Part 1 of this article on March 15 gave details of Intel's new P35 chipset for mainstream motherboards which launched at CeBIT 2007. Today, in Part 2, the other chipsets in the Bearlake family will be covered, including a high-end version which introduces support for PCI Express 2.0 and integrated graphics processor (IGP) designs.

While the P35 can be found openly shown at booths around CeBIT, the G33 – a chip with similar features but which adds integrated graphics – can only be seen behind closed doors. As with the P35 the G33 supports DDR3 and/or DDR2 memory, front side bus speeds up to 1333MHz, and is designed to support Intel's upcoming Wolfdale and Yorkfield CPUs. The G33's IGP supports DirectX 9 and is scheduled to launch in the second quarter, according to sources.

Intel will expand the Bearlake family in the third quarter starting at the high-end with the X38. The successor to the current 975X Express chipset, the X38 also supports FSB speeds of 1333MHz and upcoming Wolfdale and Yorkfield CPUs, but unlike the P35 and G33 will not include legacy support for DDR2. X38-based motherboards will only support DDR3, but in the high-end market this makes sense. The X38 will also feature support for PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 which offers double the bit-rate of current PCIe for higher bandwidth – up to 5GT/s. X38-boards will support two x16 PCIe slots, but it is unknown whether Crossfire and/or SLI will be possible due to licensing issues.

Also in the third quarter, Intel is scheduled to release the G35, a chipset similar to the G33 but which features a DirectX 10 based IGP. Finally, two chipsets aimed at business platforms, the Q35 and Q33, and a value segment chip – which will not sport DDR3 or the quad-core Yorkfield CPUs – will be also be introduced under the name G31.

For complete DigiTimes coverage of CeBIT 2007 go here.

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Intel discusses Bearlake: Q&A with Richard Malinowski, vice president, chipset group, Intel (Jun 8)

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