If this is accurate, this is by far the best IGP for HTPC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_700_chipset_series#Integrated_graphics
AMD/ATI right now clearly has the superior IGP for hardware accelerated H.264 and VC-1, plus superior post processing vs NVidia's VP2 generation. Intel may as well just scrap the G35 and rethink their plans for G45. I like the direction these things are going - these are now legit players in a growing market and they can focus on HTPC and abandon the idea of trying to get an IGP to play Crysis at reasonable FPS :) > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To: hardware@hardwaregroup.com > Date: Wed, 5 Mar 2008 11:24:15 -0600 > Subject: [H] Brief comment: 780G > > Ok, so now that it's out, I can say a few things: > > (1) The 780G on AMD's end is maybe one of the more impressive chipsets I've > seen in a very long time. We've been giving it a run on a few of our > monitors using the Asus MB, and have found it pretty stunning what kind of > performance you can get. Even using a simple (read: CHEAP) 3800+ X2, we had > no problems running BlueRay discs at full acceleration to a 61" Samsung DLP. > Video is fast, smooth, and power usage is very low.. > > (2) Putting this thing in a micro case works, which is an advantage. > > (3) I'm not sure about the market for "Oh, combine to a 3450 and do Hybrid > SLI. First, it only works under Vista SP1, which will be primarily new PCS > (fine, and BTW, when it is available to public download it's worth it) > > (4) Now we have to see what Intel responds with. Nvidia's already kind of > boned themselves, the 9800 series is delayed (AGAIN), and the 8200 IGP is > both behind and, by their projections will be at least 15% slower then the > 780G. Intel's G35 looks particularly putrid in comparison > > For those looking to do a Media Center box, this is the best combo I've > seen. The chipset has it all - Full HDMI 1.3 support with DTS Master Audio, > TrueHD capability, Blueray decoding at low CPU usage on even a cheap ass > CPU, and tons of SATA ports for drives. > > While AMD has been in the doldrums on their CPU side, it's good to see > something positive over there going on. > > CW > > _________________________________________________________________ Climb to the top of the charts! Play the word scramble challenge with star power. http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_jan