AMD 690 Chipset Series

The AMD 690 chipset series is an integrated graphics chipset family which was developed and manufactured by AMD subsidiary ATI for both AMD and Intel platforms focusing on both desktop and mobile computing markets. The corresponding chipset for the Intel platform has a marketing name of Radeon Xpress 1200 series.

The chipsets production began in late 2006 with codenames RS690 and RS600, where both of them share similar internal chip design, targeting at the desktop market. Mobile versions of both chipsets have codenames RS690M and RS600M. The marketing name for this chipset on the Intel platform is the Radeon Xpress 1200 series (Radeon Xpress 1200 to Radeon Xpress 1270) while the name for the chipset on the AMD platform is 690G.

Both the 690G and Radeon Xpress 1200 chipsets include an integrated graphics processing unit (IGP) based on the ATI Radeon X700 series GPUs with ATI Avivo technology included for hardware video acceleration. Mobile versions have reduced power consumption with adaptive power management features (PowerPlay). The 690G and Radeon Xpress 1250 chipsets are direct successors to Xpress 1600 integrated graphics chipsets (codenamed RS480 and RS400).

Starting in late 2006, mobile versions of the 690 chipset (RS690M) were being rolled out in mass by major notebook computer manufacturers, including HP, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, and others. For some OEMs (including Dell and Acer), the M690 series chipset was going to replace the Radeon Xpress 1150 (codenamed RS485M) on the mobile platform, and desktop variants of the 690 chipset were announced in February 2007.

The 690 chipset series consists of three members: 690G, 690V and M690T. The planned "RD690" enthusiast chipset was canceled in the official roadmap without explanation and no release date was given for the "RX690" chipset which has no IGP and only one PCI-E x16 slot.

After ATI was acquired by AMD in July 2006, plans for the Radeon Xpress 1250 chipset for the Intel platform were canceled while the 690G/M690 chipsets for the AMD platform became the main production target. AMD released the chipsets to only two vendors, Abit and AsRock. Abit signed on prior to the AMD acquisition and AsRock was given the remaining inventory of RS600 chips for the Chinese market.

On AMD Technology Analyst Day 2007, AMD announced that 4 million units of 690 chipsets had been shipped to customers, calling it a commercial success. With that in mind, AMD announced on January 21, 2008 that the series will be further extended to embedded systems with the last member, the AMD M690E chipset.

Read more about AMD 690 Chipset Series:  Lineup, Northbridge Issues(690G, M690, 690V, M690V, M690T, M690E), Southbridge Issues(SB600), List of Mainboards Using 690 Chipset

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