9. Chipsets

Critics of notebooks based on AMD CPUs will soon assert that too few or perhaps even no compatible chipsets are available. Therefore, we made a strenuous effort to provide a list of compatible Northbridges from currently available chipsets here.

In principle, because the Turion 64 uses a 754 pin socket, all Northbridges designed for the Mobile Athlon 64 should also work with the Turion 64. In any case, because of their higher power consumption the following desktop chipsets (including their respective Northbridges) are less well-suited for thin and light notebook applications than chipsets specifically identified later in this review as notebook chipsets:

ATI Technologies:
Radeon Xpress 200P with PCIe x16 graphics interface,
Radeon Xpress 200 with PCIe x16 graphics interface and integrated graphics core based on the Radeon X300, supported with up to 128 MB shared DDR-memory SiS Corp:
756 PCIe x16 graphics interface
761GX with PCIe x16 graphics interface and integrated graphics core Mirage 2, supported with up to 128 MB shared DDR-Memory;
760GX with AGP 8x graphics interface and integrated graphics core Mirage 2, supported with up to 128 MB shared DDR-Memory;
760 with AGP 8x graphics interface and integrated graphics core Mirage 2, supported with up to 128 MB shared DDR-Memory. Uli Electronics Inc.:
M1695 with PCIe x16 graphics interface,
M1689 with AGP8x graphics interface VIA Technologies Inc.:
K8T890 with PCIe x16 graphics interface,
K8T800 with AGP 8x graphics interface,
K8M800 with AGP 8x graphics interface, with integrated graphics core S3 UniChrome Pro IGP, supported with up to 64 MB shared DDR-Memory

Owing to their modest power consumption and low power draw, the following chipsets for notebook use are of significantly more interest:

ATI Technologies:
RADEON XPRESS 200M (Graphics by) with a PCIe x16 graphics interface and integrated graphics core based on the Radeon X300, supported with up to 128 MB shared DDR memory and/or Local Frame Buffer;
RADEON XPRESS 200P (Chipset by) with PCIe x16 graphics interface but without an integrated graphics core. SiS Corp:
M761GX with a PCIe x16 graphics interface and integrated graphics core Mirage 1, supported with up to 128 MB of shared DDR memory;
M760 with an AGP 8x graphics interface and integrated graphics core Mirage 2, supported with up to 128 MB of shared DDR memory;
M760GX with AGP 8x graphics interface and integrated graphics core Mirage 2, supported with up to 128 MB shared of DDR memory. VIA Technologies Inc.:
K8N890 low-power variant of the K8T890 with a PCIe x16 graphics interface for notebook use;
K8N800A low-power chipset with AGP 8x graphics interface and integrated graphics core S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP, supported with up to 64 MB of shared DDR-memory.

The Megabook M635 test system used for this review includes the ATI RX480M Northbridge that, with the ATI SB400 Southbridge, comprises the so-called RADEON XPRESS 200 (Chipset by) chipset. For rendering of graphics data, the Mobility Radeon X700 also includes an ATI chip. MSI appears to have selected a combination of chipset, CPU and graphics processor that delivers strong performance but that also represents the best energy-saving architectures available from the range of possible choices. The GPU not only incorporates Version 5.0 of the Powerplay energy-saving technology, whose functionality resembles that of industrial strength implementations like Powernow or Speedstep. No, they also make much of the "Dynamic Lane Count Switching" (DLCS) that the combination of graphics processor and Northbridge can deliver. DLCS enables shutting down up to 15 of the 16 PCIe-leads, when little demand for graphics occurs. This is supposed to reduce current draw by as much as 30%.