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While the 690 was designed to work with AMD's Athlon and Sempron processors, the M690 works with Turion 64 X2 dual-core mobile systems. Incorporating the ATI Radeon X1200 series GPU, AMD positions it as capable of delivering the full Vista graphical experience, such as the Flip 3D window selector and Aero's window animations.

AMD also highlights it as the first mobile AMD chipset to support ATI Avivo technology and integrated HDMI and DVI connectivity options. It will provide 'smooth video playback and vivid images for all multimedia applications, including high-definition content,' is AMD's boast.

'With AMD's graphics engine expertise and our mobile processor leadership, AMD delivers a cohesive mobile platform

From a battery-life perspective, the AMD M690 features a memory system called Display Cache, which is designed to allow the CPU to operate in low-power mode without accessing system memory. When combined with the power-saving features of a Turion 64 X2, AMD claims the technology extends battery life by up to 30 minutes over AMD's other mobile offerings.

Expect to see notebooks using the AMD M690 and AMD Turion 64 X2 from the likes of HP, Asus and Fujitsu Siemens.

You can find more info on the M690 on the AMD website.

A specific version of the chipset, the AMD M690T, also sees support for a dedicated display cache (side-port) of up to 128MB. Additionally, it supports an external display via a DVO (Digital Video out) port (which is only available if side-port memory is not implemented). Finally, states AMD, the M690V doesn't have support for a graphics expansion slot or an integrated HD Audio controller for HDMI audio data.