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NVIDIA is planning a new high-end desktop chipset for the AMD processor platform: the nForce 980a SLI. The news validates some of the earliest roadmap slides of ASUS leaked to the media, showing a certain M4N82 Deluxe to feature the said chipset according to the specifications sheet. The chipset is built to feature on newer motherboards supporting the AM3 socket and DDR3 memory, though the one from ASUS supports DDR2 memory only, with no mention of a DDR3-supportive motherboard from the company.

VR-Zone juiced some more information about this new chipset, which suggests that the nForce 980a could be merely a re-branded nForce 780a SLI. Earlier reports also suggested the possibility of the 780a SLI successor to support the Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC) feature that enhances overclocking the CPU using AMD's Overdrive software. With the 980a, NVIDIA will replace the markings on the package from "NF780A-SLI-N-A2" to "NF980A-SLI-A2". The company has also reportedly issued a notice to its partners:

The NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI SPP is an enthusiast-class high performance interface to AMD AM3 CPUs. It is RoHS-compliant. It includes 2×16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes (also configurable as 1 x16, 2 x8) and 3×1 PCI Express 1.0 lanes, 12 USB ports, six SATA ports, and single GigE. To ensure timely availability and flexibility, we encourage customers to qualify and release products using the NVIDIA nForce 980a SLI SPP.

The chipset will be available to motherboard manufacturers starting from March.

Source: VR-Zone

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