The nForce 500 chipsets

The nForce 590 is the flagship of NVIDIA’s new AM2 chipset platform. It is the only dual chip version of the new platform like the nForce 4 SLI X16, NVIDIA’s previous high-end offering. It incorporates all of the new technologies NVIDIA now supports including native dual gigabit LAN, nVidia LinkBoost™, Teaming, TCP/IP Acceleration, nVidia MegaShield™, and finally Max overclocking. To see how nForce 590 SLI compares to its predecessor, nForce4 SLI X16, we’ve provided the following block diagram of the nForce4 SLI chipset:







As you can see, a few crucial aspects have changed besides the addition of new technologies. First of all, one IDE (PATA) connector has been removed on nForce 590, allowing only 2 parallel ATA drives. This is not an issue unless you still use IDE hard drives (which are not slower than SATA drives) with IDE optical drives.

Substituting the missing IDE port on nForce 590 are two extra native SATA 3Gb/sec connectors, giving NVIDIA support for up to six SATA drives versus ATI’s four. Again, NVIDIA is pushing the move to SATA hard drives only. The audio has been upgraded to HD Azalia. One final change in nForce 590 is that the PCI Express x1 slots are no longer controlled by the SPP (North Bridge) instead the x1 PCI Express connections are hanging off the South Bridge. NVIDIA expects nForce 590 SLI motherboards to sell for $150 and up.







At the next level down of the nForce 500 series are the nForce 570 SLI and Ultra platforms. The two don’t differ much from each other than the fact that the nF570 SLI supports NVIDIA’s SLI dual-GPU technology, and the Ultra version doesn’t. The nForce 570 family does differ from the nForce 590 quite a bit though. First of all, the nForce 570 is a single chip configuration, meaning the MCP handles all 28 PCI Express lanes. This also means that when SLI is enabled, each GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) gets only 8 lanes, versus the dual 16 lane SLI configuration of the nForce 590. The nForce 570 also lacks LinkBoost™ Technology, as we mentioned earlier, that’s a feature that’s exclusive to the nForce 590.

Fortunately, the nForce 570 still has all the premium options of the nForce 590, such as 6 SATA 3Gb/sec ports, and dual native gigabit Ethernet.

In terms of pricing, NVIDIA has the nForce 570 Ultra pegged in the $110 price range, while nForce 570 SLI motherboards should start around $130, about $20 less than nForce 590 SLI. Considering the extra features found in nForce 590 SLI, we expect that most enthusiasts will probably opt for that chipset instead of nForce 570 SLI if the prices NVIDIA is projecting end up holding true.







Finally comes the nForce 550, the least expensive and thus least enriched version of the nForce 500 series. Like the nForce 570, the nForce 550 is based on a single-chip configuration. It is very stripped down though. Gone is NVIDIA’s DualNet™ Technology, which includes dual native gigabit Ethernet, Teaming, and TCP/IP acceleration. Also missing is the FirstPacket™ Technology as well as RAID 5 capabilities. Two of the 6 SATA 3Gb/sec have also been removed. The nForce 550 does have the essential core components of the nForce 500 series, such as HiDefinition audio, 10 USB 2.0 ports, SATA 3Gb/sec and gigabit Ethernet though.

NVIDIA expects nForce 550 motherboards to sell in the $70 range.