AOpen is ready with its LGA-775 ION ITX platform. The AOpen nMCP7AUt-V resembles most Atom-ION motherboards, but supports an LGA-775 (up to 95W TDP) Pentium, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad processor with its 2+1 phase power circuit. The ION chipset packs a GeForce 9400M class mGPU. AOpen overclocked this a little, 580/1500 MHz (core/shader, versus 580/1400 MHz reference). The chipset supports GeForce Boost, which allows a low-end discrete GeForce GPU to work in tandem with it, and save power. The chipset is actively cooled by a fan-heatsink. The board holds two SO-DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR2 800/667 MHz memory, commonly available as laptop memory.

The lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x16. Storage is care of three SATA II ports, with RAID 0,1,5, and JBOD modes. The GeForce mGPU connects to its display through DVI-D and HDMI connectors. Audio is care of a high-grade Realtek ALC889 HD audio CODEC. Apart from the 8 USB 2.0 ports on the rear-panel, four more are provided through internal headers. The AOpen nMCP7AUt-V is selling in Japan for 18,770 JPY (US $198).

Picture this: a nettop/netbook/ULPC chipset that supports a gamer-grade feature such as NVIDIA SLI. Well, that's about become a reality with a certain variant of the MCP7A chipset NVIDIA is preparing for the Intel Atom processor. VR-Zone has learned that the chipset would offer all features essential to platforms it caters to, plus offering integrated GeForce graphics and supporting external graphics, including support for 2-way NVIDIA SLI. The root complex would connect to two discrete graphics devices with 8 PCI-Express lanes each.

The 'essential' features this chipset brings to the table include support for PC2-6400 memory standard (up to four DIMM slots), six SATA II channels, twelve USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet and IEEE 1394 and HD Audio. There is yet another chipset in the pipeline, the MCP79 for pico-ATX and SFF platforms, which supports a single DDR3 memory channel, integrated GeForce graphics with DVI-D and HDMI support.

NVIDIA has had a fair bit of success with its MCP7A, MCP79 chipsets. Where the Intel-compatible nForce 730i/740i embeds a GeForce 9300/9400-class IGP, the AMD compatible nForce 730a embeds a GeForce 8200-class IGP. EVGA has released its offering based on the 730a (model 113-M2-E113-TR). The motherboard uses the typical EVGA colour scheme. It has an AM2+ socket, supporting the latest AMD processors with the HyperTransport 3.0 system interface.

The board features a single PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. It supports Hybrid Power with compatible graphics cards. Display output from its IGP comes in the form of DVI, D-Sub and HDMI connectors. It provides 8-channel audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs. Depending on the processor used it supports DDR2 memory, with speeds of up to PC2-8500 (1066 MHz). The CPU is powered by a 5+1 phase power circuit. Six SATA II ports with RAID support are provided. For a complete list of specifications, please refer to the company whitepaper. The motherboard is available from the EVGA store for US $94.99 +shipping.

NVIDIA seems to be striking gold with its newest platform core logic, the MCP7A, MCP79 chipsets, with the mobile version of MCP79 especially taking the limelight. This is the chipset that Apple uses in its updates to the Macbook Pro. Several PC industry majors such as Acer, ASUS, HP, and Dell, are planning to launch several notebook models based on the MCP79. Some players even project the chipset to grab a 20% share among Intel CPU-based notebook platforms.

ASUS is planning to launch the F50GX notebook using the said chipset with a 16-inch 16:9 aspect ratio panel, and GeForce 9600M discrete graphics card, targeting the gamer market. The company is also planning to launch more MCP79-based notebooks by the end of this year or beginning of next year, according to Tony Chen, general manager of notebook business in ASUS. The general manager of GeForce products at NVIDIA, Ujesh Desai, pointed out that over 10 models of notebooks from global first-tier notebook vendors, will be launched by the end of the year.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), is ready with an ATX motherboard based on the NVIDIA nForce 730i (MCP7A-S) chipset, the ECS GF9300T-A Black Series. The motherboard gets its Black Series tag from the range of boards ECS makes, which offer great value for their features, performance and board design.

The GF9300T-A comes with support for all Intel LGA-775 processors, with FSB of 1333 MHz. It supports DDR2-800 memory. It features a GeForce 9300-class IGP, which is expandable with the provided PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Apart from a D-Sub connector, a HDMI port is provided. HybridPower and GeForce Boost technologies are supported. It features six SATA-II ports, three PCI and two PCI-E x1 slots.

Picture this: DDR2 and DDR3 memory, Integrated GeForce 9400 GT graphics, and SLI, all rolled into one. Galaxy has announced such a motherboard, that utilises a special variant of the NVIDIA MCP7A core logic, the MCP7A-D SLI. Galaxy is ready with its fleet of MCP7A-series motherboards. It has released three models based on this chipset, two of which, offer integrated graphics and SLI. When in SLI mode, 16 PCI-Express lanes are split into dual x8 lanes for both the graphics cards.

There is an upscale version that sports 100% sold capacitor design, and 8-channel audio and DVI + D-Sub output, while a lite version sports solid capacitors on the VRM area, and 6-channel audio. Both motherboards sport active cooling for the chipset, with a fan blowing air on the horizontal plane of the cooler. Both motherboards provide an HDMI port, support DDR2 and DDR3 memory, support Hybrid SLI and GeForce Boost technologies, and provides as many as eight SATA II ports on board. There is a third m-ATX board, that is an entry-level offering. It uses the MCP7A-S core, nForce 730i chipset and embeds a GeForce 9300-class IGP. It supports DDR2 memory, and provides six SATA II ports on board. Galaxy is yet to announce pricing and release dates.

MCP7A series are one of NVIDIA's first nForce chipsets for the Intel platform with a monolithic design. The chipset isn't split-up into northbridge and southbridge anymore. This space-saving design is supposed to be very economical for the company to produce, and for motherboard vendors to come out with attractively priced boards. The chipset embeds a GeForce 9300-class IGP, and supports energy efficient Hybrid SLI and GeForce Boost technologies. The IGP itself is DirectX 10 compliant, and supports Purevideo HD.

MSI on its part, seems to be ready with two such micro-ATX boards, as pictured by Fudzilla. The P7NGM-Digital (black PCB) is the higher end board, with HTPC-friendly features. It features an HDMI port, along with DVI and D-Sub ports for display. It features four DDR2 DIMM slots supporting DDR2-800 memory. It uses a 100% solid state capacitor design. The P7NGM-FI (red PCB) is the value offering, that aims to spread the GeForce advantage at a low price-point. It features two DIMM slots, a single D-Sub port, and solid capacitors restricted to the CPU and chipset power circuits.

It is becoming a market trend of people avoiding entry-level discrete graphics alotgether to either choose a low-mid graphics card or settle for motherboards with integrated graphics to suit their needs, with that segment of buyers. Both NVIDIA and AMD that have chipset divisions sought to capitalize on this with releasing integrated graphics laden system chipsets, the only difference being that NVIDIA makes them for both AMD and Intel CPU platforms. With AMD platform, NVIDIA already has a dominating market position while it tries to catch up with Intel's homegrown chipsets in its plaform.

Towards the end of this month, NVIDIA could release a new chipset called MCP7A that aims to compete with AMD's recent 780G and 790GX IGPs that took IGP performance to the next level. The MCP7A comes with the GeForce 9400 GT graphics core embedded. The chipset comes in two variants: MCP7A-U and MCP7A-S. The former has GeForce 9400 GT in specifications and speeds identical to the discrete GPU, while the latter has a slightly toned down variant of the same GPU in terms of clock speeds, called GeForce 9300. The difference between the two is that the 9300 will be clocked at 450MHz and 1200MHz (core, shader) compared to the 9400 GT in its reference specs. of 580MHz, 1500MHz (core, shader).