RSSCould Intel stop Nvidia from producing chips for Nehalem?
By Scott M. Fulton, III | Published February 18, 2009, 11:41 AM
Last July, Nvidia announced it would make its chipsets and SLI multi-GPU technology interoperable with Intel's latest generation of CPUs, with their highly-advanced Nehalem architecture. Monday, Intel said no to that in court.
In a court filing Monday in Delaware which remains under seal, CPU maker Intel asked for a declaratory judgment against GPU and chipset producer Nvidia, stating that the terms of the companies' existing x86 technology license do not extend to the Nehalem generation. This according to Intel spokesperson Chuck Mulloy, who confirmed the filing with Betanews this morning.
Nehalem is the first architecture from Intel to use an embedded memory controller, which it calls QuickPath Interconnect (QPI); AMD has had a similar technology called HyperTransport for several years. That QPI radically changes the way graphics processors and motherboard chipsets -- the two key products Nvidia makes -- communicate with the CPU. In order for Nvidia to utilize some of its own key technologies, including its multi-GPU system called SLI, system builders believe Nvidia would need to make -- or to have already made -- radical changes in its own designs.
In a July announcement, according to The Register, Nvidia indicated that it had already done so, and that Nehalem support was on its way. Intel's response has been negative toward that ever since, and it has just formalized that response in court.
"The suit seeks to have the court declare that Nvidia is not licensed to produce chipsets that are compatible with any Intel processor that has integrated memory controller functionality, such as Intel's Nehalem microprocessors," Mulloy told Betanews, "and that Nvidia has breached the agreement with Intel by falsely claiming that it is licensed."
Mulloy went on to say his company has been negotiating with Nvidia over a licensing agreement for more than a year, without success. One possible outcome of the court matter could be a resolution which does lead to a license for Nvidia.
For its part, Nvidia took its grievances public this morning, with a statement from President and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang that asks its readers to visualize an epic struggle between the CPU and the GPU for validity in the personal computer, and alleging that the CPU as an architecture in and of itself is becoming outmoded.
"We are confident that our license, as negotiated, applies," remarked Huang. "At the heart of this issue is that the CPU has run its course and the soul of the PC is shifting quickly to the GPU. This is clearly an attempt to stifle innovation to protect a decaying CPU business."
The company's statement went on to cite its numerous design wins with leading PC builders, including Apple, HP, and Lenovo, as an indication that sentiment about what chip actually defines a computer is shifting toward the GPU. But it concedes that all these design wins were made possible through the existence of its current technology license with Intel, and agrees with Mulloy that the companies have been in talks for over a year.
For its part, Intel has advanced its own theories that the "soul," if you will, of graphics rendering may move away from the GPU and toward the CPU, its own home territory. For a few years now, Intel has been building its own graphics processing architecture, code-named "Larrabee," around a many-core theory in which software provides the pipelining methodology that GPU makers such as Nvidia and ATI encode into their hardware.
"This paper describes a highly parallel architecture that makes the rendering pipeline completely programmable," reads the prelude to an Intel white paper on Larrabee produced last August (PDF available here). "The Larrabee architecture is based on in-order CPU cores that run an extended version of the x86 instruction set, including wide vector processing operations and some specialized scalar instructions."
Nvidia's early reaction to Larrabee was, to put it mildly, childish. In a public statement last April, without divulging much specifics, Huang promised his company would "open a can of whoop-ass" on Larrabee. Since that time, Nvidia has taken public positions on Intel literally blaming it for many of the ills facing the technology industry at large. For example, just last week, Huang blamed Intel for the backslide in PC sales by having created a netbook processor, Atom, that enabled customers to settle -- in his opinion -- for cheaper PCs with lesser graphics quality.
With 60% lower revenue than the previous year, and with its arch-rival ATI now a fully integrated component of AMD, Nvidia's last lifeline -- should it come to that -- would probably have to come from Intel. Huang may bluster, but it's Intel holding the high cards.
"It is our hope that this dispute will not impact other areas of our companies' working relationship," Mulloy told Betanews this morning. Right now, there may not be enough substance to that relationship for anyone to notice an impact.
6:10 pm ET February 18, 2009 - The seal has been lifted on Intel's suit against Nvidia filed Monday, and now we know more about the extent of the CPU maker's complaint -- some of which deals with the nature of Nvidia announcements as recently as last week.
"Intel...contends that Nvidia has not complied with its contractual obligations to refrain from making false or misleading statements to third parties about the parties' licensing agreements," the suit reads. "Nvidia has unequivocally told third parties, including customers of Intel and the trade press, that its agreements with Intel license it to market the Disputed Nvidia MCPs [media and communications processor products]. Nvidia's statements are false and misleading, and therefore in breach of the parties' licensing agreements, because, inter alia, they fail to acknowledge that Intel vigorously contests Nvidia's claim to be licensed.
"Nvidia has failed to comply with Intel's requests that it retract or correct statements declaring unequivocally that Disputed Nvidia MCPs are licensed. Nvidia has not accepted Intel's invitation to issue a joint statement providing complete and accurate information. Intel therefore seeks an injunction preventing Nvidia from continuing to make false and misleading claims to third parties that Disputed Nvidia MCPs are licensed. Intel further requests an order requiring Nvidia to provide complete and accurate information to third parties to correct Nvidia's prior misrepresentations."
i suspect the former :)
http://www.realisticdropcard.com
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|Here is my take on the situation:
Intel is furiously fuming because they want to get enough support to put an injunction against nVidia from releasing their new chipset line so that the X58 and its successors will be the only player in town - allowing Intel to refine the chipsets enough to make them the de facto standard for any Nehalem-based system. They're playing hardball, and they're playing dirty - but I have faith that my dual GTX 260s will still be viable in the next several months when I build my new Nehalem system.
This may be conspiracy theory only, but it seems strange that they have been in talks for this long and then all of a sudden Intel goes to court.
If they were *truly* negotiating, then I *doubt* nVidia spokespersons would have said they already had the license - if anything, i would have been "We're working on updating / acquiring a new license deal to continue to provide you with quality chipsets and motherboards."
Furthermore, if this succeeds, I am going to be disappointed - I've never had any real love for Intel Chipsets, but am deeply in love with my nVidia 780i chipset (not so much that I cannot part with it for a new Nehalem system though :P ).
Go nVidia!
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|i think all of this is stupid if nvidia has something better that would cut production cost of another chip doing the work i would say congrats to nvidia and go with it maybe say give me 70mil to get a license for our cpu architecture design but to do this to a partner is like saying to a man who cured cancer
got the boot from his job cause he knew what would the risk be " to many ppl getting the idea that nvidia is on to something good"
if intel wins this suit it would kill nvidia there new hybrid SLI tech is off the chain brings ATI to there knees but i say if this were to happen i would suggest to nvidia to stop its relations with intel since they are so worried about losing there partnership with them and just go with the flow take intel and flush it start working with AMD since they charge low prices for the same chips intel has
i know that amd is 1 gen behind but if nvidia were to group up with amd it would change alot
~ quote from apple insder~ ( http://www.appleinsider....of_future_chipsets.html )
Speaking to AppleInsider, the Intel spokesperson said discussions to prevent a drawn-out legal bout had actually been ongoing for "more than a year", and the chipmaker hopes the dispute "will not impact other areas of our companies' working relationship."
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|As the Mobo manufacturers must license the use of SLI from NVidia, it will be interesting to see if Intel's suit has any real impact.
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|In a technology dispute, whenever a company has to resort to the argument that their technology is better and that the other guy is trying to stifle progress, it invariably means that they are on the short end of the licensing argument and are tying to obfuscate that fact. My bet is that Intel will win.
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|Hardcore PC gaming is dead, Nvidia NEEDS to start making cpus or SSDs or they will go bankrupt. Console gaming has 20X the revenue of hardcore PC gaming, all that will be left on PCs are casual games which don't need graphic cards. Onboard video is plenty for playing Blu-ray (if anyone could afford Blu-Ray disks anyway) or for any other task except hardcore gaming.
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|Lots of pathos and emotion, but I'm sorry, the facts simply contradict your passionate assertion.
http://blog.wired.com/ga...11/study-pc-gaming.html
http://www.boston.com/bu...computer_vs_the_console/
and a myriad number of additional sites all saying the same thing...
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|Bwaaahahahaha!!!!
PC gaming...
...dead.
Of all the absurd things I've seen on this site, that damn near takes the cake.
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|PC gaming is up.. not sure what planet you live on
gaming in general is up
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|Tell that to the 11.5 million people playing WOW.
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|MMORPGs aren't games... they're elaborate, sophisticated chat programs with pretty graphics. ;-)
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|@youtmj
Bull.
I play WoW. I can tell you without hesitation that it is a game, though it does have a extravagant social communication system.
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|And just who do you think makes the graphics chips that go into those lucrative consoles?
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|@ PC_Tool
Gotcha. *laughs*
I played EverQuest since beta for over 3 years, and switched to Guild Wars shortly after I quit EQ (and eagerly awaiting GW2). I do not deny that WoW is a great game (almost everyone that I know plays it by now), it's just a personal decision to not get sucked into another pay-per-month model. I feel obligated to play when I pay every month for it. GW feels more casual and laid back, and it was exactly what I was looking for at the time. Plus, the Hero system makes it possible to play the entire game without requiring the grouping and interaction with others... which is great for those times when people are generally annoying as hell (quite often in those types of games).
I knew you played, BTW. ;-)
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|"it's just a personal decision to not get sucked into another pay-per-month model."
Then don't. I play WoW on the private free servers.
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|And things get curiouser and curiouser...
2/11/2009
NVIDIA SLI Technology Now Available for Intel Branded X58-based Motherboards
"NVIDIA Corporation today announced that Intel Corporation has licensed NVIDIA SLI technology for inclusion on the Intel DX58SO motherboard for the Intel Core i7 processor. As a result, customers with Intel X58-based motherboards and the Core i7 processor can now equip their PCs with any combination of NVIDIA GeForce GPUs, including Quad SLI, for the ultimate visual computing experience.
"The addition of NVIDIA SLI technology to the Intel DX58SO motherboard has been a welcome addition," said Clem Russo, VP and General Manager of Channel Desktop Platform Group at Intel Corporation. "The pairing of our new Core i7 processors on our Extreme Series motherboard and NVIDIA GeForce graphics has resulted in some of the world's fastest consumer gaming PC platforms. For playing any of today's hottest PC titles, this is one awesome combination that our customers have been asking for."
As a result of today's announcement, NVIDIA SLI technology is now available for all consumer PC platforms, including the Intel Core i7, Core 2 Quad and Core 2 Duo processors, as well as those based on the AMD Phenom II CPU. In addition to raw graphics performance, NVIDIA GeForce GPUs also provide gamers with additional capabilities not found on any other discrete graphics solutions, including NVIDIA PhysX technology for deeper gaming immersion, stereoscopic 3D gaming with NVIDIA 3D Vision technology, and support for CUDA, a revolutionary new computing architecture that harnesses the power of the NVIDIA GPU to accelerate everyday computing applications including video transcoding, physics calculations, and high-definition video playback.
"The Intel X58 'Smackover' board is excellent, with fantastic build quality and great performance, and now with the inclusion of SLI it is full steam ahead," said Kriss Pomroy, Commercial Director at Novatech. "We are extremely excited that we can now spec Intel motherboards in many of our systems and capitalize on the awesome performance of NVIDIA SLI technology. It is what we have all been waiting for here at Novatech."
"Finally, the Intel Smackover experience is complete. At Paradigit we've been using this board since launch, but we thought that this may not last long because of the lack of SLI support," said Niels Van Echteld, Purchasing Manager for Paradigit. "Now this board is ready for the best of both worlds -- Intel's newest Core i7 CPU and the power of NVIDIA GeForce in SLI!"
"The ability to have SLI, PhysX, and CUDA on an Intel chipset is a great move for the market," said Elan Raja III, Director of Scan Computers. "The combination of technologies will break all the existing performance barriers raising the standard for the power user. The wait is finally over!"
"There's no doubt about it... our customers love SLI," said Randy Copeland, CEO of Velocity Computers. "With this announcement, we have the ability to build them any Intel i7 platform they want, and know that whatever motherboard we choose, we can populate it with multiple NVIDIA GeForce GPUs. This gives our customers the greatest flexibility in purchasing the world's fastest gaming PCs."
"NVIDIA SLI has proven to be the industry's only stable, scalable, high-performance multi-GPU platform, and we are excited that customers with Intel branded X58 motherboards will be able to take advantage of this processing power," said Ujesh Desai, vice president of GeForce desktop business at NVIDIA. "Gamers know that the best way to experience their games is with GeForce GPUs, and now they will be able to harness the power of multiple GPUs for even more performance and immersion features."
http://www.gameinfowire.com/news.asp?nid=13492
Not to mention that Asus has had i7 Mobos supporting BOTH SLI and Crossfire on the same MoBo from inception of the first i7 Mobos (P6T) as well as MSI (MSI X58 Eclipse SLI) several months ago prior to either announcement. Does the case even matter if manufacturers are not dependent upon either??
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|"Asus has had i7 Mobos supporting BOTH SLI and Crossfire on the same MoBo"
*gasp*
No, really.
I haven't shopped around in a while. That's *news*. Time to hit up Mwave again..
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|Yeah, not only do they incorporate BOTH crossfire and sli, they also incorporate significant and elegant management controls for overclocking, if you wish to do so.
Edit: FYI - the Asus P6T line for i7 has both SLI and CrossfireX on board...for use of up to THREE (3) PCIe(x16) video cards.
However the 2nd & 3rd slots are placed adjacent to each other and will not accomodate an additional 2 double width video cards, and the 2 additional cards will have to be single width if the 3 card arrangement is used. However, it will accomodate 2 double width video cards such as 2 GeForce GTX 280s or 2 Radeon HD4870 X2s.
The boards are NICE. And they have tested spectacularly as well.
This year is definitely the year to look at upgrading - and with the forthcoming low power i7s for laptop use coming in another quarter, laptops are about to take a quantum leap in performance as well!
In a period where good news is a bit scarce, the CPU market is a definite BRIGHT spot!
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|Still sitting here with an AMD x64 dual core 4200+.
So here's a q:
I have two ATi cards, both of which I "inherited".... One is an ATi 2900 HD, and the other is a 2600. Would those work in "hybrid crossfire" on this board? I might actually consider a MBD/RAM/CPU upgrade if that's the case.
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|I don't think they do, BUT that is not due to receiving anything that would count as definitive info from a human at AMD/ATI!
I tried contacting AMD - about 15 times. Their corporate number is 408.749.4000 if you are an utter masochist.
But you will become adept at obtaining RMAs if you choose to pursue this...
I pursued both the consumer avenue and the registered commercial avenue, in the vain thought that perhaps that might result in more substantial support...
No such luck.
After umpteen misroutings and being told by AMD that I needed to contact ATI (which I had, only to be transferred back to AMD in a 'Groundhog Day' reenactment) and subsequently being told that they "were not sure, but that they did not think so".
(BTW, ATI closes at 4pm EST, while AMD HQ is in Sunnyvale and open until 5pm PST)
When I asked how one might find out for sure, I was bounced around until I was dumped in the CIO's voice mailbox. We'll see if they return the call...
I wish I had a valid answer for you. But the lesson I gleaned was that you are literally on your own if you buy an AMD/ATI product,as even their tech support cannot answer the question.
The closest source of help I have subsequently found is:
http://game.amd.com/us-e...irex/CF_combo_chart.jpg
(this is reached from http://game.amd.com/us-en/crossfirex_about.aspx )
So, at least for now I have failed to arrive at a specifc answer (from a human) that can help you, except to suggest that the AMD/ATI support is just a bit south of 'adequate'.
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|Well guys, I tried for over a half-hour looking for first-look articles, hands-on tests, and reviews I had previously come across a few weeks back from numerous sites such as Guru3D, Tom's Hardware, Annandtech, HardOCP, etc., when I was trying to decide which X58 motherboard I was going to settle on.
What I was specifically looking for was mention of that very question, because I could swear I had noticed several mentions that Crossfire cards needed to be identical... but no luck. I'm sure foxfyre's diligence in trying to research the matter by contacting AMD/ATI directly is appreciated. But, as he already stated, if they can provide no help on the matter, I suppose it's anyone's guess whether they support hybrid Crossfire/CrossfireX... either officially or otherwise.
Incidentally, I believe I've settled on the Asus P6T Deluxe. It has received rave reviews, and has turned out to be one spectacularly performing board in the most extreme overclocking torture tests. The Asus P6T6 WS Revolution was certainly appealing, but I simply cannot justify the price at this time.
Also, I've read that a few have had success with boards from Asus and MSI with flashing BIOSes to enable SLI on boards that did not previously allow it or specifically state that it was a supported feature.
I'll continue to look, but I have to admit, since I currently have no plans to ditch my current dual 9800 GTX+ cards in favor of ATI's offerings, I haven't been that interested in Crossfire up to now. ;-)
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|Honestly, until I "inherited" these cards, shortly after having multiple issues with a BFG Nvidia card (replaced twice, no luck), I was an NVIDIA devout.
Got the 2900HD first and have had nothing but love for it. Can't *stand* the drivers, but the card itself, even though it does run a touch hot, has given me zero problems.
I just wish ATi would get their sh*t together re: drivers.
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|As this issue tweaked my interest (seeing as how neither AMD nor ATI (which the intro recording says in now AMD - only to have people internally say you must talk to ATI and then routinely transfer you to AMD support who says you must talk to ATI who... yup, the madness continues in calling them...)
The best reference anyone has yet to give me this morning is the webpage chart listed above for Crossfire compatibility:
http://game.amd.com/us-e...irex/CF_combo_chart.jpg
Man I want to like AMD and ATI - but their entire history - including their commercial user event forums - have been this way. They do not help themselves (nor the customers) with their customer service nor the presales assistance.
You would think they would provide a rather anal step by step explanation of the technology and HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT on the web site aimed at helping and explaining this to even the most inexperienced user.
***All this tells me that perhaps Intel does have as long as they want to sort out the graphics card issue, as neither NVidia nor AMD seem positioned to take advantage of the Intel quagmire. ;-)
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|From the looks of it, I am out of luck. The 2900 Pro/XTs aren't even crossfire compatible WITH EACH OTHER from the looks of the chart.
Best bet might be a hybrid crossfire board (integrated ati), but even that looks like it may be problematic.
Meh... I'll wait. The system runs fine as is now, and I have better things to do with my money.
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|"FYI - the Asus P6T line..."
Just wanted to add some information to that statement, foxfyre. The only boards in the Asus P6T series that share the double-width card space restrictions in a 3-way SLI configuration are the P6T Deluxe, P6T Deluxe/OC Palm, and the P6T Deluxe V2... because of the reasons you mentioned regarding the spacing between the PCI-E slots.
The P6T itself, as well as the Rampage II Extreme and the P6T6 WS Revolution can all accommodate double-width cards... the latter being the only one supporting full X16 bandwidth 3-way SLI (for what it's worth), thanks to the additional nForce 200.
I believe the only board in that series that does not support 3-way SLI is the P6T WS Professional (only 2 physical PCI-E X16 slots).
http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=179
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|@ PC_Tool
I agree completely regarding ATI's drivers. I personally have never had a reason to dislike any of ATI's video cards, and have never had any bad experiences with them. Truth be told, I've been extremely impressed with their most recent cards, and it has been tempting.
I've simply never had any issues with any NVIDIA card that I've ever owned, and the fact that there's nothing in my current library that taxes the eVGA 9800 GTX+ 512MB SLI setup that I'm currently running, I've been in no hurry to replace them.
EDIT: Additionally, regarding NVIDIA's overheating issues (which I know is true, as I've read far too many angry customers' testimonies), it may be primarily a BFG issue, as my brother had similar issues with multiple BFG cards. I run the F@H GPU client on both of my cards constantly with no problems at all.
It also is because I would have needed to commit to a decision between a Crossfire- or SLI-capable motherboard... and at the time, the Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe was too impressive to pass up.
Looks like it's about to become my replacement HTPC soon though. I may go with a Crossfire setup this time around on the new i7 rig. At least it's good to know we have that choice now. ;-)
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|My guess is you have a Sapphire card.
Sapphire is known for releasing cards that sometimes stray from the mfr. specifications just enough to cause problems with the ATI Catalyst drivers from time to time. The latest Catalyst driver (9.1: ) fixes issues with some of the newer Sapphire cards I hear.
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|Intel needs to stop pushing the idea that the CPU is powerful enough to handle everything on its own when it's not. Even the Core 7 processor can't handle things like the advanced sound features found on the Soundblaster X-Fi let alone graphics duties.
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|"Nehalem is the first architecture from Intel to use an embedded memory controller, which it calls QuickPath Interconnect (QPI);"
That statement is absurd. QPI is a new bus interface to connect to the chipset and has no relation to embedded memory controller. I think Intel doesn't want NVidia to make chipsets for Nehalem becuase QPI is a new proprietary technology solely developed by Intel and it doesn't want to share that with NVidia. Nothing wrong with that.
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|You are completely wrong. QPI does indeed have a direct relation to the embedded memory controller and is actually a direct path from CPU to memory, not just a new type of path to the chipset. With QPI there are completely independent paths to memory and chipset which significantly increases bandwith.
I suppose you think that HyperTransport is nothing more than a revamped front side bus as well.
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|No!!! you are wrong!!! CPU cores don't use QPI to talk to memory, that is why it has embedded memory controller which directly talks to DDR3 memory(for example). QPI is used only to connect to 1) another core in the same CPU 2) Northbridge chipset 3) another CPU. Check this link http://www.intel.com/tec...ckpath/introduction.pdf (figure 6 and figure 7). QPI architecture typically assumes that CPU has embedded memory controller. Get the facts right..
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|You didn't read that document very well. Not only does it say the Quick Path Interconnect is a high speed pathway from CPU to memory it shows pictures that clearly illustrate this fact. The document clearly shows a QPI from CPU to memory as well as from CPU to chipset. You need to get YOUR facts straight.
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|Wait...listen...I think I hear the EU ambulance chasers coming...
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|No, wait, that's the sound of a fleet of facehuggers on the hunt for you!
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|Well this is easy to resolve.....INTEL buys NVIDIA. Much the way AMD bought ATI. Done.
"Join me my son and together we can rule the galaxy."
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|""open a can of whoop-ass""
Well it's almost certainly true.
I don't think Intel hold the cards at all.
Nvidia have a proven track record of producing damn good graphics cards. Intel do not. Intel have a proven track record of producing crap internal graphics chipsets.
What purpose does cutting off their best graphics card supplier do to them? None. It's highly unlikely to increase their own sales of graphics cards.
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|Maybe it's a cunning plan to strengthen the weakening position of it's main (only?) competitor to avoid legal hassles with various governments... ;)
(shooting themselves in the foot to make the bleeding of the other guy not look quite so bad?)
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|Well that would be quite a devious plan indeed.
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|Yet another cunning stunt, to perhaps create a duopoly.
Yep, once a upon a time I lived in S****horpe!
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|"With 60% lower revenue than the previous year, and with its arch-rival ATI now a fully integrated component of AMD, Nvidia's last lifeline -- should it come to that -- would probably have to come from Intel. Huang may bluster, but it's Intel holding the high cards."
Intel holds all of the high cards?
Really?
ATI and AMD have a 'slight strategic advantage' in that they are, shall we say, 'friendly'.
And Intel doesn't make a high end graphics card - despite a proprietary GPU controller.
Let's see:
Intel without a high end graphics card - with all of the GPU controllers in the world and only mediocre integrated graphics, competing with AMD and ATI with both its integrated graphics as well as advanced high end graphics cards...
Seems like Intel is holding all of the cards featuring a whiz bang high end CPU, a nifty graphics controller dressed in the Emperor's new clothes without a high end graphics card. I call that a Pyrrhic victory of an ultimately losing hand.
...Oh, and not to mention that i7 MoBos such as Asus' P6T line, available for several months, ALREADY features integrated support for BOTH SLI and Crossfire...
I suggest Intel market a superior graphics card and compete in the open market.
{And while not technically a monopoly, this scenario comes MUCH closer to being one than anything the fanboys can posit against Apple and their proprietary systems. LOL!}
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|Ooo, look at that. I agree with you for once.
Clearly hell has frozen over.
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|Either that or you finally learned to read for meaning...
I suspect the former...
;-)
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|My viewpoint is quite different.
Nvidia's "chickens...are coming home to roost".
Intel did alot to help Nvidia over the years (research, money, the main GPU company they talked about internally). Then...
...A few years back, Intel planned on releasing a new motherboard to support SLI. Intel had to delay the launch and remarket as a Crossfire motherboard because Nvidia decided, a week before release, that only Nvidia chipsets will be supported by their drivers in SLI mode. They screwed Intel big time pretty much out of the blue. Now they will compete directly against, instead of working with, Intel.
...A few years later. Highend graphics cards and the PC industry in general starts slowing. Nvidia smack talks Intel techologies every chance they get.
AMD aquires ATI. Essentially cementing ATI on the AMD platform. Nvidia's doors to the market seem to be closing. A new fad called Netbooks appear and seem to be selling well. Nvidia wants to sell chipsets for them. Only problem is Intel won't sell the CPU without a chipset. That mean ol'Intel won't let us play.
Then Nvidia thinks it's gonna do SLI on Core i7. Oopsie, not covered under the license aggrement. AMD users will probably head to ATI. Intel and Nvidia are the only chipsets for Nvidia left to play on and Intel is saying "go away, remember you are so great at making chipsets, you don't need us. Just use your ungodly knowledge and make your own, from the ground up".
Me thinks Nvidia is getting EXACTLY what it deserves. I hope Intel doesn't bail out Nvidia. Then Intel can get a great bargin purchasing what's left when Nvidia falls off it's high-horse made of balsa.
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|So that you're left with a choice of Good CPU but s***ty graphics card, or crappy CPU with good graphics card?
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|It must be the weather Paul - fancy us actually agreeing and my agreeing with Tool... Something is afoot...you would be wise to get a very warm coat and to keep a weather eye open!
Yup, in the meantime Intel has to compete with AMD, and if they are willing to give business to AMD in the form of Crossfire - as if AMD is going to license Intel's technology!!!! - meanwhile as both Asus and MSI already have i7 MoBos with BOTH SLI and Crossfire support already on them - and as Intel one week ago licensed SLI...
If manufacturers can independently include SLI and/or Crossfire on their MoBos, what does the issue between Intel and NVidia really matter - assuming no compromise of IP is involved?
It seems the MoBo manufacturers can mix and match independently of the manufacturers.
But this is indeed curious if Intel lacks a high end video card, and only MAD/ATI does.
Has Intel stolen the manual and subequently taken a page from the Apple play book?
This is just plain strange as they are definitely only crippling themselves in the near term...Unless it is not an issue with MoBo manufacturers who will continue to make dual graphics format MoBos anyway and business will continue for the consumer unabated...
I have more questions than answers in this one... ;-)
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|People poo-pooed Intel at the end of the P4 days. I wouldn't expect Intel to not have a plan up it's sleeve. They came back with Core and I'm sure they will fill the highend graphics market if it's not filled by someone else. The someone else not being ATI or Nvidia. ATI is direct CPU/Chipset/GPU competition. Nvidia burned their bridges.
And I don't think the market is such that the choice is good one/bad the other.
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|I wish I could relate or make sense o anything you have said.
"Poo Pooed" Intel? Because if their very real strategic marketing screwup? That had nothing to do with their ability to design chips - just their ability to anticipate, or more to the point, dictate, market behavior with a software market unprepared to support it.
And you're sure "someone" will come along... Any idea of just who or when in the real market of now and this year when they are trying to market i7 and recover their NRE costs?
Unfortunately Intel must function in the real world of real companies and real products. Not simply in the fantasy world where 'someone' will 'happen along' who just 'happens' to have higher end technology than what is currently available in a compatible format...
The last time we heard talk like that was with Transmeta...LOL!
In the meantime Asus and MSI and others are shipping Crossfire and SLI i7 Mobos.
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|Paul, The_Tool, and the Windbag, are all agreeing. This begs the big "Q", have Merc released a new ADHD alpha/beta suppressant (whichever is appropriate for that, that may ail).
Sorry to disabuse you dude's, it's all speed.
But, cannot resist a final word. Perchance the Weagles have just released another album?
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