Nvidia

Advanced Micro Devices will try to make buying a game PC more like selecting a game console.

"AMD Game!" will put badging on game PCs and set minimum standards for PCs that carry these badges. The idea is to allow gamers to select a PC like they would an Xbox 360 game console model and to drive home the point that an integrated graphics chip (from Intel, for example) is not good enough for a decent gaming experience.

AMD's specifications will target mainstream PC gamers, not high-end enthusiasts necessarily. Initially, the specifications will cover only desktops, with … Read more

AMD-ATI and Nvidia are preparing for the next graphics chip showdown. And there is already a good deal of information (and rumor) on the two chips due in June.

The names of the two upcoming product families have been widely reported: The ATI line is branded as the Radeon HD 4800, while the Nvidia is dubbed the GeForce GTX 200.

Advanced Micro Devices is expected to launch the HD 4850 (price estimates of graphics boards range between $189 and $219) and then follow with the 4870 (estimates range between $199 and $279). In the fourth quarter, AMD plans to add … Read more

Is the end of the Intel-AMD duopoly nigh? Via Technologies is hoping this may be the case when it announces the "Isaiah" processor later this month.

The company's first high-performance x86 chip will be targeted at the mainstream PC market--another first for the Taipei-based chip supplier. Via processors have historically appeared in ultrasmall mobile devices (such as the OQO), embedded computers, or thin-client computers.

"It puts us into the mainstream market for the first time," said Richard Brown, vice president, corporate marketing at Via.

Isaiah, like Via processors before it, will still hew to the … Read more

Dell will offer an Nvidia dual graphics chip upgrade for 17-inch XPS M1730 gaming notebook owners--but stepping up won't be a cakewalk for MediaDirect users.

The upgrade from the Nvidia dual 8700M GT to dual 8800M GTX graphics is in the works and will likely be released later this month, according to Dell.

Some users were upset when Dell upgraded the graphics in newer models of the M1730 to the 8800M GTX. The XPS 1730 with the 8800M GTX earned a score of almost 13,500 in 3Dmark06--which is about a 49 percent performance gain over two 8700M GT … Read more

Dell's Alienware unit is slated to put AMD-ATI front and center. The Dell subsidiary will bring out a relatively low-cost game PC with dual ATI graphics chips within the next two weeks.

This comes in the wake of a report that Dell will phase out its XPS game PC line in favor of Alienware systems.

The $1,699 system--cheap by game PC standards--will come with 4GB (DDR2 800MHz) memory, a quad-core 9550 (2.2GHz) Phenom X4 processor, and a 3870 X2 board with two ATI HD 3870 graphics chips, said Marc Diana, Alienware product marketing manager for desktops. The … Read more

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said he has no interest in buying out chip supplier Via Technologies, dispelling rumors--at least for now--that had been circulating back in March.

"They don't need our money. I don't need theirs," Huang said, referring to Via. "They're doing fine. People want to create drama," he added.

Previous reports cited a number of scenarios including Nvidia's acquisition of the entire company. Via makes processors and chipsets for x86-based computers. Via reported revenue of about US$87.5 million in the first quarter of 2008.

The company … Read more

Jen-Hsun Huang doesn't pull any punches. And Intel is a favorite punching bag these days.

I had a chance to sit down with the Nvidia CEO as he described his company's philosophy and what sounds like the first volleys of a long battle with Intel.

A quick backdrop: Nvidia is the largest graphics chip company in the world, with quarterly revenue in the $1 billion range. Although Intel and Nvidia seem to exist in symbiotic bliss inside many PCs, this doesn't reflect the two companies' business models, which are in many respects far apart.

Intel is a … Read more

Watch out, Nvidia is stalking the iPhone. The maker of fast graphics processors will apply its chip know-how to juice up the mobile internet device market and the Windows Mobile interface.

As reported back in February, after a decade of pumping up PC performance, Nvidia is betting a big part of its future on boosting graphics performance in fit-in-your-pocket mobile internet devices (MIDs).

CNET Video of APX 2500 prototype here.

iPhone-style devices with Nvdia's APX 2500 system-on-a-chip--due late this year and next year--incorporate most of the functionality of a PC. (See block diagram.) And it is important to note … Read more

An analyst at CRT Capital Group says Nvidia may be treading on dangerous ground with its recent blitz of Intel taunts.

While CRT Capital Group analyst Ashok Kumar readily concedes that Nvidia's graphics chip technology is far superior to Intel's, he also issued a warning to Nvidia in a note released Monday: "Nvidia vs. Intel: an Emerging Grudge Match."

"(Nvidia CEO) Jen-sun Huang seems to believe that Nvidia's graphics solutions are better than Intel's because Intel simply doesn't know how to do better," Kumar said. "But there is another element … Read more