News: New Nvidia NForce2 Chipsets

The Inquirer: Nvidia segments Nforce 2, just like its hero Intel

Nvidia gets first Nforce 2 MCP-S/1000 samples

By Mike Magee: Tuesday 10 June 2003, 08:11
ROADMAPS SEEN by the INQUIRER at the Blue Posts hostelry in Kingly Street, W1, show Nvidia is on target with its Nforce 2 MCP-S/1000, which includes S-ATA(n), RAID and Gigabit Ethernet.

Samples of the silicon for the chipset will be delivered to its motherboard customers within the next 10 days, it has transpired.

As revealed earlier in the INQ, Nforce 2 MCP-S and MCP-S1000 will include eight USB 2 ports, use Nvidia RAID and Gigabit Ethernet, and include two Serial ATA hot plug ports.

Here is how Nvidia will play this one, segmenting the market just like its hero, Intel.

MCP-S has two S-ATA ports with integrated PHY, MCP-S-RAID includes RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1, while MCP-S1000 adds Nvidia Gigabit Ethernet. This will allow motherboard makers to differentiate their offerings.

MCP-S-RAID has that little extra hardware accelerated touch.

The MCP-S1000 is aimed at what Nvidia describes as the "de luxe" end of the marketplace, with a discrete PC based Gigabit Ethernet interface, a little like its hero, Intel. Throughput on the "de luxe" version will be around 0.7Gb/s.

Volume production for these will be in August and Nvidia hopes to make them available in volume in September.

Nvidia's Windows utility will support all Nforce chipsets, and let mobo makers adjust and view the settings of a board. µ

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