Graphics Chips (NVDA, ATYT, etc) (fka GPHX)

[AstronautApe_888]

BREAKING: Nvidia Shorts Are Down Whopping $4.1bn in Losses
https://franknez.com/nvidia-shorts-are-down-whopping-4-1bn-in-losses/

[cinderblock]

CTS-E12
A pc with 3 NVS NVIDIA 440s

[webalicious]

Sector Snap: Chips Trip
Thursday October 5, 2:07 pm ET
Semiconductor Stocks Mostly Slip, With Diodes and Nvidia Among Biggest Losers


NEW YORK (AP) -- Semiconductor stocks slipped in Thursday afternoon trading, with graphics chips maker Nvidia Corp. and discrete semiconductor supplier Diodes Inc. leading the pack into the red.
A handful of chip makers -- including Texas Instruments Inc. and STMicroelectronics NV fell modestly without any catalysts.

ADVERTISEMENT





Texas Instruments shares fell 11 cents to $28.95 on the New York Stock Exchange, while STMicroelectronics shares were down 22 cents at $17.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Nvidia shares, which have traded between $15.26 and $31.88 over the last year, were down 70 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $30.38 on the Nasdaq, after an analyst dismissed rumors that the company could be an acquisition target for chip maker Intel Corp.

"We think it's wrong to assume that Nvidia must be a potential target for Intel just because AMD (Advanced Micro Devices Inc.) is buying ATI Technologies," said Merrill Lynch analyst Joe Osha, in a note to clients. "What AMD wanted out of the deal was a workable platform strategy. Intel has that already."

Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced plans in July to acquire Nvidia competitor ATI Technologies Inc. in a deal valued at $5.4 billion.

Intel shares were down 4 cents at $20.78 on the Nasdaq, while AMD shares were up 3 cents at $25.06 on the New York Stock Exchange. ATI shares were down 6 cents at $21.54 on the Nasdaq.

Elsewhere in the sector, shares of Diodes Inc., maker of semiconductor devices used in computer memory boards and central processing units, sank after the company announced a $200 million convertible note offering. Shares of Diodes fell $3.32, or 7.3 percent, to $42.03 on the Nasdaq.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector Index slipped 2.31 points to 454.49.

[webalicious]

Nvidia Corp. shares climbed more than 8 percent on Wednesday amid speculation the graphics chipmaker could be acquired by Intel Corp. (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research), traders said.

A spokeswoman for Intel, the world's No. 1 chipmaker, declined comment, saying her company doesn't comment on market speculation. A spokeswoman for Nvidia could not be reached.

Nvidia shares rose $2.32 to $30.62 in afternoon Nasdaq trade. Some 20 million shares changed hands, about double the three-month daily average.

Investors have been speculating that Nvidia might be acquired since July, when Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) agreed to buy Nvidia rival ATI Technologies Inc. (ATYT.OQ: Quote, Profile, Research) for $5.4 billion. Rumors of such a transaction resurfaced on Wednesday, spreading quickly across Wall Street trading desks, according to three options market participants.

"There is speculation that Intel will make an acquisition announcement tonight," said Bill Lefkowitz, options strategist at brokerage firm vFinance Investments in New York.

Investors bought up call options contracts, hoping to profit from a surge in Nvidia shares if the company is acquired at a premium to its current share price.

Before noon more than 33,500 Nvidia calls were traded in the U.S. options market, more than twice their normal volume over the last 20 trading days, according to market research firm Track Data.

Some observers said that they doubt Intel would buy Nvidia because it's too expensive. The company has a stock market capitalization of about $10 billion, which means it would demand a far higher price than what AMD is paying for ATI.

AMD's purchase of ATI allows the Intel rival to enter a new market as it currently doesn't make graphics chips.

An Intel acquisition of Nvidia wouldn't have that appeal because Intel already sells graphics chips, an area where it has been expanding by hiring engineers specialized in that field, said Pacific Growth Equities analyst Satya Chillara. Additionally, Nvidia Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang isn't ready to hand over control of the company, Chillara said.

"There are psychological, emotional and financial variables at play," he added.

[j3pflynn]

Yeah, I noticed that. The roadmap is actually pretty valid, just time-shifted by their delays.

[wbmw]

Pretty old link. Roadmap stops 3 quarters ago.

BTW, I think this thread is dead. There never was much interest, and in fact it's probably more relevant to post about ATI on the AMD thread, since they will soon be the same company, and there's more people posting there as well.

[j3pflynn]

Best I could find:
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=2515&s=1

[j3pflynn]

Anyone know the location of a good ATi chipset roadmap?

[lurkerwatcher]

Time to sell NVDA?

http://crweblog.blogspot.com/

[lurkerwatcher]

Any thoughts on this? http://crweblog.blogspot.com/

[Not a Short]

Does anybody know a part # and/or release date for this video card?

http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/motherboards/ww45/gigabyte.jpg

It's a Geforce 7800 GT card with a zalman cooler on it stock so you don't have to mod it and it is quieter/cooler than the reference design and all the other 7800 GT cards on the market.

I normall post on the AMD board but I should see your message if you do a direct reply.

[Nellor]

Ali or ViA??

I dont know yet...
I think Ali its going to grow a lot in 2004...

Should i get invest in ViA or Ali??

I´m thinking bout via because they´r entering in the Graphics market... But today Ali is nothing... and they´r doing good chipsets for A64... They will grow for sure...

Plz... help me... Which one i choose?

[wbmw]

Nellor, if you invest in VIA, do it because of their chipset business. Right now, I don't see their CPU or graphics chips businesses making any kind of headway. Just MHO.

[Nellor]

What about Via shares?

Well...
Im from brasil, and im thinking of invest U$500,00 on Via...

Is that a good deal?

Or should i invest on AT&T???

[neye_eve]

wbmw - thanks - the stops are smarter than I am

The stop (and Schwab - I had the stop @ 15.75, but they got me the 3 cents on it) really saved my bacon, as I was in meetings all morning and would have been a large % worse off if I'd been left to do my own trading.

Seems like the downslide was reasonable, given the amount ATYT's shot up this year. And, with a PE of ~ 100, I'm guessing all the "growth" has been built into it already So, the conf call just reiterated what people already knew - ATI's doing well, but not so well that there is still a massive upside. So, it seems people responded accordingly.

From a consumer's perspective, it's great to have NVDA and ATI keep each other honest, just like with INTC and AMD. Still, from an investor's perspective, I just wish one would bury the other - doesn't matter which - so that the monopolistic profits would kick in for a while until the next competitor pops up.

neye

[richbloem]

Dhellman, thanks for the reply. Appreciate it.

[dhellman]

=DJ UPDATE (2): ATI Says 4Q Margins May Not Be Sustainable

(Adds analysts comments in paragraphs 7-10 and updates share price.)

By Stuart Weinberg Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES TORONTO (DOW JONES)--ATI Technologies Inc.'s (ATYT) fourth-quarter revenue and earnings exceeded expectations, but the graphics chip maker forecast a decline in first-quarter gross margins, citing increasing competitive pressures.

The Markham, Ont. company's gross margins climbed sharply in the fourth quarter, up three percentage points from the previous quarter, to 35.6%. However, on a conference call early Friday, ATI chief financial officer Terry Nickerson said margins were at the high end of ATI's targeted range.

"While we are pleased with the increase in gross margin, it is just about the high end of our target range and our forecast anticipates that we will be back in our 32-35% range in response to competitive pressures going forward," he said.

Asked to provide more detail about the "competitive pressure," Nickerson said the company's integrated graphics processors begin shipping in the first quarter, which could pressure margins. In addition, the company may be taking an overly cautious view, he added, given the strength in fourth-quarter margins. "We just recognize that we have pretty strong margins...and it's just a question of how sustainable is that and for how long. So we may in fact be a little bit cautious in terms of the guidance on that, but right now that's how we're seeing it," he said.

On Nasdaq Friday, ATI is down 85 cents, or 5.2%, to $15.45 on about 8.1 million shares. The stock has traded as low as $15.33.

CIBC World Markets analyst Daniel Gelbtuch said he believes the decline in the share price may reflect profit-taking, noting that the stock is up sharply this year. Investors may also be concerned about the lower gross-margin forecast, he added. Gelbtuch said Nickerson's comments suggest ATI is being extremely cautious. Hence, the analyst said his forecasts are "going up."

National Bank Financial analyst Deepak Chopra was less sanguine about ATI's forecasted margins. In a research note Friday, he said the lower forecast highlights two major concerns: pricing pressure and the lower margins that will be generated from the integrated products.

During the call, ATI president David Orton acknowledged that margins from the integrated business will be at the low end of the company's range, as ATI attempts to gain credibility and market share in this new area of its business.

Harris Partners analyst Jon Hykawy lauded the company's fourth-quarter results, calling the 71% year-on-year revenue growth "remarkable." However, he added, there are clearly risks for any ATI investor at this point. "Aside from market and economic risk, which we don't believe we are any more qualified to judge than many others, we note that we are approaching yet another product cycle from both Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) and ATI," he said. "Should Nvidia manage to produce fantastic products for both the enthusiast and mainstream, and ATI misstep, then ATI will be hurt."

Hykawy said he didn't believe this scenario was likely to occur, given what is known at this point regarding coming products. ATI is also diversifying well into a variety of consumer products and hedging against continued pressure on discrete praphics processors by entering the market for integrated chipsets, he added. "This is a very strong company," he said.

Hykawy owns ATI shares but Harris Partners doesn't have an investment-banking relationship with the company. National Bank's Chopra and CIBC's Gelbtuch don't own ATI shares and neither firm has an investment-banking relationship with the company.

For the period ended Aug. 31, ATI reported net of 9 cents a share, compared with a loss of 15 cents a year earlier. Adjusted net came in at 12 cents, up from breakeven. Adjusted net excludes the effects of investment gains, other charges, amortization of goodwill and other items.

Revenue rose to $380.6 million from $223 million.

The Thomson First Call mean estimate was for adjusted net of 10 cents a share on revenue of $364.46 million.

"We had an excellent quarter," Nickerson said.

For the first quarter, the company sees revenue of $400-$430 million with adjusted net even with or slightly higher than the fourth-quarter level. The First Call mean estimate is for adjusted net of 13 cents and $399.65 million, respectively.

Company Web Site: http://www.ati -Stuart Weinberg, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2026; [e-mail] (END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 03, 2003 13:25 ET (17:25 GMT)

[richbloem]

What's going on?? ATYT shows good earnings, good guidance and settles Cirrus Logic suit for peanuts. So why is the stock diving. Anybody here know??

[wbmw]

neye, good call. Be sure to keep us posted. I'm hoping to enter before the end of the year and hopefully catch some of the holiday uptick.

[neye_eve]

Just talking to myself, I suppose...

Stopped out at 15.78 this AM. Now, when to get back in...?

neye

[wbmw]

Neye, Re: NVDA and SNE, I think it was a Register or Inq article, but it quoted the CEO of SNE saying that they are pursuing possible business relations with NVDA. There was no kind of commit, and I'm sure ATYT is gunning for the same business, so we'll have to see. Playstation has traditionally been overpowered in CPU power, but underpowered in graphics power. It would be the perfect match to marry the new Cell processor with an NVDA or ATYT chip, so we'll have to see.

[neye_eve]

Interesting info about sony - where do you get it?

I've heard the now standard xbox2 win and the nintendo link is there of course, but where did you find the info about nVidia persuing SNE? I'll admit I haven't followed graphics as much as I had earlier, so it may be an obvious source.

It seems that ATYT is really just crushing nVidia right now in the high end, and with HL2 coming in the box with new ATI cards (those new benchmarks don't hurt either), I'm guessing that they're going to ship an uncharacteristically large number of the higher-margin parts than usual.

I guess what I'm thinking is that, while the "bread and butter" cards are the mid to low end, this next quarter should have a disproportionately large amount of high end that could rock their financial boat in the right direction. Couple this with the fact that they're doing this with an established product (the R300 series) instead of trying to introduce a new architecture (= uncertainty), I'm thinking they have a good chance to run up a bit more.

Anyway, good job in picking up the $5's when you had the chance - no shame in taking a 60% profit, and opportunity cost of that sort should only mean something if you can tell the future

neye

[dhellman]

I've been in and out 3 times and always missed about 50 cents each time(plus commish). But I'm still relatively sane. Meanwhile I can't see touching nvdia til it goes pre-teen and then we will see.

NVDA seems to be poisened by the voodoo they didn't do so well incorporating. <g>

All is temporary in this game. ATYT can still blow it, and NVDA can come back big. It is fun staying tuned!

Dave

[wbmw]

Neye, I actually bought into ATYT around $5, so I sold WAYYY to early .

But I am thinking of reentering this stock at some point. I think I will as soon as my AMD short calls expire. With the XBOX2 design win, and the obvious Nintendo relationship, ATYT will be big in the gaming console business. If only they could win Sony's business, they'd really be in the money (though I hear nVidia is pushing hard for Sony's business right now).

[neye_eve]

Hey, wbmw...

good to see you on a board of mutual interest other than the AMD board

Just bought some ATYT. It's my first stock trade in over a year, I think. In @ 14.75, let's see if I get burned per my usual "strategy" Of course, I wish I had whatever basis you had when you made your post to which this is a reply, but I have to (re)start somewhere...

neye

[wbmw]

Dhellman, there is always the possibility of missing the boat when it comes to stock trades. But at some point, you have to be happy with 60% returns, or else you take all the ups, as well as all the downs, while making nothing but paper earnings that disappear and reappear.

[dhellman]

Are you re-thinking that sale?
I sold the smae day and I'm now wondering if this xBox rumor has any traction.
http://spong.com/index.asp?art=5053
TODAY
NVDA down 6+%
ATYT up 8+%

hmmmm


(a preview of the xBox cpu rumors)

[wbmw]

FYI: I just made 60% return by selling my ATYT shares. I think the graphics market is growing a little too fast right now, and there might be some pull-back.

[wbmw]

Dew, Re: IBM’s state-of-the-art SOI process looks like a key undercurrent of this deal.

I read it differently. To me, it says that IBM's SOI process as it stands today isn't up to snuff, so nVidia is steering clear. However, it plans to leave options open in case IBM ever figures out how to make it work.

[DewDiligence]

IBM/NDVA deal and SOI:

http://news.com.com/2102-1006-994072.html?tag=ni_print

“When looking for an additional foundry, Nvidia also sought out technology that would help it boost performance, Perez said. This gave IBM a leg up on the competition… The graphics chipmaker will not use IBM's more exotic manufacturing technologies--such as the silicon-on-insulator technique, which helps reduce power consumption and boost performance--at first, but may use them in the future.”

--
I read “may” as “will”. IBM’s state-of-the-art SOI process looks like a key undercurrent of this deal.

[DewDiligence]

WSJ column on NVDA & ATYT in today’s paper, page B1. Mostly background info, but has this amusing quote:

“Most games are bought by adolescent males, and so are constructed on a triad of violence, gore, and women with freakishly large breasts.”

[JoeP]

The DX9 compatability of those cheap cards are really nice, though. NVidia has a nce sweetspot again to rake in the cash!

[wbmw]

Tom's Hardware also did a recent review of the new GeForce FX cards. They didn't fare exceptionally well. Maybe nVidia's next generation will do better, but frankly, it looks like the market for graphics cards has just about died.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030311/index.html

[JoeP]

Nice review coming up:

http://aceshardware.com/#65000388

I've also heard that the 9800pro is actually quieter than the 9700pro, and the clockspeed on the GPU is somewhat conservative.

[wbmw]

Joe, agreed. If this is the future for graphics cards, it is the wrong direction. nVidia is hopefully working on their cost reduced NV31 and NV34 chips, as these will be the big sellers this next year. The longer they wait, the easier it will be for ATYT. Hope NVDA investors have a hedge.

wbmw

[JoeP]

GFFX = LOUD

Here's what John Carmack (creator of DOOM series) has to say.
http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/finger.pl?id=1&time=20030129210315

[DewDiligence]

Article on semiconductor fabs:

http://news.com.com/2102-1001-981418.html

Mostly old news. A few excerpts which are germane to the foundries such as TSM:

>>
In this new era, Intel could gain an even greater opportunity to undercut opponents or enter new markets because of its unique self-sufficiency. Asian foundries such as TSMC, meanwhile, will grow in power, and IBM may become the de facto R&D department for an array of semiconductor companies.

…foundries are rapidly growing in sophistication and importance. Collectively, they will grow by 31 percent annually and likely account for 40 percent to 50 percent of the world's semiconductor output by 2010, said Dan Byers, director of worldwide marketing for Taiwan Semiconductor. He said TSMC will start making 90-nanometer chips around the same time as Intel…
<<

[wbmw]

Dew, thanks for the tip on TSM. I'll add it to my watch list.

wbmw

[DewDiligence]

Taiwan Semi (TSM) might be a reasonable way to benefit from the upside of fabless semiconductor companies such as NVDA (and TMTA) with a lower risk level. Although not dirt cheap, TSM looks pretty appealing from a long-term risk-reward standpoint. FWIW. Dew (P.S. I don’t own any TSM yet but have it on my “watch” list.)

[wbmw]

Joe, GeForce FX should be a winner, but I think nVidia is closely approaching the power wall. Look at the exotic cooling that they already have on what is essentially an add-in card. Ridiculous. I'm looking for a good time to get out of the stock, actually. Maybe after their new product line starts to sell, the stock will get a good boost. If it hits $20, I'm offloading at least half my shares. Best of luck.

wbmw

[JoeP]

http://www.visiontek.com/

It's NVidia's fault.

[JoeP]

Get your GFFX here!

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11205639&m=488&cat=540&scat=1574&cmp=IL13687

Available March 9th. Ouch.

[JoeP]

i've only seen rumors.

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6557
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6661

Basically, having DDR-II will increase the bandwitdh of the card from R300 to R350. I've heard that it might be 256-bit DDR-II. It will provide more effictive bandwidth by lowering latencies and/or increasing effective clockspeed.

RV350 will be a die shrink, possibly with DDR-II, i simply don't know. RV350 and R350 will give NV30 a run for it's money.

No idea what R400 will be, i expect be able to get one by around August.

[wbmw]

Joe, what are the specifications for the R350 and the R400?

Thanks.

wbmw

[JoeP]

I'm thinking that NV30 will give NVidia about a 2 month lead until R350 comes. This is nothing spectacular compared to ATI's half-year lead. If R350 doesn't surpass NV30 in performance, R400, planned for July, will.

[wbmw]

Nvidia said to debut NV30 at Comdex Fall in November
Charles Chou, Taipei; Christy Lee, DigiTimes.com [Friday 4 October 2002]

http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article2.asp?datePublish=2002/10/04&pages=04&seq=27

Nvidia has reportedly decided to officially introduce its top-end NV30 chip at the Comdex Fall exhibition, to be held in Las Vegas from November 18-22, after delaying the roll-out for months to change the design from a six-pipeline to eight-pipeline architecture.

Supporting cards will hit the market shortly afterwards and will be launched in at least two different clock speed versions.

Besides Nvidia, graphics chip designers ATI Technologies and Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) are both gearing up for the high-end market in the fourth quarter with plans for several product launches.

Following the introduction of its Radeon 9000 and 9700 series in July, Canada-based ATI has scheduled to release more new chips in the fourth quarter. Products on the list include the R300-core, four-pipeline Radeon 9500 series; RV250-core, AGP 8x-supporting RV280; and higher-end R350 and RV350 chips.

SiS, the first company to introduce AGP 8x-supporting graphics chip, also indicated that it will launch a newer Xabre 600 chip shortly. According to sources, in addition to DirectX 8.1 and AGP 8x support, the latest Xabre 600 will enjoy a higher clock speed of 275MHz, compared to its current speed of 250MHz. With the updates, the new Xabre 600’s specifications will be closer to those of Nvidia’s GeForce4 Ti 4400 and ATI’s Radeon 9500 series, enhancing its competitiveness in combination with its relatively cheaper price.

wbmw

[wbmw]

NVIDIA Corporation Announces Employee Stock Option Exchange Offer
Thursday September 26, 2:00 pm ET

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020926/sfth050_1.html

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA - News), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved an offer for employees of NVIDIA Corporation to exchange outstanding stock options for stock. The offer is designed to help the Company retain employees and better align their interests with stockholders.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020613/NVDALOGO )
"NVIDIA is fortunate to have attracted some of the most talented professionals in the technology industry. Our employees are our most valuable asset; our best competitive advantage; and our most important long-term investment," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. "We believe this offer will help ensure that we retain and motivate the world class employees who have, time and time again, created the industry-changing products that have made NVIDIA one of the most respected technology companies in the world."

The Company is offering to exchange stock options held by employees that have an exercise price equal to or greater than $27.00 per share for fully vested shares of the Company's common stock. For each stock option tendered, an employee will receive common stock with a value equal to the number of shares underlying the stock option, multiplied by $3.20.

If all eligible employees accept the offer, approximately 20.6 million options under the offering will be cancelled and approximately 4.8 million shares of common stock will be issued. As a result of the offer, the Company expects to incur an estimated compensation charge of up to approximately $66 million in the quarter ending October 27, 2002.

Employees must decide to accept or reject the offer on or before October 24, 2002. All employees holding eligible options may participate -- except for the Company's CEO, CFO and members of its Board of Directors. NVIDIA has filed a Schedule TO with the Securities and Exchange Commission with respect to the offer and the offer is subject to the terms and restrictions described in that document.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video games consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.nvidia.com .

Certain statements in this press release, including the statements relating to the Company's performance expectations for NVIDIA's family of products and expectations of continued revenue growth, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, manufacturing and other delays relating to new products, difficulties in the fabrication process and dependence of the Company on third-party manufacturers, general industry trends including cyclical trends in the PC and semiconductor industries, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, market acceptance of the Company's new products, and the Company's dependence on third-party developers and publishers. Investors are advised to read the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those sections entitled "Certain Business Risks," for a fuller discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

NOTE: All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

wbmw

[wbmw]

NVIDIA Offers Industry's First and Only Full Family of AGP 8X GPU and Core Logic Solutions
GeForce4 Ti, GeForce4 MX and nForce2 Processors All Harness the Power of AGP 8X and the Intel AGP 3.0 Specification
Wednesday September 25, 9:01 am ET

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020925/sfw008_1.html

TAIPEI, Taiwan and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA - News), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today introduced the industry's first and only comprehensive family of AGP 8X-based products. Based on Intel's AGP 3.0 specification, NVIDIA now offers an extensive range of top-to-bottom graphics processing units (GPUs) and platform processors for next-generation digital media, gaming, and business PC platforms. NVIDIA's AGP 8X product line-up, which includes the NVIDIA® GeForce(TM)4 Ti 4200 with AGP 8X and the GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP 8X desktop GPUs, as well as the new nForce2(TM) platform processors, forms the technology foundation for the world's most advanced PCs.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020613/NVDALOGO )
"AGP 8X is the foundation of the new world of PC computing," said Dan Vivoli, vice president of marketing at NVIDIA. "By offering the industry's only top-to-bottom AGP 8X product family, we are able to provide robust AGP 8X solutions delivering increased graphics performance. Our GPUs are the most complete implementation of the AGP 8X specification and are used as the reference hardware for AGP 8X."

AGP 8X doubles the graphics bandwidth of the AGP interface to 2.1 gigabytes per second (GB/sec.). This keeps data hungry GPUs fed with the information necessary to render high frame rate, high fidelity, and real-time graphics.

"NVIDIA has been a defining force in graphics technology for many years, and the input we incorporated from NVIDIA ensures that this new industry standard specification meets the needs of their future graphics architectures, "said Jason Ziller, Technology Initiatives Manager at Intel Corporation. "As graphics technology continues to progress at a rapid pace, we will soon see an influx of workstation-class applications and 3D games with stunning visuals. AGP 8X is the next big step to make sure Workstations and PCs can handle the massive amount of data that those applications will transmit."

Today's fast-paced "fly-through" applications and games will see significant improvements in overall performance due to the doubled AGP 8X speed. By combining the performance and scalability of AGP8X GPU and a high performance 128MB DDR frame buffer; the GeForce4 Ti 4200 with AGP 8X GPU delivers more than two times the graphics performance of competitive products.

Support for AGP 8X extends beyond the GeForce4 family of desktop GPUs and into all the motherboard designs based on NVIDIA's highly anticipated nForce2 core logic products. By featuring AGP 8X, NVIDIA's nForce2 platform processors help reduce system bottlenecks, allowing for increased system performance and stability.

A variety of new platforms featuring NVIDIA's AGP 8X products will be
introduced from the following PC OEMs:
-- 4MBO International Electronics AG
-- Fujitsu Siemens Computers (FSC)
-- HP
-- MicronPC.com
-- Shuttle Computer

Add-in cards and motherboards based on NVIDIA's AGP 8X product line-up
will be introduced from the following NVIDIA partners:
-- ASUStek
-- Chaintech
-- Epox
-- eVGA.com
-- Gainward
-- Jaton
-- Leadtek Research
-- MSI
-- PNY Technologies, Inc.


About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video games consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release, including the statements relating to the Company's performance expectations for NVIDIA's family of products and expectations of continued revenue growth, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, manufacturing and other delays relating to new products, difficulties in the fabrication process and dependence of the Company on third-party manufacturers, general industry trends including cyclical trends in the PC and semiconductor industries, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, market acceptance of the Company's new products, and the Company's dependence on third-party developers and publishers. Investors are advised to read the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those sections entitled "Certain Business Risks," for a fuller discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

The product performance stated above is for graphics accelerator products with a current retail selling price of $200 or less on 3DMark 2001SE benchmark at 1280x1024x32-bit with 2X full scene antialiasing, using a system configured with a 2.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor, 512MB memory, under Windows XP.

All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

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Graphics processors take center stage
Enhanced game performance gives dormant PC industry some life

http://www.ebnonline.com/story/OEG20020920S0059

By Bruce Gain
EBN
(09/20/02, 03:14 PM EST)

The troubled PC industry might have graphics processors to thank for keeping a lackluster year from being a train wreck.

Improvements in the processing performance of graphics processors (GPUs) are serving as the principal differentiator for PCs, as well as sparking strong sales of game consoles, analysts and observers said.

Just as word processing and spreadsheet programs and connection to the Internet drove the PC industry's growth for its first two decades, compelling gaming is becoming today's must-have application.

Game software companies are enjoying annual sales of $2.88 billion in the PC market, in addition to $1.93 billion for consoles and $800 million for handheld games, said Jon Peddie, an analyst at Jon Peddie Research, Tiburon, Calif. That translates to 38 million PCs being used for games on top of 15 million consoles, “which is a very conservative estimation,” Peddie said.

“Graphics processor makers and OEMs clearly see the opportunity of the results of graphics applications. Consumers, for example, can very clearly see and notice smooth rendering of images offered by graphics processors,” said Richard Doherty, an analyst at the Envisioneering Group, Seaford, N.Y. “It's the visual verification that is rewarding, and which also makes consumers pull their credit cards out of their wallets.”

Graphics processors offer a visual and performance improvement that is much more noticeable by the user, compared with CPU clock speed gains of more than 1GHz that can offer little or no noticeable improvement in PC performance, according to industry analysts.

“There's no doubt, for visually intensive applications there's an extreme difference measured by factors of five to 10 in terms of productivity you can achieve by investing a couple of hundred of dollars in your machine to move to the next level of graphics,” said Dave Orton, president and chief operating officer at ATI Technologies Inc., Markham, Ontario.

“If you look at pure performance and step up, it's not just like moving from a 2Gig to 2.6Gig CPU where there is a 25% performance gain, but you get a true 2X or more gain in capabilities with the GPU,” Orton added.

Many of the top-tier PC OEMs, such as Dell, Gateway, and Hewlett-Packard, have lowered their financial expectations after the second half has not picked up as predicted. Analyst firm Morgan Stanley, New York, for example, cut its PC unit shipment estimates for the second half by about 2.3 million units, to 65.2 million. Game-console sales, however, which live and die by graphics performance, are expected to grow this year by 28.9%, to 43.7 million units shipped, according to IDC, Framingham, Mass.


GPUs vs. CPUs
Despite increased demand for graphics processors, prices are holding steady. According to Dean McCarron, an analyst at Mercury Research in Cave Creek, Ariz., the average selling price of a GPU should remain at $18 through the rest of the year. While average per-unit CPU prices have been steadily declining from $174 in the second quarter of 2000, the average price is expected to level off at around $130 by the end of this year, more than six times the price of the average GPU.

“OEMs have to build PCs on a particular budget, and they have to buy the best graphics at that price,” McCarron said. “Even though graphics performance has dramatically improved, the GPU sweet spot remains at $18.”

GPUs have the ability to take advantage of parallelism, which lends itself well to several pixel-rendering applications that run simultaneously, vs. the CPU's pure processing muscle that is geared for more specific computational tasks, said Neil Trevett, senior vice president at 3Dlabs Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif., which Creative Technology Ltd. purchased earlier this year. “The CPU's role will eventually be reduced to that of the smart overseer,” he said. “I also don't think CPU suppliers fathom this yet.”

Additionally, GPU suppliers are offering more transistors per device than CPUs that are made by Intel and AMD, and that translates into more raw performance gains, analysts say. “The GPU outscales and outperforms the CPU by a factor of two or more,” Peddie said. “Just on transistor count alone, a good GPU has twice the number of the transistors compared to a CPU, and that ratio isn't going to change.”

But high-end, graphically intensive applications require both strong CPU and GPU power, said Tony Tamasi, general manager of the desktop graphics group at Nvidia Corp., Santa Clara, Calif.

“Specifically, the sophisticated algorithms create the pixels, which are limited by the transistor count, while the algorithms that animate the characters are driven by the pure and raw computing power of the CPU,” he said. “The most interesting gaming experiences are on high-end computers with very fast CPUs and high-end graphics. The really fast CPU animates the characters faster and makes the artificial intelligence better, and the high-end graphics processor renders the image more beautifully at higher resolutions and higher frame rates.”

Examples of high-performance graphics applications are shadows or the rippling effects of water, which require very high frame rates, complex algorithms, and fast computing power.


Others give it a try
Other players have emerged or re-emerged after witnessing the good fortunes of Nvidia and ATI in discrete graphics applications. A month ago-after ATI launched its latest family of high-end Radeon graphics processors, and Nvidia made plans to up the performance ante with its new GeForce line-Trident introduced its first desktop discrete graphics processor for the mainstream market following a half-decade hiatus from the business.

Earlier this year, other players made similar moves to carve out a share in the discrete market, including Creative (3D-Labs), Matrox, SiS, and Via. The hands- down leaders in discrete graphics, however, remain ATI and Nvidia, which represent more than 90% of the market.

The opportunities in graphics are attractive, but the entry barrier is high, said Dennis Young, an SiS product manager for multimedia in Taiwan. “The GPU offers great value in terms of capabilities per die size as IC suppliers continue to put more gates and transistors on the devices and algorithms become more complicated,” Young said. “Any device out there that doesn't at least match [the competition's GPU capabilities] will not survive in the market.”

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NVIDIA and Square Partner to Bring Final Fantasy XI to the PC
Square Relies on NVIDIA Hardware to Take Best-Selling Final Fantasy Game Series to New Graphical Heights
Thursday September 19, 9:00 am ET

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/020919/sfth026_1.html

TOKYO GAME SHOW - ROPPONGI, Japan, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA - News), the worldwide leader in visual processing solutions, today announced that it is working closely with Square Co., Ltd., ("Square"), Japan's leading third-party developer and publisher of home video game console software, on the development of Final Fantasy® XI for the Microsoft® Windows® platform. Square has selected NVIDIA® GeForce(TM)4 Ti graphics processing units (GPUs) for the development and deployment of the next installment in the Final Fantasy series, one of the best-selling game franchises of all time. The first PC game developed by Square and the first massively multiplayer online game in the Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XI delivers crisp 3D graphics and unique visual effects, made possible only by NVIDIA GPUs.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020613/NVDALOGO )
"We are proud to announce Final Fantasy XI for Windows today and are pleased to be aligned with NVIDIA to take the Final Fantasy series to the next level," said Yoichi Wada, president & CEO of Square. "The NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti GPU is the most powerful graphics processor currently available and will provide gamers with the best way to play the game."

Throughout the development of Final Fantasy XI, Square's development team used NVIDIA graphics as the reference hardware of choice for development and quality control testing. The result represents a quantum technological leap in the Final Fantasy series. While the game was developed with a wide range of computer configurations in mind, only those users with NVIDIA hardware, specifically GeForce4 Ti GPUs, can experience unique visual effects and other optimizations exclusive to NVIDIA hardware.

"Final Fantasy XI For Windows is a perfect example of what is possible when you combine the talents of the world's foremost experts in role-playing games with the leader in graphics solutions," said Dan Vivoli, vice president of marketing at NVIDIA. "The legions of Final Fantasy fans will be undoubtedly awestruck by the visual excellence of the game running on GeForce4 GPUs."

Final Fantasy XI for Windows will be released in Japan on November 7. Retail copies of the game will feature NVIDIA's "The Best Way to Play" logo, an NVIDIA marketing program in Asia designed to increase consumer awareness to games that take full advantage of NVIDIA GPUs to deliver an unmatched gaming experience. Players will also be able to access Square's PlayOnline(TM) network service and enter the borderless world of the Final Fantasy XI gaming community.

About Square Co., Ltd

Square Co., Ltd. is a leading developer and publisher of video game software in with annual sales of more than US $614 million and 900 employees worldwide. Square Co., Ltd. is famous for its role-playing games, including its world-renowned FINAL FANTASY series, which has sold more than 38 million units to date, and now publishes other titles under the SQUARESOFT brand. Square Co., Ltd. is based in Tokyo, Japan, and maintains a branch office in Osaka.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation is a market leader in visual computing technology dedicated to creating products that enhance the interactive experience on consumer and professional computing platforms. Its graphics and communications processors have broad market reach and are incorporated into a wide variety of computing platforms, including consumer digital-media PCs, enterprise PCs, professional workstations, digital content creation systems, notebook PCs, military navigation systems and video games consoles. NVIDIA is headquartered in Santa Clara, California and employs more than 1,400 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.nvidia.com.

Certain statements in this press release, including the statements relating to the Company's performance expectations for NVIDIA's family of products and expectations of continued revenue growth, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, manufacturing and other delays relating to new products, difficulties in the fabrication process and dependence of the Company on third-party manufacturers, general industry trends including cyclical trends in the PC and semiconductor industries, the impact of competitive products and pricing alternatives, market acceptance of the Company's new products, and the Company's dependence on third-party developers and publishers. Investors are advised to read the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly those sections entitled "Certain Business Risks," for a fuller discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties.

NOTE: All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability, and specifications are subject to change without notice.

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