Nvidia Ion

Product line by Nvidia

Nvidia Ion was a product line of Nvidia Corporation intended for motherboards of low-cost portable computers. It used graphics processing units and chipsets intended for small products.

## Description

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First generation Nvidia Ion products included a MCP79MX chipset with integrated GeForce 9400M G GPU, DDR3-1066 or DDR2-800 SDRAM, and the Intel Atom processor. The original reference platform was based on a Pico-ITXe motherboard designed for netbook and nettop devices. In February 2009, Microsoft certified the Ion-based platform for Windows Vista.[1] The small form factor Ion-based computers were released in mid-2009.[citation needed]

Ion GPUs are DirectX 10.0 and OpenGL 3.3 compliant. They also support CUDA and OpenCL. They can play 1080p H.264, MPEG-2 and VC-1 video using VDPAU or PureVideo HD.[2] ION-LE–based systems shared the same basic hardware as ION but lack Vista and DirectX 10 support.[3]

Nvidia announced that it would release the Ion platform for the VIA Nano processor some time in Q4 2009.,[4] however no products materialized.

The second generation Ion is no longer a full chipset, it instead is an additional graphics card based on a downclocked GT218 core with 512MB of dedicated memory, and PCIe 1x connection to the Intel chipset. It supports Nvidia Optimus for power saving.[5]

## Specifications

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### Ion (first-generation Nvidia Ion)

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Zotac motherboard Rear connectors of Zotac motherboard

* Chipset: MCP79MX (with integrated GeForce 9400M GPU)
* Intended Operating System: (Ion): Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Linux; (Ion-LE): Microsoft Windows XP, Linux
* Memory Interface: DDR3-1066 or DDR2-800
* DirectX 10 Support: Yes, No (Ion-LE)
* Graphics Cores: 16
* Core/Shader Clocks: 450/1100 MHz
* Texture Fill Rate: 3.6 Billion/second
* Maximum Anti-Aliasing (AA) Sample Rate: 16x
* RAMDACs: 300 MHz
* Maximum High-Dynamic Range (HDR) Precision: 128-bit
* Maximum Analog Resolution: 2048 × 1536
* Maximum Digital Resolution: 2560 × 1600
* Graphics APIs: DirectX 10.0, OpenGL 3.3
* Full HD decode (1080i/p): Yes, 3rd Generation PureVideo
* Display Options: HDMI, Dual-link DVI, DP, or VGA (any 2)
* HDMI Version: 1.8 (according to the manual of the zotac ION itx-f board)
* PCI-Express 2.0: 20 lanes (1×16 and 4×1)
* SATA Drives: 6
* SATA Speed: 3 Gbit/s
* RAID: 0, 1
* Networking: 10/100/1000 BASE-T
* USB Ports: 12/2C
* PCI Slots: 5
* Audio: HDA (Azalia)

### Ion 2 (next-generation Nvidia Ion)

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* CUDA cores: up to 16
* Standard Memory configurations: 512 MB of DDR2, 256 MB of DDR3, 512 MB of DDR3
* Memory Interface Width: Up to 64-bit
* Hardware Video Decode Acceleration: Yes, 4th Generation PureVideo
* nVidia CUDA Technology: Yes
* Certified for Windows 7: Yes
* Microsoft DirectX: 10.1
* OpenGL: 3.3
* Audio: HDA
* Maximum digital resolution: 2560 × 1600
* Maximum VGA resolution: 2048 × 1536
* Netbook supported display connectors: HDMI
* Desktop supported display connectors: Dual-link DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA
* Multi-monitor: Yes
* HDCP: Yes

### Motherboards

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* ASRock A330ION motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, DDR3, PCI Express x16 slot)
* ASUS AT5IONT-I motherboard (Intel Atom D525 CPU, DDR3, USB3, PCI Express x4 slot @ x1 speed, with latch)
* ASUS AT3N7A-I motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU)
* ASUS AT3IONT-I motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, DDR3, PCI Express x16 slot)
* ASUS AT3IONT-I DELUXE motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, DDR3, PCI Express x16 slot, DC power connector, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth, Media remote)
* IEI Industrial Motherboard KINO-PVN D5251 ION2, DDR3, HDMI, Dual GbE, SATA, PCI/ PCI Expr.x1 slot, mini-PCI, CF TypeII
* Jetway NC63-230 ITX board (Intel Atom 230 CPU, 20-pin ATX power connector)
* Jetway NC63-330 ITX board (Intel Atom 330 CPU, 20-pin ATX power connector)
* Jetway NC63P-230 ITX board (Intel Atom 230 CPU, 12V DC Power Onboard)
* Jetway NC63P-330 ITX board (Intel Atom 330 CPU, 12V DC Power Onboard)
* Point of View POV/ION230 motherboard (Intel Atom 230 CPU)
* Point of View POV/ION330 motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU)
* ZOTAC IONITX A-B motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, 90 W DC power connector, Wireless PCIe module installed)
* ZOTAC IONITX A-U motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, DC power connector, Wireless PCIe module installed)
* ZOTAC IONITX B-E motherboard (Intel Atom 230 CPU, 20-pin power connector)
* ZOTAC IONITX C-U motherboard (Intel Atom 230 CPU, DC power connector)
* ZOTAC IONITX D-E motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, 20-pin power connector, Wireless PCIe module installed)
* ZOTAC IONITX F-E motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, 20-pin power connector, Wireless PCIe module installed, PCI Express x16 slot)
* ZOTAC IONITX G-E motherboard (Intel Atom 330 CPU, 20-pin power connector, PCI Express x1 slot, mini-PCIe x1 slot)
* ZOTAC IONITX N-E motherboard (Intel Celeron 743 CPU, 20-pin power connector, Wireless PCIe module installed, PCI Express x16 slot)
* ZOTAC IONITX P-E motherboard (Intel Celeron SU2300 CPU, 20-pin power connector, Wireless PCIe module installed, PCI Express x16 slot)

### Desktop systems

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An ASRock ION 330HT-BD

* Acer AspireRevo Nettop Media Server w/Remote
* Aleutia H1 Hotel PC (with the above ZOTAC IONITX A-U), fanless in the single core version.[6]
* aOpen GP7A[7]
* ASRock Ion 330 series[8]
* ASRock Ion 330HT series w/Remote[9]
* ASRock Ion 330Pro
* ASUS Eee Box EB1012U (ION 1)
* ASUS Eee Box EB1012P (ION 2)
* ASUS Eee Box EB1501
* Asus S1-AT5NM10E
* Foxconn NetBox-nT330i[10]
* Giada Mini PC series[11]
* Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 - 40816AU[12]
* MSi All-in-One PC Wind Top AE2220
* Myka ION
* Orbit Micro Helix A58 Sleek NVIDIA ION/N330 desktop system[13]
* Orbit Micro Helix A5W Fanless IP waterproof dustproof Nvidia ION system[14]
* Sapphire EDGE HD[15]
* Shuttle XS35GT, fanless system with ION2 and Atom D510[16]
* Viewsonic VOT132[17]
* ZaReason Ion Breeze[18]
* Zotac Mag[19]

### Netbook systems

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Acer Aspire One 532G

* Acer Aspire One 532G[20]
* Asus Eee PC VX6[21]
* Asus Eee PC 1015PN[22]
* Asus Eee PC 1201N[23]
* Asus Eee PC 1201NL[24] (Only graphics component attached to Intel motherboard.
* Asus Eee PC 1215N[25]
* HP Mini 311[26]
* Lenovo IdeaPad S12[27]
* Point of View Mobii ION[28]
* Samsung N510[29]

## Discontinued Windows support

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Nvidia has ceased Windows driver support for Nvidia ION series on April 1, 2016.[30]

* Windows XP 32-bit & Media Center Edition: version 340.52 (WHQL) released on July 29, 2014; Download
* Windows XP 64-bit: version 340.52 (WHQL) released on July 29, 2014; Download
* Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 32-bit: version 342.01 (WHQL) released on December 14, 2016; Download
* Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 64-bit: version 342.01 (WHQL) released on December 14, 2016; Download
* Windows 10, 32-bit: version 342.01 (WHQL) released on December 14, 2016; Download
* Windows 10, 64-bit: version 342.01 (WHQL) released on December 14, 2016; Download

## See also

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* Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units
* Tegra

## References

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1. ^ "NVIDIA Collaborates With Microsoft To Make Premium, Low-Cost PCs A Reality". News release. Nvidia. February 11, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
2. ^ ComputerBase.de: Test: Zotac IONITX-A (Nvidia Ion), page 2: "Im Videobereich verlässt sich Nvidia beim Ion auf PureVideo HD der dritten Generation [...]"
3. ^ "Next-Generation NVIDIA ION Graphics Processors". Nvidia web site. Retrieved June 2, 2011.
4. ^ "NVIDIA Ion platform to support VIA Nano processors this year". 20 February 2009.
5. ^ Redaktion. "Nvidia Next-Generation ION (ION2) in review". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
6. ^ "H1 Hotel PC | Aleutia". Archived from the original on 2010-08-10. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
7. ^ "N. America & Latin". Archived from the original on 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-03-21.
8. ^ "ASRock > ION 330". www.asrock.com. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
9. ^ "ASRock > ION 330HT-BD". www.asrock.com. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
10. ^ "Foxconn PRODUCT : NanoPC Barebones: Details". www.foxconnchannel.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-23.
11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-04-06.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. ^ "Lenovo Official US Site | Laptops, PCS, Tablets & Data Center | Lenovo US".
13. ^ "Orbit Micro products". Archived from the original on 2009-06-27. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
14. ^ "Orbit Micro products". Archived from the original on 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
15. ^ http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?leg=&psn=000106&pid=1088. `{{cite web}}`: Missing or empty `|title=` (help)
16. ^ "Shuttle Europe: Overview". Archived from the original on 2010-12-23. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
17. ^ "Viewsonic » VOT132". www.viewsonic.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-19.
18. ^ "ZaReason, Inc. :: Desktops". Archived from the original on 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
19. ^ "Mini-PCS - Products". Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
20. ^ "Acer Aspire One 532G first to feature NVIDIA Ion 2 switchable graphics". 15 February 2010.
21. ^ "ASUSTeK Computer Inc". www.asus.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-11.
22. ^ Sold, Felix (19 November 2010). "Review Asus Eee PC 1015PN Netbook". Notebookcheck. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
23. ^ "Notebookcheck: More details on Asus Eee PC 1201N and 1201HA leaked". www.notebookcheck.net. Archived from the original on 2009-10-18.
24. ^ Kaur, Taran (14 August 2010). "Asus Eee PC 1215N Review | Netbook with Nvidia ION - Gadgetmix.com". Retrieved 18 December 2022.
25. ^ "ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Eee - Eee PC 1215N". www.asus.com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-30.
26. ^ "HP's Ion-infused Mini 311 netbook now on sale, starts at $400". 24 September 2009.
27. ^ "Lenovo Ideapad S12 ION now on sale in US | Netbook Choice". Retrieved 18 December 2022.
28. ^ ":: Point of View ::". Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
29. ^ "Review Samsung N510 Ion Netbook".
30. ^ "EOL Windows driver support for legacy products | NVIDIA". nvidia.custhelp.com. Retrieved 18 December 2022.

## External links

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* Nvidia's official overview page on the Nvidia ION platform
* AnandTech: NVIDIA's Ion Platform: Bringing High Def to Netbooks
* bit-tech.net - Nvidia Ion Platform: Atom gets GeForce
* Techgage: NVIDIA's ION Platform: Hands-On Impressions
* X-bit labs: Nvidia ION Platform: HD Video Playback Investigation
* LinuxTECH.NET: Independent overview of all currently available Nvidia ION-based products

* v
* t
* e

Nvidia chipsets

Comparison of Nvidia chipsets

GeForce Series|

* ION
* 8
* 9

nForce Series|

* nForce 220/415/420
* nForce2
* nForce3
* nForce4
* nForce 500
* nForce 600
* nForce 700
* nForce 900

Technologies|

* ESA
* EPP
* LinkBoost
* MXM
* SoundStorm

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