8. Comparison Table - Chipsets

The 915 notebook chipset family, which goes by the codename Alviso, includes a total of three members.

Two of the three chipsets models feature an integral 900GMA graphic core. The 915GM will presumably be the preferred choice of Pentium M chipset for the majority of traditional business notebooks, while the 915GMS is targeted at devices with small dimensions and low weight. In this segment, it is not so much graphics performance, but rather small package size and low power consumption that are of paramount importance. Consequentially, the 915GMS only offers single-channel operation of DDR2-400MHz memories and only supports CPUs with an FSB of 400MHz. To keep the power consumption as low as possible, the supply voltage is restricted to a moderate 1.05V. Clocked at a maximum of 160MHz, the graphic core is only half as fast as the 915GM (maximum core clock frequency is 320MHz).

Both chipsets support Intel's Display Power Saving Technology 3.0 (DPST). This feature controls picture brightness by actively influencing the display background lighting at the same time that the chipset informs the graphics driver of any significant changes in picture brightness. The driver uses this information to directly control the intensity of the background lighting, allegedly without detracting noticeably from picture quality. As with other equipment features, it is up to the manufacturer to decide whether or not to implement this technology.

The 915PM requires a discrete PCIe graphics chip and a dedicated video memory. The graphics chip communicates with the Northbridge via a serial PCIe-x16 connection.

Apart from DPST, the 915PM offers the same range of functions as the 915GM.