Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia will make a show of nForce next week.
The new Nvidia nForce chipset for AMD Athlon/Duron, announced in June, will make its debut next week in motherboards and desktop PCs, an Nvidia representative said.
A slew of motherboard makers and some smaller PC makers are expected to announce products based on the new chipset. A chipset is a key component inside a PC, a cluster of chips that serves as the go-between for the processor, system memory and input/output devices such as hard drives. More recently, chipsets including the nForce have grown to adopt graphics as well.
Large brand-name PC makers, including Compaq Computer and Hewlett-Packard, are said to be considering the new chipset for use next year. A Compaq representative, for example, said the company is "evaluating" nForce, but had no immediate product plans for it.
nForce seeks to lure customers by granting moderately priced AMD PCs better overall performance, with much-improved integrated graphics and audio. But the chipset also represents an important strategic move for Nvidia and a potential new ally for AMD on the desktop.
PCs using the chipset will be priced at $900 and up, while motherboards are expected to sell from the "low $100s to the high $100s," depending on configuration of the chipset, the Nvidia representative said.
News source: ZDNet
