"Gonzo" wrote in message
news
"Asestar" a s e s t a r @ s t a r t . n o wrote in message
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"Dark Avenger" wrote in message
om...
"Gonzo" wrote in message
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I also hope that S3 also makes a decent card and driver set. We
need
some
competition. Im not holding my breath waiting for these two though.
S3
cards should be out soon I have read.


don't forget XGI, with their super powerfull Dual GPU card, they are
also a contender :-p

Their drivers were very buggy, last time i checked. also they cost a
fair
bit more than competetion, that kills sales for new cards.

I predict that XGI and S3 will go down in flames because of their driver
quality. Even this late in the game S3's pre production drivers
absolutely
stink. Not a good sign.

PowerVR I have more hope for. This is the first that I have heard of them
coming back though.

PowerVR (Imgtech) is different inasmuch as they have many cards up their
sleeve: They have Intel signed up, lots of other player sublicensing their
mobile technology and Sega backing their high-end 3d stuff. And of course
they make digital radio's and speakers and telecomms stuff and all.

So I very much doubt they will disappear. Its more a question of whether
they can be bothered to make a PC card. The problem is there is no money at
the top end of the PC card market. Its all about marketing rights & hype so
you can make your money on the lower-end, volume market.

So PowerVR wouldn't need 1 card. They'd need a high-end one and perhaps 3
or 4 other cards to address different price points in the market.

And they don't *make* anything. So they'd have to get a large PC graphics
card player signed up, and also sort out who would fab the silicon. All
from a position of 0% share of the market.

I can't ever see it happening to be honest :-(

Chip