AMD today announced the availability of their new integrated chipsets from AMD 780 series designed for casual gamers and multimedia enthusiasts as the core of quiet and energy-efficient PC designs. Stressing special graphics functionality of their new core logic solutions that support DirectX 10, AMD calls AMD 780 Series “motherboard GPU”, however the chipset graphics cores still have their own names: ATI Radeon 3200 and 3100. When paired with an AMD Phenom 9000 series quad-core processor or Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor, the AMD 780 Series delivers excellent basis fir mainstream systems. The AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU is scheduled to be widely available from more than 40 AMD partners at launch. Global OEMs are expected to offer AMD 780 Series-based PCs starting in Q2 2008.

The AMD 780 Series motherboard GPU is a core platform component for both the AMD desktop PC platform codenamed “Cartwheel” and AMD notebook PC platform codenamed “Puma” which are both scheduled to launch in Q2 2008, as AMD innovation creates unprecedented high definition (HD) and 3D capabilities at mainstream PC price points.

Besides DirectX 10 support that is required for contemporary gaming titles, new chipsets also boast ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology. This technology harnesses the graphics power of both a discrete graphics card and the motherboard GPU in tandem, delivering in some applications up to 70 percent improvements in 3D performance. In addition, the AMD 780G chipset is the second generation AMD chipset to feature AMD Overdrive, a simple user interface that brings overclocking and tweaking to the masses.

The new chipset family includes two representatives. They both support HyperTransport 3.0 to connect to the CPU. Besides the integrated DirectX 10 GPU they also feature PCI Express 2.0 graphics bus.

The 780G chipset has an integrated ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics along with ATI's Hybrid Graphics technology. The 780G is capable as-is with multiple-monitor support, and can also give consumers tremendous flexibility with a broad range of video interfaces, including DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI. The AMD 780G chipset brings a full HD experience with support for the latest and most demanding formats, including VC-1, MPEG-2 and H.264 to the mainstream PC. Featuring the AMD Unified Video Decoder (UVD), it directs HD playback to the better-suited GPU rather than to the CPU so consumers may enjoy a smooth HD viewing experience — no lag, stalling or dropped scenes —in the latest HD-DVD and Blu-ray titles.

The 780V chipset is essentially the same, though it substitutes ATI Radeon 3100 graphics, resulting in a chipset for less expensive motherboards. The 780V chipset is less HD oriented, as shown in the graphics subsystem nomenclature.

Both chipsets use new SB700 South Bridge that supports 12 USB 2.0 and two USB 1.1 ports, up to six 3.0Gb/sec SATA ports with support for eSATA, HD Audio, a single PATA controller for legacy devices, and a whole host of power-saving features. There's support for RAID modes 0, 1, and 10.

The chipsets are manufactured with 55nm technology that delivers optimal power management making the AMD 780 Series- based PCs ideal for consumers and enterprises looking for cool, quiet, energy efficient PCs.

Motherboards from major manufacturers such as Asus, Gigabyte, Foxconn, and MSI are expected soon. Pricing on the 780G and 780V motherboards are expected to range from $80 to $120. Moreover, AMD also released a new processor, the Athlon X2 4850e. This energy-efficient economical dual-core CPU boasts 45W TDP and is designed to work at 2.5GHz. It will be available soon at a price of $89.