvidia Hybrid SLI
Graphics Performance OptionsRadeon HD 2400/3450GeForce 8400 GS/8500 GT
Power Saving OptionsN/AHybridPower switches off discrete graphics in 2D
Display MemoryOptional, up to 512MBN/A
Video Row 37 - Cell 1 Row 37 - Cell 2
Video DecodingATI Avivo HDNvidia PureVideo HD
HD VideoBlu-ray, Betamax/HD-DVDBlu-ray, Betamax/HD-DVD
OutputsD-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI w/ HDCP, Display PortD-Sub, DVI and HDMI w/ HDCP
HDMI OptionsHDMI 1.3HDMI 1.3, no Dolby True HD or DTS-HD