Axiom and M24
Remember NVIDIA's MXM mobile form factor? A combination of packaging spec and connector (PHY), Axiom is much the same. It defines a strict connector interface that appears to be a PCI Express 16X wrapper with the digital display interface included, much like MXM.The packaging spec is also much like MXM, however it only appears to spec a single size for the form factor. Unlike NVIDIA, ATI aren't pushing Axiom as a mobile graphics form factor standard, instead promoting it as another easy, factory supported option for their ODM customers. So far so good.
It combines with their existing Flexfit initiative for pin-compatible drop-in replacements for existing IGP designs that use the Axiom form factor. And while it appears to wrap up the display interface as well as the PCI Express interface, ATI are keen to push Axiom as a mobile PCI Express interface for more than just GPUs.
M24
M24 is a PCI Express transitional part, with the Mobility Radeon X600 moniker, that seeks to help ATI move over to mobile PCI Express parts while an R3xx/R4xx derived part is migrated into the mobile space on 0.11µm. Apparently nothing more than M11, their existing AGP8X RV360 derived part (no heirarchical-Z), with a native PCI Express interface and the option for on-package memory modules, it interfaces with Axiom and Flexfit to provide ATI's customers with the mobile PCI Express part they're currently looking for.See page 2 of this article for PCI Express interface benefits.
The on-board memory is something new from ATI, the quartet of memory modules sited on the same physical package as the M24 die. Here's a judiciously ripped screengrab from the presentation kit.
As you can see, their new packaging type lets you mount the memory modules on the GPU package, saving space and allowing a unified cooling solution for both GPU and memory, should they need it.
