AMD launches 760G platform

NOTHING BEATS THE Monday morning blues better than a bargain, and AMD hopes the chipset it launched this morning, the 760G platform, will be one of the cheapest chipsets around capable of DirectX 10 and full OpenGL 2 graphics.

This latest mainboard chipset should make gaming possible even on low-cost systems by marrying the 760G platform to the Athlon X2 7000.

While trumpeting its energy efficiency, AMD also reckons its new chipset, complete with a Radeon HD 3000-era core, is significantly faster than Intel's GMA 4500 architecture. As a comparison, AMD shows its platform running World of Warcraft at 31 frames per second at 1280x1024, whilst Intel's Pentium E5200 + G41 only manages a paltry 19 frames a second, some 63 per cent slower.

As far as options go, the 760G supports both Displayport and HDMI video out. It also gives users the option to use Hybrid CrossFire, allowing the system to flip from a dedicated Radeon card to integrated video, which cuts back on energy when users aren't playing games or HD video.

The 760G with its clock speed of 350MHz, is similar to AMD's 780V, but cuts back on HD video acceleration. Having said that, the platform does allow for hardware acceleration of DVD video playback as well as 2D acceleration for scaling in visual applications like Acrobat, and Powerpoint.

AMD says it will distribute the 760G through its partners, including Asus, ECS, Gigabyte, Asrock, MSI, Foxconn and Biostar. The official US price is $79 and shipping is to start straight away. µ