Even despite the recent release of Windows 7, many netbook manufacturers are still pushing their XP counterparts. They are cheaper and presumably have a bigger profit margin due to them getting Windows XP Home cheaper via a special deal with Microsoft.
In order to capitalise on Windows 7s improved performance on lower specification machines, Nvidia have recently released the ION platform, which includes the Intel Atom processor and a GeForce 9400M graphics based MCP79 chipset. The ION is fully DirectX 10 compatible, something that Windows XP can’t support, and this would be something that Microsoft and Nvidia will be using to help push Windows 7 netbook sales.
It seems Nvidia, however, didn’t want to see the end of their XP based sales just yet, so have also released the ION LE, a DX9 but otherwise identical version of the platform. This is presumably to keep within the licensing terms Microsoft sets down for their cut price version of Windows XP.
There has been some talk as to why Nvidia would go to the lengths of making a separate chip for what is essentially a dying market, with some suggesting it is simply a full ION with DX10 disabled. It now seems that this is true and better yet it can be reversed easily via software.
Users of the new ION LE based HP (Compaq) Mini 311 posting on the myHPmini.com forum, led by “runawayprisoner”, have found that by using drivers intended for the full ION, either by modifying the INF to trick it into thinking it’s not an LE, or by forcing it via device manager the result is a fully DX10 ION LE. Reports suggest that performance is slightly increased in most games and benchmarks tested under DX9 as well, though these cannot be confirmed at this stage.
So it seems that the conspiracy theorists were correct this time round. Nvidia has indeed not made a separate chip, but has instead simply disabled DX10 on the LE model. How the will respond to this remains to be seen, but with DX10 working even with the latest drivers on their website our guess is they will just quietly let it pass.
Source: http://myhpmini.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=2571
My Mini Review of the 311: http://eteknix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1405
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