Gigabyte M528

[_VWV_]

How do you like that? I know, that the price will get lower with time but... it's 999$ now (is it the AU $, or the US $?)!! That is.. breathtaking! Is this supposed to be the one to compete with the andora1: ?
A 999$ Gigabyte M528= andora1: + andora1: + a ton of SD's. I think the andora1: should allow a SLI/Crossfire configuration. Just a hint for devs
To be serious.. Asus has announced, that their R50 will cost something like 550 US $. Why is this thing THAT pricey?

 

[chad78]

Is this supposed to be the one to compete with the andora1: ?

There are no gaming controls. This is just another MID. It's a very nice one - don't get me wrong - but it's not a Pandora killer. I'd much rather have the Pandora than that. If for no other reason - I could do a lot with the $650 + I'm saving.

 

[Exophase]

These things are a dime a dozen. Except the price analogy doesn't hold at all.

 

[Chip]

These things are a dime a dozen. Except the price analogy doesn't hold at all.

No, the M528 is a bit different. While I agree that a grand is a lot to pay, you have to remember that the M528's actual competition starts at $1500 - The oQo. The reason anybody cares about this particular device is that it is the first commercial device to use the new Intel Atom processor. As it is both smaller and cheaper than the oQo, the M528 is likely to turn some heads. Sure, it only ships with (a supposedly horrible) custom Linux build, but it'll be less than a week before somebody figures out how to load Windows XP on this N810-sized MID.

There are a few more details and a nice pic on Engadget.

 

[icurafu]

Did anyone mention that the 800MHz Atom performs rather badly?

It would be out performed by a P4 at 800MHz. It's basically a x86 CPU cut down to the basics, so you wont get much more perfomance than the Pandora, or even any.

I'd steer clear of Atom unless you want windows in your pocket.

 

[avik]

How compatible are they with Linux? I wouldn't want Windows on my computer, which is another bonus point for the Pandora.

Besides, for the same price, I got a tx1320us. However, that's a general-purpose laptop, while the Pandora is specially designed for gaming. The two devices have different uses and audiences in mind, so I'd get both.

 

[Svartalf]

How compatible are they with Linux? I wouldn't want Windows on my computer, which is another bonus point for the Pandora.

They're going to be decently compatible. x86 Linux, even. However, on a comparison, for the price and the power available at it, the N800 or the Pandora will be a better deal. If you want to step up in size a bit, the eeePC 7xx series will be a better bet.

They're nice, but they're seriously overpriced for what they can/can't do. I'd wait for the Pandora, if you want my take on it all.

Did anyone mention that the 800MHz Atom performs rather badly?

It would be out performed by a P4 at 800MHz. It's basically a x86 CPU cut down to the basics, so you wont get much more perfomance than the Pandora, or even any.

I'm not sure what the performance level will be. It'll certainly eat battery faster than the Pandora will.
Of course, it's not all about performance. In this case, these units are about x86 with extreme low power.

The Atom accomplishes it well.

Will it outperform the Pandora? Perhaps on some tasks. I'm pretty sure if you're trying to do DOSBox,
it'll paste it out of the gate right at the moment... Overall, though, I'd say we're going to end up with something a bit better than these Atom based devices.

 

[Exophase]

These things are a dime a dozen. Except the price analogy doesn't hold at all.

No, the M528 is a bit different. While I agree that a grand is a lot to pay, you have to remember that the M528's actual competition starts at $1500 - The oQo. The reason anybody cares about this particular device is that it is the first commercial device to use the new Intel Atom processor. As it is both smaller and cheaper than the oQo, the M528 is likely to turn some heads. Sure, it only ships with (a supposedly horrible) custom Linux build, but it'll be less than a week before somebody figures out how to load Windows XP on this N810-sized MID.

There are a few more details and a nice pic on Engadget.


Not impressed by it using an Atom, I think that's just a ton of hype. Yeah, it probably has better battery life, but it also probably doesn't perform wonderfully compared to the best UMPCs of the last few years. And costs a lot more too. All that for battery life, right? I think that sucks.

 

[Zarneth]

I think the andora1: should allow a SLI/Crossfire configuration. Just a hint for devs
SLI/Crossfire is pure marketing. I work at a computer store and upgrade my video cards as often as every 6 months. SLI just isn't worth it. You're better getting a higher end card. And if you can afford the best card possible you're better just upgrading every 3 months than getting 2 in SLI. Because SLI'ing the best card on the market results in only minimal performance gain. Too many other bottlenecks. SLI's only good if you're running a 3 year old video card and can only afford $50 on an upgrade... assuming you can find a matching card to SLI after that time. There's that many video card models and they change frequently. :blink:

 

[Chip]

No, the M528 is a bit different. While I agree that a grand is a lot to pay, you have to remember that the M528's actual competition starts at $1500 - The oQo. The reason anybody cares about this particular device is that it is the first commercial device to use the new Intel Atom processor. As it is both smaller and cheaper than the oQo, the M528 is likely to turn some heads. Sure, it only ships with (a supposedly horrible) custom Linux build, but it'll be less than a week before somebody figures out how to load Windows XP on this N810-sized MID.

There are a few more details and a nice pic on Engadget.



Not impressed by it using an Atom, I think that's just a ton of hype. Yeah, it probably has better battery life, but it also probably doesn't perform wonderfully compared to the best UMPCs of the last few years. And costs a lot more too. All that for battery life, right? I think that sucks.


Did you even read what I wrote? There are no stats on battery life, but I expect the M528 won't get 1/4 of the 10 hours the Pandora has. Atom still has more than 2x the power draw of comparable ARM parts, and the supporting chipset is probably equally inefficient. Add to that the fact that the M528 doesn't have room for a Pandora sized battery, and you'll probably be lucky to get 2 hours out of it.

The point I'm trying to make is that for an x86 computer, the M528 is tiny. It only has a 4.8" screen, which makes it smaller than an oQo, which was by far the smallest x86 UMPC up to now. Yes, larger devices will beat it in specs, but just the fact that the M528 is only slightly larger than an N810 and can run Windows is pretty impressive. It may not be impressive to diehard Linux adherents, but to the general public that is a big selling point.

With no gaming controls, poor battery life and (most likely) anemic integrated graphics, the M528 is no match for the Pandora at being a "One gadget to rule them all" solution, but that doesn't mean it's not an exciting device. It does probably mean that this topic should get moved to the Other Devices forum though.

 

[icurafu]

I'm not sure if this particular device can run windows. I'm not sure if ATOM with powerVR has xp drivers ready, and with 768MB RAM, I'm unsure how well you will do with Vista.

I know you can run winxp on diamondville, which is the nano with two cores and 945GU chipset.

 

[Chip]

I'm not sure if this particular device can run windows. I'm not sure if ATOM with powerVR has xp drivers ready, and with 768MB RAM, I'm unsure how well you will do with Vista.

I haven't seen mention of the graphics chipset anywhere. It may have the PowerVR, or it may have something else. The M528 is only shipping with Linux (and 512MB RAM), but as I said, it is only a matter of time before somebody gets XP tablet edition running on it.

This is only the first of the new, smaller UMPCs. As Atom improves and Nano gets released in the next few years, we're going to see a lot more (and better (and (hopefully) cheaper)) devices in similar form factors. Nokia was ahead of the curve with their internet tablets, but the curve is quickly catching up.

 

[chad78]

I cannot speak for this particular device - but there will be N810 sized devices running Windows XP by this time next year - if not much sooner. And, probably Vista before too long.

As a Mac user, I, of course, don't care about that. But! The potential for one of those devices (like the OQO already has) being turned into a Hackintosh... That's awesome stuff! And, of course, what Apple can - and will - do with the Atom is an exciting thought, as well. Well, it would have been if the MacBook Air didn't suck so many donkey nuts. Thin full-sized laptop ≠! a UMPC!!!!

If only there was a way to get OS X to run on Atom... The iDora has a nice ring to it. Like I adore my iDora!

 

[icurafu]

I'm not sure if this particular device can run windows. I'm not sure if ATOM with powerVR has xp drivers ready, and with 768MB RAM, I'm unsure how well you will do with Vista.

I haven't seen mention of the graphics chipset anywhere. It may have the PowerVR, or it may have something else. The M528 is only shipping with Linux (and 512MB RAM), but as I said, it is only a matter of time before somebody gets XP tablet edition running on it.

This is only the first of the new, smaller UMPCs. As Atom improves and Nano gets released in the next few years, we're going to see a lot more (and better (and (hopefully) cheaper)) devices in similar form factors. Nokia was ahead of the curve with their internet tablets, but the curve is quickly catching up.


It's the SGX535. The same as what is in the Pandora, excpet with dx9 instead of mobile DX3D and full OpenGL with a slightly higher clock.

 

[Exophase]

Did you even read what I wrote? There are no stats on battery life, but I expect the M528 won't get 1/4 of the 10 hours the Pandora has. Atom still has more than 2x the power draw of comparable ARM parts, and the supporting chipset is probably equally inefficient. Add to that the fact that the M528 doesn't have room for a Pandora sized battery, and you'll probably be lucky to get 2 hours out of it.

The point I'm trying to make is that for an x86 computer, the M528 is tiny. It only has a 4.8" screen, which makes it smaller than an oQo, which was by far the smallest x86 UMPC up to now. Yes, larger devices will beat it in specs, but just the fact that the M528 is only slightly larger than an N810 and can run Windows is pretty impressive. It may not be impressive to diehard Linux adherents, but to the general public that is a big selling point.

With no gaming controls, poor battery life and (most likely) anemic integrated graphics, the M528 is no match for the Pandora at being a "One gadget to rule them all" solution, but that doesn't mean it's not an exciting device. It does probably mean that this topic should get moved to the Other Devices forum though.



Sorry, I did read what you wrote but I didn't realize that the major accomplishment for this device was size. Most of the hype around Atom has been about power consumption so I figured that was the big deal. I guess I figured there were other UMPCs around this size already, or that the difference in size was at least not really that big.

I'm not nor have never been exciting about handheld x86, and in terms of software I seriously don't see what the big deal is. Especially when this wasn't really supposed to run Windows anyway.

I'd love to see benchmarks against the Pandora though (especially at highest clocks). Both battery life and performance, and something optimized in both SSE and NEON respectively would be interesting. Although the DSP on Pandora kinda tips things in its favor, even if they have similar graphics chipsets. This is assuming that 800MHz isn't a difficult feat for Pandora, although 800MHz is quite likely an artificially low clock speed for Atom and I'm sure it can go much higher. Although I don't know if the other hardware could take it.

 

[icurafu]

Nano goes up to 1.86GHz and has a dualcore varient not using PowerVR and missing the speedstepping.

the 800MHz and the 1.1GHz Nanos have the same power consumption, but it goes up quickly from there.

 

[Squidge]

I'd love to see benchmarks against the Pandora though (especially at highest clocks). Both battery life and performance, and something optimized in both SSE and NEON respectively would be interesting. Although the DSP on Pandora kinda tips things in its favor, even if they have similar graphics chipsets. This is assuming that 800MHz isn't a difficult feat for Pandora, although 800MHz is quite likely an artificially low clock speed for Atom and I'm sure it can go much higher. Although I don't know if the other hardware could take it.

I've run a Pandora dev board @ 900Mhz, and it certainly makes a big difference from the default clock.

 

[ldesnogu]

It's the SGX535. The same as what is in the Pandora, excpet with dx9 instead of mobile DX3D and full OpenGL with a slightly higher clock.

OMAP3530 uses SGX 530.

I've run a Pandora dev board @ 900Mhz, and it certainly makes a big difference from the default clock.

50%?

If the memory bandwidth is as bad as the one on Beagle, then I think that we could indeed see overall performance increase at the same rate as the clock. But that's due to poor bandwidth which seems to be not due to the memory chip itself

 

[Knux]

With no gaming controls, poor battery life and (most likely) anemic integrated graphics, the M528 is no match for the Pandora at being a "One gadget to rule them all" solution, but that doesn't mean it's not an exciting device. It does probably mean that this topic should get moved to the Other Devices forum though.



FYI, the atom processors have a PowerVR SGX 535 (comparable with the SGX 530 in the Pandora) inside them. The fact that they are compatible with DirectX 9L should be enough to prove their graphical capability incomparison to the Pandora. Not to mention they have a PowerVR VXD HD decoder, that is ultra low power.

 

[Chip]

FYI, the atom processors have a PowerVR SGX 535 (comparable with the SGX 530 in the Pandora) inside them. The fact that they are compatible with DirectX 9L should be enough to prove their graphical capability incomparison to the Pandora. Not to mention they have a PowerVR VXD HD decoder, that is ultra low power.

What you're thinking of is the upcoming Moorestown platform. Moorestown is going to be a proper SoC with a next-gen Atom CPU, PowerVR graphics, and a <1W TDP. Unfortunately, it's at least a year or two away from production.

The Atom processors as they are available now do not include any GPU - they are just processors. I have no idea which GPU the M528 is using, though MS does insist on the US15W SCH (which includes GMA500 graphics) if you want to use its "Centrino Atom" branding. It may be that the M528 is using a PowerVR chip, but there is no mention one way or the other in the half dozen articles I've found. The fact that Gigabyte is not even trying to sell the M528 with Windows installed leads me to suspect that it is using an ultra-cheap part without directX support. If I'm wrong, well, that just makes getting XP running on the device that much easier