The G45 Stumbles Upon HD Decode Hardware Troubles

Intel's long-awaited G45 chipset is reportedly choking on another problem that might delay its unveiling for a long period of time. This time, the issues are not related to driver support, as in its older brothers' case (G965 and G35), but rather a hardware-related mess up.

According to the rumors, the chipset faces a hardware decoding offload problem. This could explain why the video decode feature has never been demonstrated during the CeBIT expo back in March. According to the rumors, the A2 stepping of the chipset's silicon is crippled by buggy video HD decoding logic.

This is bad news for the users hoping to get their hands on a G45-based motherboard, and especially for the market segment that dream of the upcoming Centrino 2 platform (formerly known as Montevina). The hardware decode feature is most likely to be stripped down from the initial release, and made available in the next silicon release, that will show up two or three months after the chipset's official unveiling.

During this spring's edition of Intel Developer Forum, Intel started pitching the G45 chipset at the home-theater PC market, just because it was expected to come with hardware decode capabilities. Moreover, Intel prepared an additional ADD2 expansion card to let users connect consumer electronics appliances via the two pairs of HDMI and DisplayPort digital connectors.

Some vendors are already looking for alternative methods to substitute for the lack of hardware video decoding capabilities in the G45 motherboards. However, the addition of a third-party HD functionality solution will not only raise pricing per unit, but will also contribute to a less-stable design, achieved via patchworks.

Broadcom might be the main provider for HD decoding solutions, but the drivers for the HD board are likely to mess things up as the new chipset steppings appear on the market.