AMD 690 chipset series

Chipset models in the series (excluding RD690 and RX690) feature an Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP) which is incorporated into the northbridge and manufactured on an 80 nm fabrication process. The IGP's 3D architecture is based on Radeon R420 and contains 4 pixel pipelines capable of Shader Model version 2.0b with DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0 compatibility but lacks hardware vertex processing. It uses a shared memory architecture, meaning system RAM is shared with the IGP. The IGP was the first chip in ATI's integrated lineup that included ATI Avivo capabilities (also seen in the Radeon X1000 series), and is therefore capable of decoding videos of resolution up to 720p/1080i in hardware.[4]

Both chipsets in this family are fully compatible with the Windows Aero interface and are Windows Vista Premium certified. Also supported by the chipset are PCI slots, high definition 7.1 channel audio and Gigabit Ethernet.

The northbridge has a TDP of 13.8 Watts[5] or an average of 8 Watts,[6][7] and is pin compatible with RS485 northbridge. The northbridge supports HyperTransport 2.0 at 1 GHz, and an additional 3 PCI Express x1 slots. The northbridge and southbridge (SB600) are connected via "ALink II". This is in reality 4 PCIe lanes, providing 2 GB/s bandwidth.

For 690G, the IGP was named "Radeon X1250", operating at 400 MHz clock frequency, with VGA, HDMI and dual link DVI-D output with HDCP support for single link transmission and TMDS support for HDMI output. (however a DVI to D-sub adapter will not work and is not compatible with DVI-D interface due to the lack of the four analog pins of DVI-A and DVI-I) One HDMI output can be active at the DVI/HDMI interface or at the TMDS interface. HDCP support is limited to only one of those interfaces at any time. The chipset also supports VGA and DVI -or- DVI and HDMI dual output simultaneously, to achieve a maximum of two active out of three attached monitor outputs, called "SurroundView", and up to four independent, active displays with an additional video card.

The 690G chipset also supports a maximum of 24 additional PCI Express lanes and a PCI Express x16 expansion slot, and the chipset mixes audio and video signals and output through the HDMI interface. The mobile version of the chipset is the M690 chipset (codenamed RS690M).[8]

AMD dropped support for Windows (starting from Windows 7) and Linux drivers made for Radeon X1250 graphics integrated in the 690G chipset, stating that users should use the open-source graphics drivers instead. The latest available proprietary AMD Linux driver for the 690G chipset is fglrx version 9.3, which is outdated and no more compatible with current Linux distributions.

The free and opensource driver for AMD graphics in the linux kernel supports both 3D acceleration and hardware decoders as of kernel 3.12,[9] and is unlikely to drop support of this (or any AMD graphics it already supports) in the foreseeable future. Being part of the kernel, no installation/configuration is needed.

For 690V, "Radeon X1200" was the name of the IGP, with clock frequency of 350 MHz. The major differences between the 690G and 690V chipsets is that the 690V chipset lacks support for TMDS and HDMI output, and is therefore limited to VGA or LVDS output only. The mobile version of the chipset is the M690V chipset (codenamed RS690MC).[8]

Originally codenamed "RS690T", the chipset is for mobile platforms only. Featuring an optional 16-bit DDR2 side-port memory with maximum 128 MiB [8] capacity as local frame buffer. Sources revealed that the RS690T chipset may pair with SB700 southbridge and named as the "trevally" platform focusing the mobile market.[10] It is worth to note that the RS690T chipset has been added to AMD "longevity programme", that is AMD committed to supply the chipset for at least five years after general availability.[11] However, currently, M690T chipset was coupled with SB600 southbridge.[8] The chipset was officially referred as "M690T chipset with Radeon X1270 graphics".[12]

Announced on January 21, 2008, the M690E chipset as the suffix "E" suggests, is solely for embedded systems, providing the same feature sets as the M690T chipset, but with the analog TV output interface replaced with a secondary TMDS output interface, providing a total of two DVI/HDMI outputs with HDCP support limited to one of those interfaces at any time.[13]

A version of the 690G chipset for Intel processors[14] codenamed RS600;[15] supports all of 690G features, but the HyperTransport controller is replaced with a QDR FSB controller and it also contains a dual-channel DDR2 memory controller. IGP clocked with 500 MHz instead of 400 MHz of the 690G.

Since Intel has not given the 1333 MHz FSB license to ATI Technologies after the company was purchased by AMD, the Radeon Xpress 1250 only comes with official support of 1066 MHz Front Side Bus (FSB). However, supporting 1333 MHz FSB was obviously given higher priorities when RS600 was being developed, resulting Xpress 1250 motherboards actually have the support for 1333 MHz FSB via overclocking, and support all 1333 MHz FSB Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad microprocessors.

Only Abit has released a motherboard with this chipset as a result of signed agreement before the AMD-ATI merger, while ASRock was reported to have purchased all of the remaining inventory of RS600 resulting from a strategic move of AMD to clear all RS600 inventories,[16] thus making Abit and AsRock the only RS600 motherboard manufacturers.