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NVIDIA Ion for Intel Atom to Produce Faster PCs

The visual computing technology company NVIDIA claims that its new Ion platform can transform Atom PCs to deliver experience available in higher-priced laptops and desktops. It’ll enable netbooks, small form factor and all-in-one PCs to play rich media and popular games in high definition. Plus, Ion will create new PCs that can fit in the palm of your hand. 

How will it achieve this? The company says by combining the GeForce 9400 GPU found in new desktop and notebook PCs with the Intel Atom CPU.  

This combination (code-named Ion Platform) can deliver better performance and can be useful for mini-notebooks and compact PCs. 

Unlike existing chipsets paired with the Atom CPU, the GeForce 9400 GPU delivers up to ten times the graphics performance, plays full-spec 1080p high definition video, supports the full Windows Vista user interface and the upcoming Windows 7, and runs popular PC games such as Call of Duty 4, says NVIDIA. 

The GeForce 9400 GPU, says the company, does all of this in about one-half of the space of today's Atom CPU-based solutions with minimal effect on battery life. 

"Until now, a high definition affordable PC was an oxymoron," said Drew Henry, general manager of the MCP business unit at NVIDIA. "The Ion Platform pairs the GeForce 9400 with a truly great Intel Atom CPU and lets consumers surf the Internet, play top games, edit photos, and watch videos all in high definition. This will really energize the PC market in 2009." 

The company informs that NVIDIA GeForce 9400, recently introduced with the Apple MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air, is a single chip, high performance, integrated design that is ideal for notebooks and smaller computing devices. 

It features 16 processing cores that deliver 52 GFLOPs of processing power, making it a powerful integrated GPU. GeForce 9400 adds GeForce application compatibility, and boosts photo and video editing productivity for applications like Adobe Photoshop CS4, Adobe Premier CS4, Cyberlink PowerDirector 8, Badaboom, and more. 

It also includes NVIDIA PureVideo HD technology, which enables Atom-based PCs to play full-spec 1080p movies, says the company.

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