back to article Nvidia offers Intel-thrashing netbook GPU tech

Nvidia is clearly in with Intel: it's announced a netbook integrated-graphics chipset designed to work with the Atom CPU. Enter the GeForce 9400 - codenamed 'Ion' - which essentially knocks the socks off the Intel integrated graphics Atom-based netbooks have thus far shipped with. For instance, Nvidia touted its part's …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Now where is Jobs

    This could be a real neat Mac Mini...

  2. Brian Bush
    Jobs Halo

    Apple on the Brain

    Smells like a Atom/Geforce AppleTV is in the cards.

  3. Another Anonymous Coward

    1080p

    I guess the high definition output isn't intended for the netbook itself, but for hooking it up to a bigger TV. Could be a handy way to bring movies over to someone else's place without lugging a stack of dvds.

    Good small+silent media centre potential for this board too, at the moment choosing between the the expense (and size) of seperate graphics cards or the utterly mediocre performance of integrated graphics is a huge barrier to the thing that everyone seems to want - a dinky little box that isn't noisy and can handle HD content.

    Looks pretty good, now to wait and see if it cuts the mustard and does what nvidia is claiming, without any playback jitters as soon as the movie has an explosion/ motorbike chase/ anything fast.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Great

    Now Netbooks will be as powerful as Notebooks, just smaller and more energy efficient and .... who am I kidding? Although I revel at the fact that Netbooks will be able to handle HD video, I can't help but think HW vedors aren't exactly cheering to adopt such a chipset, since it clearly eats into existing product lines and profits, no wonder no one was onboard at announcement. Given the current economic climate, innovation which requires additional investment in R&D to integrate (then build and advertise), while at the same time negatively impacting existing product lines = just plain bad timing for a good innovation.

    Paris, because I feel like it.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    "minimal affect (sic) on battery life"

    In other words it will be just as inefficient as the current chipset, which lets down the Atom so badly? Give us longer run-times before mostly pointless graphics acceleration.

  6. Charlie van Becelaere
    Gates Horns

    "minimal affect on battery life"

    That's affect as in Seasonal Affect, one assumes. I didn't realise that batteries were susceptible, but perhaps there's a Second Battery Life. Perhaps this chipset is optimised for viewing flying penises then?

  7. MYOFB
    Dead Vulture

    SCC with HD (Graphics) . . . Bollocks!!

    Try getting your SCC reviews up to date with the latest and greatest BEFORE expousing this crap!!

    Or have El Reg fallen out with Samsung for some inexplicable reason?

    Look, I know times are hard at the moment but do you not think it a reasonable thing to do, every now and then, to focus on the here and now, instead of this 'Pie in the sky' cod piece of fluffy technology??

    Let's face it, if the SCC community doesn't take off further than it has done, then DreamWare (tm) such as this will never see the light of day. Why?

    Because the manufacturers haven't recouped their Manufacturing/Marketing costs, let alone the R & D costs!!

    So I put this to you El Reg: It's nice to hear and read about the innovations "Just around the corner" but sometimes, just sometimes, we have to settle for what's on the plate laid before us, eat it all up and trust that there will be better fayre on the menu in times to come.

    If we don't, then all we can expect is more of the past and nothing of the future.

    \THAT Icon? . . . Self explantory if you think about!!

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Concergence

    is the key here. Not just mobility. Although useable in mobile units this platform form an excellent base for HTPC's and other multimedia devices. This along with themeable desktops can form a seamless environment that integrate all these types of devices regardless of resolutions and size. From a software perspective this is already evident through GUI-initiatives on mobiles like Moblin and Android which are making their way onto media devices, and with elements frome these even being adopted in general-purpose desktops like KDE and GNOME.

  9. E_Nigma

    @AC

    "In other words it will be just as inefficient as the current chipset, which lets down the Atom so badly? Give us longer run-times before mostly pointless graphics acceleration."

    No, not really, according to some websites, the Nvidia part can suck up to 18W, while Intel's current solution for Atom (945 + the accompanying southbridge) uses mere 7.5W in the worst case scenario. So it won't be just as unefficient, it'll be a whole lot more inefficient. :D On a mre serious side, while it won't do for a netbook with a 4-cell battery, it may be quite OK for the 6-cell ones and it will certainly make for interesting, small, cheap and quiet media-center PCs.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Oh, it does eat batteries...

    according to the nVidia's web site, the 9400M "eats" 18W, compared to 945 which "eats" 6W.

    AC: the companies *will* sell such netbooks since it's a competitive market. They didn't want to sell netbooks but then Asus came with the EEE which sold millions, and then everyone started creating and selling netbooks like crazy, so they know that if they don't sell a model with 9400M, their competitor will and that competitor will make money. This happens all the time in this market.

  11. E

    Good

    I was pretty disgusted by the way netbook makers bought into Atom: "ooooh, Intel has done all the engineering for us, we just have to wrap Intel's work in slightly different plastic and go to market!"

    We can buy about 50 different netbook products - and about 48 of them have essentially identical specs. Such a success for competition and innovation! Expletive expletive expletive. Even the HP 2133 - a really superior screen, superior keyboard and very good case - killed off because HP could sell the same Atom box as everyone else. F*ck.

    You know what Intel's action is called? It is called monopoly power excluding competition from the market. Stick that in your pipes and smoke it all you Reg and Inq hacks and all you uncritical review-site Atom fanboies. You heard it here first.

    ARM, AMD (ha! maybe in a past age when the company could execute), Via all have tech that could make netbooks that beat Atom on some or many metrics, but no computer company had the balls to make something different.

    Nvidia might change this state of statism. If so then good for Nvidia.

    There really needs to be a truly vituperative icon to adorn a post - for those cases where the poster wants to make absolutely clear his level of sincere anger/disgust/contempt for the status quo.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Well...

    Untill Nvidia confess about just what chips are and are not affected by their current BGA "quality" problems, I'll avoid all of them (just in case).

  13. Patrick

    Its or gone worng lol

    I was just reading this and thinking, I have a Dell D400 and its the pentium M cpu. its just about the right size for me for using as a second pc as I use it for looking at the internet etc while watching tv. the battery is only 3800mAH but this still gives 2 hours and 41 minutes in desktop mode, although this could easily be boosted to over three hours by adjusting the screen brightness and power management settings. but I read some netbooks do that.

    I am able to load webpages at a decent turn of speed ( faster than the atom I know i have had three netbooks) and there is wifi and bluetooth built in and I have been able to play games like midtown madness 2 and san andreas and the simpsons hit and run. just in case i need too lol. most at 640*480 res but at least as its a small screen and it does a very good job on resizing the image it still more than playable up 25FPS on gta san andreas which is not to bad ( honest )

    I understand that most netbooks are around the 1kg but this is 1.7kg. I am sure it would be possible today to lower this.

    The point is there is older stuff you can get that works loads better than the very slow atom and if they used the Centrino/pentium m setup and used the 4800/6600 batterys they could get the over 4 hours battery life people they want.

    but at least you could do something on it. and they could use the lastest die size for the cpu and its sorted...

    Or to cut a long story short. there is already the tech out there to do what they need....

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