The Xpress 3200 is a revision of the Xpress 200 computer chipset released by ATI. The chipset supports AMD64 processors for Socket 939 and Socket AM2. History of the Xpress 3200 chipset The Radeon Xpress chipset was designed by ATI to enter the realm of the desktop arena, especially the AMD Socket 939 platform where ATI's rival, Nvidia, had a clear market advantage. The Xpress 200 was launched with the Crossfire edition of the chipset considered as the high end of the chipset. However, rolling delays with the Crossfire Master Cards forced ATI to launch the Socket 939 platform while the Intel platform was scrapped due to time constraints. Reviews painted the Xpress 200 Crossfire as a board that could match Nvidia's nForce 4 SLI. With the release of the nForce 4 16x SLI, ATI changed strategy and announced the RD580 chipset. The RD580's difference from the Xpress 200 chipset is the 40 PCI Express lanes within the Northbridge. ATI said that having 2 chipsets with 20 PCI Express lanes would slow down data transfers when the chipset is working with multi-GPU configurations. They said that having all the PCI Express lanes within the Northbridge would be more efficient and have less bottlenecking as compared to the nForce 4 16x SLI. The RD580 was called the Radeon Xpress 3200 and was released on March 1, 2006. The chipset is also configured for the new Socket AM2, and many motherboard manufacturers decided to skip the Socket 939 RD580 and begin R&D on the Socket AM2 RD580. With the launch of the Socket AM2, ATI also announced the release of their SB600 southbridge, compatible with the RD580 northbridge. Originally, the SB450/SB460 was highly flawed in the USB design and lacking in cutting edge features as compared to Nvidia's counterpart, which resulted in low sales. The ULi 1575 Southbridge was the other preferred Southbridge until Nvidia took over ULi. With the final acquisition of ATI, AMD renamed all ATI chipsets for the AMD platform. The Xpress 3200 Crossfire chipsets for AMD platform (Socket AM2) were renamed as the AMD 580X Crossfire chipset. Common features Support for up to 40 PCI Express lanes within Northbridge. 32 PCI Express lanes dedicated for two 16x PCI Express slots. 4 PCI Express lanes for interconnection with Northbridge and Southbridge (A-Link II). Other PCI Express lanes configured by the manufacturer. Compatible with either ATI's SB450/SB460/SB600 or ULI's M1573/M1575