ATI Technologies is gearing up to introduce a lineup of five new chipsets for the AMD Socket M2 K8 platform in 2006, industry sources indicated. The upcoming chipsets will be manufactured at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the sources noted.

In 2006, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) will adopt the M2 940-pin design for all of its single- and dual-core desktop processors, as reported on May 9.

ATI is preparing the RD580 and RD580C for the high-end segment, with the chipsets supporting ATI’s crossfire dual-graphics card technology, the source indicated. The two solutions will compete against Nvidia's nForce4 SLI (scalable link interface) series. According to ATI’s roadmap, volume production is slated for the end of this year, but sources stated the company will need to adjust its roadmap and bring it in line with AMD’s M2 launch schedule.

For the OEM and SI (system integrator) markets, ATI will offer the RX485 and RS485 parts, which are upgrade versions of its current RX480 and RS482 solutions, with production also slated for the end of this year, according to the roadmap. The integrated RS485 will be based on ATI’s Radeon X300 graphics chip.

The company will also release the RS690, which will be an upgrade version of the RS485, with more advanced performance in the graphics core, according to the sources. Volume production of the RS690 is scheduled for the second quarter of 2006, the sources added.

On the Intel side, ATI’s mainstream RC410 chipset should continue being the company’s major driving force for Pentium 4-based sales in the first half of next year, industry sources expect. The sources stated ATI expects to ship more than five million RC410 chipsets this quarter, and shipments should hit another record in the fourth quarter.

In related news, the Chinese-language Commercial Times today reported that United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has gained its first 90nm orders from ATI, with volume production set for the fourth quarter of this year.

By: DocMemory
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