NVIDIA in a Rush for 55nm Parts, has Partners 'Red-Eyed'

[btarunr]

With the cost of manufacture for a standard G200 die reaching up to US $110, thanks to yields as low as 40 per cent, NVIDIA seems to be in a rush for a 55nm revamp of its current GPUs. While nothing revolutionary is on the cards, and with 55nm G92b already in the making, NVIDIA plans to revamp its G200 graphics processors to the 55nm fab process, increasing yields up to 50 per cent. At 55nm, the G200 die will be effectively reduced to 470 sq. mm, implies 120 dice on a 300mm wafer.

The pace at which things are moving is having the partners red-eyed. NVIDIA's new Unilateral Minimum Advertised Price Policy (UMAP) has limited partners' playing field and minimizes competition between them. When NVIDIA at the same time decides to launch new cards based on existing cores, at lower prices, partners get upset over diminishing earnings. Add to that AMD's new RV770 chip is looking very tempting to some of these partners.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[tkpenalty]

It costs so much already for partners to purchase the chips from Nvidia, and Nvidia forces the partners to drive their costs down-what AMD said about Nvidia's monolithic faliure was right...

470sqmm is STILL huge.

 

[a111087]

YEAH!!! everyone sell ATi lol
nvidia controls too much and might actually hurt itself in the long run ...

 

[btarunr]

Not bad....BFG HD4870 OC2....on a BFG 790 FX board

But yes, merely shrinking everything to 55nm wouldn't help them much. It can only send costs down (which it hasn't, 9800 GTX+ costs more than the virgin GTX). They need a something with 144/160/172 SP's.

 

[Gallatin]

i like that "war" it drop prices.....

 

[indybird]

Not bad....BFG HD4870 OC2....on a BFG 790 FX board

Now thats what I want to see!

-Indybird

 

[Airbrushkid]

I'll always stay with Nvidia!

 

[lepra24]

I'll always stay with Nvidia!

I'll always stay with best prices

 

[Deleted member 24505]

I'll always stay with best prices

agreed.Plus at this time ati is definately the best bang for buck.

 

[btarunr]

I find it downright ridiculous that despite knowing that HD4870 beats (or equals) the GTX 260, they continue to price it $399, and upto $459 for factory OC-ed variants.

 

[panchoman]

this explains why companies like gainward are becoming neutral, as they transition over to ati cards.

 

[newconroer]

Isn't everything about a competitive business market at a 'rush' pace?

Crack the whip Nvidia, bring on the 55nm.

I find it downright ridiculous that despite knowing that HD4870 beats (or equals) the GTX 260, they continue to price it $399, and upto $459 for factory OC-ed variants.

Because they can 'afford' to, even if the ratio to ATi card sale(s) is low. ATi has a lot of catching up to do both financially and in resources.

 

[Dr. Spankenstein]

Now for ATI to "FINISH HIM!", they need a strategy to ingratiate themselves to game developers with this awesome hardware (a'la TWIWMTBP).

With the numbers RV770 is able to produce (across OGL, DX9, DX10) it should happen rather quickly.

 

[btarunr]

One of the prime factors that has NV's partners pissed is the UMAP. Tier-I partners such as BFG, XFX, EVGA make the most, while smaller ones like Zotac, Zogis, Sparkle, are hit worse. We even saw Palit_Guy all red-eyed about this. Thankfully Palit can always prioritize on ATI products.

 

[imperialreign]

Now for ATI to "FINISH HIM!", they need a strategy to ingratiate themselves to game developers with this awesome hardware (a'la TWIWMTBP).

With the numbers RV770 is able to produce (across OGL, DX9, DX10) it should happen rather quickly.

I 100% agree.

Timing is perfect right now for ATI to fire up their own campaign like what nVidia has with TWIMTBP, and I'd fathom to say many game devs would hop on rather quickly . . . and if ATI could garner more developer support pushing DX10.1, it would truly make things interesting.

the only wrench in the works is probably the amount of money nVidia offer development teams as well, which is something ATI can't really do to a similar extent.


But, we've got some big league titles scheduled for this year, that are rumored to have DX10 support . . . prime crop for ATI to hop on the ball and help them impliment DX10.1 . . . STALKER: Clear Sky, (FEAR) Project Origin and Splinter Cell: Convictions are all slated for late Q3/Q4 release. Seeing ATI work with these teams would be a big bonus to coincide with the flagship 4870x2 release.

 

[WarEagleAU]

Its a bit ridiculous the way Nvidia does business. I hope they make a decent turn around with this. I wouldnt Want ATI to be the only gpu maker out there (not likely to happen, but you get my point)

 

[Megasty]

It's terrible as it is but NV has to find out that they can't continue to sell their junk for so much. When the g200b GTX280 or whatever comes out it'll probably cost just as much as the 65nm GTX280. The performance will be improved but it will still cost too much. Mix that in with UMAP & I can see why distros have a problem with them. When it comes down to it, do ppl realy buy overpriced, undervalued cards, especially when there's something out there that costs $100 less & beats it. An e-penis can only get so big.

 

[btarunr]

They might want to recover their profits, don't expect the G200 (55nm) to bring down prices. At most, expect a $350 GTX 260 for obvious reasons that the $299~$310 HD4870 walks all over it.

 

[HTC]

They might want to recover their profits, don't expect the G200 (55nm) to bring down prices. At most, expect a $350 GTX 260 for obvious reasons that the $299~$310 HD4870 walks all over it.

You mean "runs all over it", right?

 

[btarunr]

You mean "runs all over it", right?

I actually thought of "stomps it" but then I thought it was a little rude.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

i needs 3w2ay crossfire on a stick ala 3850 trinity.

 

[HTC]

I actually thought of "stomps it" but then I thought it was a little rude.

Right ...

Btw: congratz on your promotion (?) to staff, dude!

 

[candle_86]

well im still thinking Nvidia has a few tricks left, honestly look who where dealing with, look at advertisment. Also Nvidia won't be Finaccaly hurt as terrible as you assume. Under 200 bucks which is also the biggest market availble. The 9600GT/8800GT sell for 50 less than the 4850 and out preform the 3870, below that we have the 8600GT and 8500GT which are going in alot of cheap PC's. Add in the mobile grahpics for desktop replacements and and cheap PC's

 

[btarunr]

Sure there are offerings from NV that have retreated to the $150 bar, but the whole world knows that for just $199 you get kickass smashass card that can scale upto four GPUs. So you can buy a CFX board, keep adding a card whenever feasible and end up with a strong GP-sub system.

Kids don't need to sell crack to buy a solid graphics card anymore, their X-Mas income + Mr. Wilson's lawn income would suffice.

 

[candle_86]

the point is the largest segment of graphics card sales is under 100 bucks your forgetting that bta.