ULi M1575 for ATI Crossfire – SATA2 and Fast USB for the ATI Chipset
by Wesley Fink on October 13, 2005 4:21 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
Final Words
With the introduction of the ULi M1575 South Bridge, the last issues with the ATI chipset are finally cleared up. The M1575 fixes the sub-par USB 2.0 performance of the ATI SB450 and it brings the missing SATA2 and NCQ performance to the ATI Crossfire and Xpress 200. When combined with the ATI Rx480/482 North Bridge, the ULi M1575 delivers a competitive set of features that will not be available with an ATI South Bridge until the SB600 in early 2006.
The only missing ingredient for the ULi M1575 is built-in support for Gigabit LAN, as the chipset only directly supports 10/100 Ethernet. Of course this compares to the ATI SB450, which offers no on-chipset LAN at all. Our advice for both South Bridges is to make sure you are getting a board with a PCIe implementation of Gigabit LAN, as the PCI version will limit bandwidth of Gigabit Ethernet.
We have learned that many of the delays that we are experiencing in retail delivery of the ATI chipset motherboards - both Crossfire and single-video - are because many manufacturers made the last-minute decision to use the ULi M1575 South Bridge. Development and delivery of the M1575 has taken longer than ULi originally expected, but M1575 chips are finally on their way to manufacturers.
The reality of the M1575 only makes the wait for retail AMD Crossfire motherboards even more frustrating, but it finally appears that the wait is only a few more days. DFI tells us that their first retail ATI Enthusiast Crossfire boards will appear at E-tailers, like New Egg, sometime next week. DFI also plans a second version of an enthusiast ATI board that will appear 2 to 3 weeks after the first Crossfire AMD version. MSI, Gigabyte and ECS will have boards available by the end of October. MSI will use both ULi M1575 and ATI SB450 on their ATI chipset boards, depending on the target audience.
Asus now confirms that they are committed to a Crossfire AMD, in addition to the announced Crossfire Intel, that will appear by the end of October. Asus made the decision to use the ULi M1575 chipset tested here, and delays have been caused by the qualification and delayed shipments of the M1575 South Bridge. We also learned that Abit will begin selling an enthusiast-geared Crossfire AMD that is scheduled to appear sometime in early November.
The ULi M1575, when combined with the ATI Rx480/482 Northbridge, makes the chipset a much more attractive offering in the current market. Those who are concerned about USB performance or SATA2 and NCQ will now be able to choose ATI chipset boards that use the ULi M1575 South Bridge. If these are not critical features in your choice, you can still choose a board with the SB450 South Bridge. Both feature excellent Azalia HD audio - the first chipsets to feature HD audio for the AMD processor. Both also feature excellent IDE and SATA performance.
Choice is good - in South Bridges, chipsets, and boards. Choice means competition and competition means better value. The AMD and Intel motherboard markets are about to get a lot more interesting.
With the introduction of the ULi M1575 South Bridge, the last issues with the ATI chipset are finally cleared up. The M1575 fixes the sub-par USB 2.0 performance of the ATI SB450 and it brings the missing SATA2 and NCQ performance to the ATI Crossfire and Xpress 200. When combined with the ATI Rx480/482 North Bridge, the ULi M1575 delivers a competitive set of features that will not be available with an ATI South Bridge until the SB600 in early 2006.
The only missing ingredient for the ULi M1575 is built-in support for Gigabit LAN, as the chipset only directly supports 10/100 Ethernet. Of course this compares to the ATI SB450, which offers no on-chipset LAN at all. Our advice for both South Bridges is to make sure you are getting a board with a PCIe implementation of Gigabit LAN, as the PCI version will limit bandwidth of Gigabit Ethernet.
We have learned that many of the delays that we are experiencing in retail delivery of the ATI chipset motherboards - both Crossfire and single-video - are because many manufacturers made the last-minute decision to use the ULi M1575 South Bridge. Development and delivery of the M1575 has taken longer than ULi originally expected, but M1575 chips are finally on their way to manufacturers.
The reality of the M1575 only makes the wait for retail AMD Crossfire motherboards even more frustrating, but it finally appears that the wait is only a few more days. DFI tells us that their first retail ATI Enthusiast Crossfire boards will appear at E-tailers, like New Egg, sometime next week. DFI also plans a second version of an enthusiast ATI board that will appear 2 to 3 weeks after the first Crossfire AMD version. MSI, Gigabyte and ECS will have boards available by the end of October. MSI will use both ULi M1575 and ATI SB450 on their ATI chipset boards, depending on the target audience.
Asus now confirms that they are committed to a Crossfire AMD, in addition to the announced Crossfire Intel, that will appear by the end of October. Asus made the decision to use the ULi M1575 chipset tested here, and delays have been caused by the qualification and delayed shipments of the M1575 South Bridge. We also learned that Abit will begin selling an enthusiast-geared Crossfire AMD that is scheduled to appear sometime in early November.
The ULi M1575, when combined with the ATI Rx480/482 Northbridge, makes the chipset a much more attractive offering in the current market. Those who are concerned about USB performance or SATA2 and NCQ will now be able to choose ATI chipset boards that use the ULi M1575 South Bridge. If these are not critical features in your choice, you can still choose a board with the SB450 South Bridge. Both feature excellent Azalia HD audio - the first chipsets to feature HD audio for the AMD processor. Both also feature excellent IDE and SATA performance.
Choice is good - in South Bridges, chipsets, and boards. Choice means competition and competition means better value. The AMD and Intel motherboard markets are about to get a lot more interesting.
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nlr_2000 - Saturday, October 15, 2005 - link
nlr_2000 - Saturday, October 15, 2005 - link
It's on page 5.DRavisher - Friday, October 14, 2005 - link
Just you wait. In a couple of years ATi will finaly figure out how USB works and release a self made southbridge under the slogan "USB done right!", where they will tout their superiority in USB over nvidia, and how important good USB performance from the same company that designed the northbridge is for a company.sprockkets - Friday, October 14, 2005 - link
why bother with another southbridge? Keep it simple for linux driver support.But since video with nvidia is better supported anyhow, might as well just use the 6100 vs the exp 200
LoneWolf15 - Friday, October 14, 2005 - link
Good review. I guess for me it all comes down to the same thing though, economics.SLI and Crossfire have a high cost. Two video cards, a motherboard that supports them, a power supply that supports them, plus additional cooling. And then within 6-10 months, a new high-end card comes out that's a single-slot solution that can beat previous SLI/Crossfire solutions before it, and since it's single slot, doesn't need the special mainboard.
I think we'll see in a year, maybe two tops, that vendors will begin implementing either dual-core GPU chips, or two GPU chips on a single PCIe card much more often, making SLI and Crossfire a moot point for all but people who need a high-performance multi-monitor setup. I think SLI and Crossfire are just stopgap solutions until this arrives, and a lot of money to spend when a mid-to-high-end single card will give you what you need for less.
notposting - Thursday, October 13, 2005 - link
Don't suppose there's been any word on more motherboard's based on ULi's 1695 North bridge?The Asrock looks like a pretty good board, but I when I toss my chips into the 64bit pile I'll be trying to get a top line mobo featurewise, Firewire, SATA2, gigabit Lan, great sound.
Good to see some competition for Nvidia (and Intel ironically by Nvidia) in the chipset department. Better for us and pushes them (all the manufacturers) harder.
tuteja1986 - Thursday, October 13, 2005 - link
My main reason for wanting to buy a ATI chipset at the moment is because of Sata 2 performance and overclocking abilities. I couldn’t care less for USB since I only use a USB mouse, and Joystick that computer. If i really need a fast USB port than i would just buy a cheap $10 PCI USB/Firewire card from my local computer store.Madellga - Thursday, October 13, 2005 - link
We got an important piece of information provided by Wesley: The Crossfire motherboards are not a paperlaunch due to ATI delays, they were delayed by the OEMs due a last minute change to the ULI1575 chipset.It is worth in my opinion the delay, as we can get a truly competitive solution, even if one doesn't need the Crossfire feature.
I still have a question for Wesley: some say that the ATI/ULI combo chipsets run cooler than Nvidia's. Is that true?
Wesley Fink - Thursday, October 13, 2005 - link
I've had the bare ULi SB running for hours. It's very warm to the touch but not hot - without any heatsink at all. A passive heatsink should be plenty. The ATI RS480 north bridge has a passive heatsink which is completely cool to the touch. The final Crossfir RD482 uses the .11 process compared to the .13 on theis RS480.The ATI solution is 2 chips compared to the single-chip nVidia, which may partially account for the extra heat many complain about on the nVidia nF4.
The ATI chipset delays are a result of several factors - the ULI M1575 being just one. I have been told the chipset has been ready for months, but the video component was a moving target. Final release needed a coordinated Crossfire video and chipset solution, and Crossfire has only recently been solidified to the point of production. The video delays made the chipset late since no manufacturer wanted to launch a new chipset only to face potentail board revisions in a month or two.
Cygni - Thursday, October 13, 2005 - link
Not entirly true... the boards NOT using ULi southbridges (using the ATI SB540) arent exactly flooding the market, ya know.No, the last minute change simply kept a few major players like ASUS from (not really) launching with the rest of the boards that are using the ATI southbridge.