14 DAY TRIAL // Speculations about Intel's upcoming next-generation desktop chipsets have filled a considerable number of pages on the web. The Santa Clara-based company has finally decided to announce its new lineup, which it plans to show off at this year's Computex trade show. The company has four main models, two of which are expected to improve the quality of on-board graphics for Intel-based mobos.
The most expected of the four chipsets have to be the G45 and G43, which focus on HD video playback and are designed to provide a better graphics quality with the help of the integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD graphics chip. According to Intel, the GMA X4500HD chip is capable of playing HD video without requiring a discrete graphics card. These chipsets sport HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, enabling them for an out-of-the-box connectivity to HDTV and new PC monitors. The release brings Intel closer to AMD's HD-capable 780G chipsets, which haven't yet achieved broad mainstream adoption.
The G45 and G43 are also said to be gaming capable. To be more exact, Intel says that these two new products come with DirectX 10 graphics support. However, it still remains to be seen whether the chipsets will prove to be good performers in DirectX 10 games.
The other two chipsets are dubbed P45 and P43, and are designed to bring high-performance levels by supporting the latest DDR3 memory standards and multi core CPUs. The P45 is also the first Intel chipset to provide support for two graphics card slots. As of now, there's no official word on whose multi-card standard the P45 is going to support but it is highly probable it is going to be ATI's CrossFireX since, so far, Intel's chipsets have been supporting ATI's multi-card technology.
The chipsets will come in either DDR3 or DDR2-support variants and will provide support to LGA775 processors. Unfortunately, they are not going to support Intel's new Nehalem desktop chips, which are due to arrive at the end of this year. The P45 and P43 are expected to become immediately available, while the G45 and G43 will follow suit sometime next month.