The netbook and nettop market segments continue to grow, as chip makers are expected to update their portfolios with new solutions that should enable better performance and power consumption. Such is the case with graphics chip maker NVIDIA, which is currently expected to update its ION platform with the much-anticipated ION 2 chipset. According to the latest details that have surfaced on the Internet, the Santa Clara, California-based manufacturer will debut the ION 2 platform sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, providing users with a boost of performance over the current chipset generation.

 

According to a recent news-article on Fudzilla, NVIDIA's ION 2 product is expected to be launched in Q4 2009, with design wins to be announced early next year. Unfortunately, as it happens with such rumors, the release date of the ION 2 platform is still pretty much a mystery, so there's no telling when the graphics chip maker will officially debut it.

 

As Fudzilla reports, the ION 2 platform should see many design wins, despite the fact that Intel and NVIDIA aren't currently in their best relationship. The ION 2 chipset is said to provide support for Intel's Pinetrail CPUs and will be made available with a faster IGP, although the specific performance numbers are yet to be unveiled. Nevertheless, building on the success of the chip maker’s first platform, ION 2 should deliver a significant performance boost, as the GPU is said to feature double the shader count on today's platform.

 

The ION 2 platform is also expected to enable support for a wider range of processors, including the VIA Nano CPU, providing system manufacturers with a bit more flexibility when building a new, low-power, low-cost computer system. The chipset might compete with a similar offering from AMD, which will update their Congo platform in November.