ATI launches chipset for AMD desktops

ATI Technologies on Monday delivered the Radeon Xpress 200, a new chipset for desktops using Advanced Micro Devices' Athlon 64 and other eighth-generation processors. The chipset, which comes with or without a built-in graphics processor, supports PCI Express' add-in card interface and Microsoft's DirectX 9 multimedia software as two of its main features. Its graphics performance equals the Radeon X300, ATI's current entry-level graphics chip, meaning the chipset can render video games with reasonable performance, the company said.

The Xpress 200, the first in a family of chipsets for desktops and notebooks, will begin appearing in desktops and on motherboards from brand-name makers within weeks, ATI said.