Bearlake Launch & Gigabyte P35-DS3R Review - PAGE 2

Before we look at the P35, we should take a quick look at his lower end sibling, the G33.

Intel G33 Chipset

Value PC's and Business PC's often don't need a lot of graphics horsepower - after all, these days even integrated graphics processors have plenty of "oomph" for Windows desktop 2D graphics. However, Microsoft has raised the bar by promoting the new Aero interface in its new Windows Vista operating system - and Aero can place more demands on 3D graphics processors than some previous generation integrated graphics chipsets can comfortably handle.

The new G33 integrated graphics chipset from Intel is designed to ensure that even Value and Business customers using lower end computers with integrated graphics will have a satisfactory 3D desktop experience.

As you can see in the diagram above, the G33 has plenty of features:

• Supports HDMI, DVI, HDCP, MEC, ADD2 standards
• Intel 3100 Graphics Media Accelerator, with Clear Video
• 10.6GB/sec 1333MHz FSB
• dual memory channels, supporting DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) and DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500)
• PCIe 16x slot with up to 8GB/sec bandwidth
• 2GB/sec "DMI" port for the South bridge

The G33 can be mated with one of the ICH9 / ICH9DH / ICH9R South bridges, depending on the market segment being targeted by a board manufacturer; the ICH9 family is quite feature rich:

• 12 USB2.0 ports
• six PCIe 1x lanes
• integrated Gigabit Ethernet
• BIOS support
• 6 SATA/eSATA ports
• Intel HD Audio

Not bad for a "low end" chipset, is it?