NVIDIA Ion 2 platform built on GeForce G310

[zalbard]

Source: http://www.nordichardware.com/

NVIDIA is about to launch the second generation Ion platform. From being a chipset with an integrated GPU it had to rethink when developing Ion 2. Intel has moved the northbridge and a GPU inside the new mobile processors. Since most of the chipset features are now already available inside the new Pineview Atom and Arrandale processors, the Ion 2 platform doesn't need to be a chipset but more or less just a graphics circuit.

The specifications from a new all-in-one PC from ASUS has listed NVIDIA's GeForce G310 GPU as "ION2 Graphics".

ASUS Eee PC ET2010PNT is a 20" all-in-one PC based on the Intel's Atom D510 CPU with dual cores and integrated graphics circuit for a really energy efficient system. Connected to a GeForce G310 GPU there is additional power to fetch when needed. This looks to become NVIDIA's banner for the Ion 2 platform.



As suspected NVIDIA's Ion 2 platform will be more like an discrete GPU than anything else now that Intel has revised its mobile processor design. GeForce G310 is more or less a renamed GeForce G210 GPU, but that will still be enough to trump the performance of the first generation Ion (GeForce 9400M).

Wow, haha, looks like I was a bit overly optimistic about Ion 2 specs!

[NickF]

The GeForce G210 has 16 processor cores and a 589MHz CPU clock speed; that’s paired with 512MB of DDR2 memory with a 64-bit interface and 500MHz clock speed. Its shader runs at 1,402MHz.

The GeForce 9400 GT has 16 Stream Processors. 550 MHz core, with a 1350 MHz unified shader clock.

Desktop variants don't sound too different on paper. Would have been nice to pull a 32-stream processor variant to replace the ION, but it looks like they focused entirely on cutting back die area and power consumption.

[Spectrobozo]

I think the desktop version of the 9400m GT (with dual channel memory) is faster than the g210!?

[Monkeywoman]

i had hopes for Ion 2 when i heard it was getting 32 cores (http://www.slashgear.com/nvidia-ion-...9400m-0148419/ ) but now seeing big green wants to milk the market by over clocking the chip and throwing "2" on it....not impressed

Id like to see some competition other then that broadcom hd chip.


i think having intel say, "ion is overkill" for netbooks has something to do with it.

[RejZoR]

How can it be an overkill if it still struggles with certain stuff. Lots of games can be played on netbook but some still run like crap.
So 32 vs 16 cores might not be much but it might reflect in games. I'd love to have ION based netbook but they were not aavailable when i was buying netbook and when they arrived, they were a bit too expensive.

[NickF]

Hmmm Seems like it won't be such fail afterall:
http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/17349/1/

In addition to the announced Pinetrail/Geforce 210 motherboard, Point of View is working on other motherboards that will pack some serious graphics power. The new ones should be similar to the previously announced Pinetrail/G210 based motherboard but will feature GT 220 and GT 240 graphics cards hooked up to the PCI-Express x1 slot.

[tdream]

According to 3dmark from the 210m it will be twice as powerful as the 9400m/ION 1st gen. Which is a good improvement.

[saaya]

According to 3dmark from the 210m it will be twice as powerful as the 9400m/ION 1st gen. Which is a good improvement.

who benched it?
the only score i saw was from nvidia... so... forget about that! :P

[tdream]

who benched it?
the only score i saw was from nvidia... so... forget about that! :P

Nobody yet.

I'm estimating from these charts

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.17638.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...G.11949.0.html

[zalbard]

According to 3dmark from the 210m it will be twice as powerful as the 9400m/ION 1st gen. Which is a good improvement.

Source: http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/17790/1/

15 percent slower than the original ION

As if Nvidia was not in enough trouble as it is, it turns out that the new ION 2 might not be brightest GPU in the bunch.

According to a review on netbooknews.de, ION 2 fails to outperform the original ION. The reviewers pitted the Samsung N510 with ION graphics against the ION2 packing Acer Aspire one 532G. The ION-based Samsung scored 3513 in 3D Mark003, while the Acer managed just 3049.

This is a 15 percent difference, only in the wrong direction. However, it's worth noting Nvidia will probably launch new drivers to improve performance, as the results simply seem illogical. Whether or not the ION 2 will indeed end up faster than its predecessor remains to be seen.

More here.

Good improvement, innit?!