Improved ION IGP w/better VDPAU support?

[Kano]

Why don't you check prices? For S775 nvidia chipsets have been the only ones that support SLI - and those are really expensive. If you find a cheap one show me the link.

[jalyst]

Oh I know the nV chipsets without IGP are very expensive as they're the only ones that offer SLI.
But I didn't think the Geforce 9300/400 would be more expensive than G41 + GT220, or maybe I misread what your were saying.

[Kano]

G41 is cheap and you only need a G210 which i worte in my first answer. Somebody else mentioned the GT220, which is a bit more expensive but faster for 3d things.

[jalyst]

Okay I'll have a closer look at prices for G4x + GT2xx Vs Geforce 9x00.

Do you know of a site that explains the differences between gt210/220 etc?
I guess there's a wikipedia article, will have a look.

[Zapitron]

But so long as there's a spare PCI-E 8x slot I can always add a GT2xx later if needs be!

Hopefully there's also one PCI slot for a discrete sound-card!?

No, the Zotac IONITX (and I suspect most Atom systems are like this) is relatively unexpandable. Buy it only if you like it as-is.

[jalyst]

Yeah trying to decide on mATX G4x + GT2xx Vs mATX Geforce 9x00...
If there's a way to totally disable Intel's IGP I'm guessing the former's the way to go; even it's actually more expensive.

Or maybe I should be looking at Intel P4x chipset based mobo's not G4x?
The price isn't going to be hugely different between all of them so that doesn't matter so much IMO.

[Kano]

It is usually disabled as soon as you put in a card. Also a nice fallback solution if your gfx card is not working.

[jalyst]

If you're sure of this i'll prolly go the g4x route instead of p4x.
I don't want any extra draw if it's not being used.

Cheers

It is usually disabled as soon as you put in a card. Also a nice fallback solution if your gfx card is not working.

[jalyst]

Okay, so I'm going to get a mobo based on one of Intel's series 4 chipsets w/IGP

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_chipsets

So which should I get: G41,G43,G45,Q43, or Q45?*
Most of them seem to have only minor architectural differences except for G41.

It can be ruled out as it has too many significant deficits:
8gb V 16gb ram, ICH7 (which is ancient) V ICH10x, pre v2.0 PCIe, & it isn't much cheaper.

Is x4500HD significantly better than x4500 in any way?
Can VT-d be of use for a device that will be a media player/front-end?
Of ICH10/ICH10R/ICH10D/ICH10-DO which is most useful?

Does anyone know if CULV is available in a socketed format instead of BGA?
Or at least soldered onto a Intel mATX motherboard that's available stand-alone instead of w/a laptop?

I've decided I'll be getting a GT 2xx for video duties.

Cheers
*B43 is on wikipedia but doesn't seem to exist anywhere on Intel's site so it's scratched.

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/chipsets/index.htm?iid=chipsets_body+dt_all

http://www.intel.com/products/embedded/chipsets.htm?iid=chipsets_body+embed_all#s1=all&s2=all&s3=all

http://www.intel.com/products/server/chipsets/index.htm#s1=all&s2=all&s3=all

[jalyst]

The top GPU in the low-end (40nm/dx10.1) GT 2xx series is the GT 240 right? [aka GT215]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDPAU#Table_of_NVIDIA_GPUs

It doesn't surpass the 220 [aka GT216] in-terms of video assistance, only 3d acceleration right?
Does anyone know where all the exact differences are documented?

Would the GT 240 be better than the 9600GT for 3d acceleration?
Does it draw much more & run hotter than the 220 as a result, or only when gaming?

With these Intel IGP chipsets; does the IGP switch-off entirely if a discrete card's inserted?