Asus Removes Weaksauce from Integrated Graphics Recipe
Asus Removes Weaksauce from Integrated Graphics Recipe
Posted 06/05/2010 at 5:35pm
| by Paul Lilly
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There's a code among motherboard makers that says integrated graphics have to suck. To be fair, today's IGP boards are plenty powerful enough for everyday computing tasks and even some light gaming duties, but don't kid yourself, you're not going to build a respectable gaming machine without a discrete graphics card. Not yet, anyway.
Asus has apparently decided to challenge this notion that integrated graphics have to be second rate. How so? Well, they've gone and slapped a Radeon HD 5770 chip on an Intel X58-based motherboard they're calling "Immensity." What's more, that isn't even the only graphics trick up this concept board's sleeve - it also comes equipped with a Lucid Hydra chip, which means that you can add two more PCI-E graphics card for three-way CrossFireX action, or mix and match both ATI and Nvidia graphics cards.
Even though this is a concept board, it sounds as though Asus is fairly confident this one will eventually graduate from prototype status into a shipping product. Here's hoping Asus not only goes through with this, but starts a trend in the IGP market.
Image Credit: Engadget
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small_business_...
February 16, 2012 at 1:07am
Every little things that has something to do with the performance of asus still matters. It's pretty much awesome to know that asus do some action with regards to the quality and best performance of their product.
29dollarlogos
October 21, 2011 at 1:23am
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Karlean Bailey
October 08, 2011 at 1:08am
I think removing the "weaksauce" doesn't matter as long as the integrity and efficiency of Asus products are well-preserved. Principle of totality is the key to this.
anndoz
September 19, 2011 at 12:03am
It's an additional information to all ASUS lovers. This website really provides useful information.
IanW
September 18, 2011 at 10:11am
I must admit it's about time they started putting decent on board graphics and i'm glad that it's asus leading the way since i've always been a fan.
Thanks for the post,
Ian
Dreaweaver Tutorial
September 10, 2011 at 11:45pm
A new level of technology from asus was now introduce to market. This will surely give us a lot more of excellent technology experience.
ansari
June 02, 2011 at 3:09am
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garys
April 13, 2011 at 12:31am
ASUS mobos are rock solid. All my mobos were ASUS. Hope they keep the trust.
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terrybogard142
June 27, 2010 at 11:24pm
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But, everything problem leads to a Solution. That makes a successful story. And the story goes to the successful websites like http://www.maximumpc.com/ :)
Actually what i have done is just go to the shopping mall and purchased a brand new Eatsmart precision pro digital kitchen scale. It is very easy to use. I never make a recipe over salted and my family is happy that i am gonna be a diet conscious person having my sweet little Eatsmart Multifunction digital scale. I look after my Grandma. She is a heart patient.
ajax344
June 07, 2010 at 2:14pm
WTF, who says "meh" depending on the price of the board (which will certainly be cheaper than a mobo + 5770 being that asus buys them in huge bulk + has a special deal with AMD/ATI) it could serve as a few things, 1. for modders like myself not having a super tall GPU allows us to do more compact cases, even as a gamer since from what I understand the idea is to run ANY other card as like a 5770 + X card, you can get super higher performance for a lower price. Reasonable Tri-SLI, new GPU cooling techniques closer to that of a CPU fan. also possible to start treating the integrated as the gaming GPU andn the actuall PCI E like a integrated, turn off the powerful one when its not needed run off of somthing weak. I would honestly expect to see a board like this (possibly with a newer GPU integrated) in the next dream machine (provided the board is out and that its only good spec is not just the GPU).
Thursday
June 13, 2010 at 7:15am
Sorry, but did you even read my post? If not, please read the part at the end where I pretty much said that people like you and the situations you suggested would be the only ones to see a benifit to this tech. SFF means Small Form Factor, which are the compact cases you are talking about.
Anyway, ASUS is still trying to work out the kinks and thermals and they haven't even settled on a GPU to use yet for that matter. This board will not likely ship to consumers until Q4 2010 or (more likely) sometime in 2011. If RAM prices do not come down significantly by then I do not expect this board to cost must less than a straight up mid/high end motherboard plus a stand alone 5770 would. ASUS may buy in bulk but that doesn't change the fact that this board will use far more expensive components than other motherboards. ASUS buys in bulk now and their cards and boards are no less expensive (in some cases they are MORE expensive) than the comparable MSI/eVGA/XFX/etc. components.
And this still means you are taking a bgger risk with component failures screwing your entire system.
Therefore, the only real advantage I see still remains SFF budget gaming builds. I would definately try one of these out for a SFF or HTPC build, but I'll probably stick with a solid board with a seperate GPU for full on gaming systems.
Thursday
June 13, 2010 at 7:21am
Another possible issue that I missed the first time is how many PCIe lanes is the integrated GPU using? There are two remaining full size PCIe slots there, but there is a possiblity that the x58 chipset would not have enough lanes left over to run them both a 16x. Hell, depending on the number of lanes used by the IGP, there's a chance that BOTH those slots would have to run at 8x if they were both populated. This has the potential to greatly reduce build flexibility.
Either way, until ASUS announces final shipping specs we will have no idea how this will turn out. One big thing I am very very very happy about is that somebody other than MSI is finally using the Lucid Hydra chipset! I very much want this chip to take off :)
Thursday
June 06, 2010 at 6:10pm
I see why this is exciting, as it would help raise the bar for "minimum system requirements", but lets be honest...this will not become the norm nor anything other than a niche product.
First off, it would have to cost significantly lower than a stand-alone board and a descrete GPU to really take off. I don't see that as being really all that feasible, comparing costs of laptop parts that use similar component setups (some boards have the "discreate" GPU and VRAM integrated to the board...these do not cost significantly less than the board and GPU seperately...usually only a 10%-15% savings). At the costs these boards would have to sell at, most people would probably either opt for craptacular integrated graphics for basic PC's or the flexibility of a seperate Board and GPU.
Secondly, two of the top 4 reasons PC's fail are RAM and GPU. Well, in my informal, medium sample size experience anyway (approximately 100 laptop and desktop PC's a week over a little more than 4 years). Considering motherboard failures are already fairly common, would you really want to add the possibility of a bad GPU or VRAM completly borking your (or your gaming Grandma's) system? When my last video card started to fail I just went out and got a new one. With this setup, if your GPU begins to fail you're screwed.
Where I would absolutely love to see this is in the MicroATX form factor. Being able to build a SFF or mini HTPC with this type of board would be awesome. I've always hated trying to find the proper GPU for a SFF build with a low profile bracket. And running all the extra cables in an already cramped case is usually a huge pain in the arse. If designed and marketed to this segment, I could see this board being a very good option.
Scootiep
June 06, 2010 at 7:16pm
Alright, with all the crap that the MaximumPC spam filter nixes in legitmate posts how the HELL does this crap make it through?
To start press any key...ohh, where's the "Any" key. - Homer Simpson
Talcum X
June 06, 2010 at 10:07am
Most IGC mobos would work better if they didn't rob from the system RAM and had their own dedicated bank of video RAM. I know, we have reached that point in PC evelution where we can sacrifice a 1/2 Gig or so, but seriously, video ram has always been rated faster and being isolated from the system RAM would be optimum.
***********
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CentiZen
June 06, 2010 at 4:10pm
Videocard ram is alot more expensive, which is why it is never put on integrated boards. But that might change now that they have put a gpu on board where you would actually notice the difference.
SHEILA: AMD X4 965 3.2GHZ ; 4 GB G.SKILL GAMING RAM ; RADEON HD 5770 1GB
Thursday
June 06, 2010 at 6:19pm
You are correct when talking about Desktop components, but VRAM is integrated into laptop motherboards all the time. You are also 100% correct in pointing out that this drives up prices though.
TechMan2525
June 06, 2010 at 11:59am
I agree that discrete video ram should be the norm, if i were creating graphics cards (discrete or integrated) i would want my cards to have their own memory not shared system memory. And being the first to do so, would be a good marketing move!
(I love Peter Jackson as a movie director. Go 1920x1080p)
PawBear
June 06, 2010 at 9:59am
I'll take anything they're willing to through at us if it'll drive increased options and performance.
*** "Either we conform the Truth to our desires or we conform our desires to the Truth." ***
Peanut Fox
June 05, 2010 at 10:03pm
This could be a good thing for PC gaming if they can get it into mainstream systems. Because it's on the x58 chipset it already has a knock against it in that department. Outside of that for the price, most any serious PC gamer or someone who is after 5770 performance is going to buy a cheaper motherboard and grab a separate discrete card anyway. So my question is who do they market this board to?
Paul_Lilly
June 06, 2010 at 7:50am
Whether Asus goes through with this or not, I think it's a great option for those looking to invest in a hexacore foundation without a hefty upfront investment. At some point, Intel will release more six-core parts, presumably at pedestrian price points, or otherwise concede this sector to AMD entirely, which isn't going to happen. In the meantime, a board like this provides a solid starting point, and at it's cheapest, a retail boxed Core i7 930 chip can be picked up for $199 (MicroCenter, in-store).
-Paul Lilly
Peanut Fox
June 06, 2010 at 1:47pm
I don't think you'll save any money by going with this motherboard in that situation. I can't see this motherboard being any less than $350 USD, and that's a low estimate. The x58 chipset isn't cheap, and if you're adding a 5770 chip, a Lucid hydra chip, cooling, licensing Lucid's technology, and all the extra traces to make this setup work, I can only see this as an expensive product. I'm willing to bet it'd be cheaper to buy a different motherboard at a lower price point and add in your own 5770 card.
gendoikari1
June 05, 2010 at 10:55pm
Core i7 980x owners. Buying that leaves them with a grand total of $0 for everything else, so integrated on the motherboard would be a good option.
Peanut Fox
June 05, 2010 at 11:03pm
Someone who is going to spend that much on a CPU would likely be willing to reach for a GTX480 or 3. The number of people that can afford to spend that much on a chip like that is so tiny in comparison, it becomes an awful market to target, especially with a product like this.
What type of build would you spend over a grand just on a processor and then reach for a middling graphics card like a 5770?
Caboose
June 07, 2010 at 8:29am
"Someone who is going to spend that much on a CPU would likely be willing
to reach for a GTX480 or 3."Maybe if they need a really expensive space heater or a 2nd smaller oven in their home...
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
TechMan2525
June 06, 2010 at 11:48am
The way prices for new technology works is, it starts out very expensive, so you get the financially loaded people first, then the price comes down to the financially okay, then it eventually comes down to those at or barely above the poverty level. This may take years but as it becomes more mainstream and competition kicks in, it usually becomes more affordable. So hopefully we have that to look forward to. :-)
(I love Peter Jackson as a movie director. Go 1920x1080p)
TechMan2525
June 05, 2010 at 8:22pm
Here's a quote from the page "It also comes equipped with a Lucid Hydra chip, which means that you can add two more PCI-E graphics card for three-way CrossFireX action, or mix and match both ATI and Nvidia graphics cards." So not only can you crossfire an extra 5770, you can also use one or two GTX 480s!
(I love Peter Jackson as a movie director. Go 1920x1080p)
TechMan2525
June 05, 2010 at 7:41pm
If you're a video editor, i can't see where you would go wrong with a gaming quality graphics card! So long as a capable cooling system is designed for it and comes with this design by default. That way you get the "non-system build enthusiast" market also.
(I love Peter Jackson as a movie director. Go 1920x1080p)
Nickompoop
June 05, 2010 at 7:27pm
Oh man, that's gonna be one expensive motherboard...
And I have doubts that it'll even perform well
What spam filter?
Caboose
June 07, 2010 at 8:26am
I don't think Asus would be stupid enough to even run the mobile version! The PCB's already been cooked once during manufacturing, doesn't need to get cooked again!
-= I don't want to be dead, I want to be alive! Or... a cowboy! =-
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