NVIDIA nForce3 Go120 and Transmeta Efficeon Preview

NVIDIA is back at it, but not where you might think. In the desktop market, NVIDIA does have some work to do, but there are still other markets, which we shouldn’t forget (they still make money). On the mobile graphics side, we have been disappointed with GeForce FX Go56X0 (NV31M), as the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 shows a clear lead over its competitor (our coverage). Because mobile graphics is always slower, it often is reminiscent of mainstream desktop graphics, which is why we have ended up recommending the Radeon 9600 XT and Pro for desktop and their mobile brother. But enough of that, as we will dive into mobile graphics again soon...

The mobile market has developed into submarkets: high-end, thin and light, and ultraportable. With desktop replacement notebooks and Small Form Factor PCs becoming more popular, they are often resorting to a combination of mobile parts, which is why they can be considered a mix between the desktop and mobile side. The reason we are making a special note of these markets is because just a few days ago, NVIDIA launched nForce3 Go120 for the ultraportable market in tandem with Transmeta’s Efficeon processor. And by ultraportable, we don’t mean just something like an IBM X31, it seems NVIDIA’s plans are much loftier than that.

NVIDIA’s nForce3 Go150 was launched back at Computex, along with the rest of the nForce3 family. (For more information on nForce3 in the mainstream and high-end desktop market, read our nForce3 and nForce3 Pro coverage.) The nForce3 Go150 chipset is intended for desktop replacement notebook due to its use along with the Athlon64 and GeForce FX Go mobile graphics processors. (Something we are eagerly waiting to take a look at). While that focuses on the performance end, it doesn’t address the growing ultraportable/thin and light notebook market. This is exactly what nForce3 Go120 is supposed to do.