Santa Clara (CA) - Current and future owners of Nvidia’s nForce 790i Ultra SLI and SLI chipsets own a piece of history: Nvidia confirmed to TG Daily that it is now focusing on delivering chipsets with integrated graphics.

Bryan Del Rizzo, Nvidia's PR manager for platform products told us that the company will be starting to implement graphics in chipsets by default beginning with the nForce 700-series for AMD. The manufacturer will be using the mGPU for HybridPower operation. “For example, the nForce 780a is a high-end motherboard with an integrated [graphics] core," Del Rizzo said.

Graphics chipset always has a low-end tone to it, but Nvidia’s announcement does not mean that the company will stop creating high-end chipsets, but rather work on expanding the power saving features of upcoming desktop and notebook parts.

The goal of this move is also to connect a display through DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort or a similar cable directly to the motherboard. One, two, three or four discrete GPUs would provide 3D performance when required.

This approach could also address the rising issue of latency. The fact that the frame buffer will now be located at the same spot for all GPUs should actually benefit the consumer.

Integrated Graphics = Crap

Mar 26, 2008 22:20     

Integrated graphics chipsets are crap. They always have lower-end GPU's in them and never compare in performance to separate graphics cards. Also, separate graphics cards usually have 2 DVI/Video TV s-video connections. I doubt nVidia will have these features. With both Intel and AMD adding GPU cores to their processors, is this even a wise move? Don't you get better performance if the GPU is in the processor and not in the chipset? Also, if the GPU is in the chipset, you'd have to replace the entire motherboard to upgrade the GPU instead of simply replacing the processor. Does this mean nVidia will no longer make discrete chipsets??? nVidia usually makes the most feature rich, highest quality, stable discrete chipsets. I'd be sorry to see them leave this field.

Cypherdude report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Uh...

Mar 27, 2008 02:12     

Isnt this Hybrid Power thing aimed at reducing power requirements? from what I can gather its basicly like switching off your 'main' graphic cards being the, in my case, 8800GTs and switching to a low power onboard intergrated graphic chipset for use within windows, when not requiring all that extra horsepower. Sounds like a great idea to me. Graphic cards can chew quite a bit of power for no real reason once out of a game. So I sorta agree with you Cypherdude but at the same time you are totally missing the point of this feature. ProphetZX

ProphetZX report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Integrated Graphics = Power Savings flexibility

Mar 27, 2008 03:13     

Agreed, so far, integrated graphics have been less than ideal - and never suited for gaming and other demanding tasks. All this is about to change though. The idea with these new chipsets is to have an integrated solution that's fast enough for video playback and vista, and has good picture quality, but no power hungry gaming features. When you need that, you just add a couple of GPU cards. This will also give you more outputs if you need that. The best part is that the power hungry gaming cards will be turned off when you're just browsing, wordprocessing or downloading, leaving your system cool and quiet, and your electric bill smaller. So while it sounds like a low end solution it will benefit enthusiasts and benchmark addicts too, because the system will only consume 800Watts while the benchmark is running, then drop down to 100W while they spend the rest of the time bragging about the results ;-)

Ohm report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Interesting

Mar 27, 2008 03:23     

I was hoping NVIDIA would come out with something similar to AMD's 780G. What I didn't expect was the end of chipsets without integrated. @Cypherdude: From what I've read on other sites, it seems that the integrated will be for when there isn't much demand on the system. I even get the feeling that any discrete cards in the system won't even consume power (or if they do, just enough to perform an instant-on feature) until they are actually needed.

Michael Summers report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Cypherdude

Mar 27, 2008 05:39     

Nvidia leaving? No way! You can add a card and still have the onboard thing, that will be more and more powerful and power-efficient. What's wrong with that? If you want to upgrade, and you already have a discrete card, you just replace it in the old fashioned way... Nvidia leaving? (again) No Way! Nvidia got Ageia and is about to take VIA. With physics and x86 under it's sleeve, it will be everything you (I) dreamed off, and everything Intel fears the most!

Virtualban report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Re: Cypherdude

Mar 27, 2008 06:34     

First of all .. there working on onboard graphics because they are crap(as in don't support HD) atm .. but there not gona make me mobo's with like onboard 9800gx2 .. they just want to pretty much make it so they support HD standards .. so people that just want to watch HD stuff etc can without buy a seperate or extra FX card .., and some people like high end features on there MOBO but dont' need graphics performance .. not all people are gamers or 3d designers ..etc .. i'm sure they'll still be feature rich .. if they say its high end .. most people that buy a mobo with onboard don't plan on upgrading the fx.. and if they do most mobo that have on board fx still have expansion slots if you wanted to upgrade. You obviously didn't read it very well, they said there focusing on it not stoping other mobo production .. and there a business and I'm sure the onboard FX market is much bigger than not onboard .. cause of business and stuff .. etc ..

Andrew report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Cypherdude, you haven't read the article

Mar 27, 2008 08:52     

What NVIDIA plans to have is the most feature rich, highest quality, stable chipsets *with integrated graphics*. I agree that in the long run, if the CPU will incorporate a GPU, then having another one on the motherboard is not necessary, but until then, having a GPU on the chipset should not affect your image of it any more than having integrated sound and networking on the chip does. It's just another component that you don't have to use.

ET report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Let me break it down for you guys simply

Mar 27, 2008 13:40     

Basically, this will allow you to use the onboard GPU when you don't need so much horsepower, thereby saving energy/money and when you do need more oomph, you can add the power of the onboard GPU to your add-in GPU card for Hybrid SLI. So, recapping, this idea is full of win.
DarkElfa report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

The title must be wrong

Mar 27, 2008 19:24     

Please, I can´t believe the title, and reading the text does not match the tittle. Please, correct
mm report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Don't get it

Mar 27, 2008 19:57     

No more discrete chipsets = no more Geforce 8800 GT. No more discrete chipsets = No more discrete video cards. How is than it would be "One, two, three or four discrete GPUs would provide 3D performance when required." ??? 8-0
Fico report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1

chipset is not the same as GPU

Mar 28, 2008 03:27     

The title says "No more discrete chipsets", meaning all chipsets (which are always on the motherboard) will now come with an integrated GPU, and are therefore not discrete. The title does not say "No more discrete GPUs", which would mean nvidia would ONLY sell integrated solutions/on-board chipsets. That would be dumb.
Anon report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +2

Two steps from a GPU SOCKET!

Mar 28, 2008 12:22     

I hope this moves toward a GPU socket, I want a quad-core and an nVidia with ThermalRight 120 Extremes on them.
nubie report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

Who are the RTARDs responsible for this drivel?

Apr 06, 2008 18:02     

mGPUs current and planned just don't stack-up in anyway compared to discretes - it's all about memory bandwidth. Integrated GPUs just don't stack up here.
StinkyTwinky report abuse vote down vote up Votes: -1