Nvidia entries cpu market

[Nemesis 1]

http://www.tomshardware.com/20...ia_enters_cpu_market_/

 

[Idontcare]

I saw this at toms and was dissapointed when I opened the link. This is a smartphone chip, competing with TI's Omap and Intel's Moorestown (or is it mooreshead?). In other words it is hardly a CPU, but you don't create sensationalism titles for no reason, it did what it needed and got me to clink the link. [edit: by "you" I mean tomshardware guide, the originator of the linked story, not "you" the OP of this thread]

Neither TI nor Intel consider their smartphone chips to be "CPU's" and neither does NVidia from what I've read of the same "breaking news" on other websites. We call them DSPs (digital signal processors).

At any rate it is a start for NVidia, a foray into yet another area of logic CMOS. But CPU? The sensationalism at tomshardware daily needs to be checked by an editor. Not even the INQ took it that far.

Here's the INQ Link and story Title: Nvidia debuts low-power 3D Smartphone chip

Here's Nvidia's own press release: NVIDIA APX applications processors

 

[krnmastersgt]

At least it is a step towards making their own CPUs, and Intel is already trying their hand at discrete graphics cards again, from the looks of it, in the near future we'll have 3 companies as contenders in the cpu/gpu markets (A plus for consumers)

 

[Nemesis 1]

I new what you were referring . I learn quick. Remember the last time i assumed. YOU.

I felt the same after reading . But its one step forward for NV.

 

[Nemesis 1]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
At least it is a step towards making their own CPUs, and Intel is already trying their hand at discrete graphics cards again, from the looks of it, in the near future we'll have 3 companies as contenders in the cpu/gpu markets (A plus for consumers)

4 their are already 3. Problem is NV won't get an X86 lisense. So still only 3

 

[Idontcare]

To be honest when I saw the tomshardware story title I actually got goosebumps of excitement for about 20seconds the likes of which I haven't had over computer hardware since Core2 reviews came out some 2+ years ago and when the Athlon reviews finally came out so many years before...meaning I had this sudden feeling of euphoria that finally something exciting was afoot in the CPU business.

It is a very exciting "next step" for Nvidia. Of this there can be no question. We know they have just got to be working on an x86 CPU design of some form. It would not be prudent of them not too. Just as Apple was parallel developing their OS for both Power CPUs and Intel x86 CPUs.

I hope Nvidia meets a receptive market with their "applications processor" and encourages their management to be more aggressive with their other "CPU" projects.

 

[krnmastersgt]

Originally posted by: Nemesis 1

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
At least it is a step towards making their own CPUs, and Intel is already trying their hand at discrete graphics cards again, from the looks of it, in the near future we'll have 3 companies as contenders in the cpu/gpu markets (A plus for consumers)

4 their are already 3. Problem is NV won't get an X86 lisense. So still only 3

Well if you want to get that technical, major 2 that everyone considers/knows of would be AMD and Intel, nVidia has quite a well known name as well and if they started in the cpu market, which is their goal, they'd be walking in with plenty of name recognition. And by 3 I meant companies with name recognition that produce both cpus and gpus, aside from AMD I don't know of any others.

 

[Idontcare]

Nemesis is referring to the fact that the existing licensees for x86 had to basically wrangle their licenses from Intel by court order. Intel is not in the business of licensing x86, never really was.

Given how "onerous" the relationship is between Nvidia and Intel at the moment, Nvidia is the last company on the planet I would think Intel would license x86 to.

 

[MetaDFF]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the actual "CPU" in this chip the ARM11 core which is just some piece of intellectual property (IP) that nVidia is integrating with their own logic? This as much as entering the CPU market as buying an off the shelf chip ...

Sensational THG title... but not much of an "entry" into the CPU market per se.

 

[CTho9305]

Practically every electronic device you buy has 1 or more ARM cores in it nowadays. Usually they're even in a somewhat-customized SoC (e.g. CPU core, memory, maybe a DSP core of some sort). Most iPods have 2. GPUs have had multiple for a long time, which would have made ATI a "CPU maker" by this definition (or, for a better example, check out their Xilleon and Imageon product lines). AGEIA would be too. Heck, whoever made my microwave would probably be a CPU maker .

 

[soccerballtux]

GPUs have multiples?

 

[bryanW1995]

I think he was referring to via as #3. Nvidia certainly has the ability to buy via and possibly even amd, but why would they? Nvidia dominates a very profitable niche market right now and has a great stock price and a rapidly rising market capitalization (about 8x increase since mid 04). Intel dominates a marginally profitable market but its stock has sucked for years (flat or slightly down since mid 04). The numbers look different depending on which time frame you snapshot, but the general trend for nvidia has been very strongly positive for years while intel's already has absolute market dominance already priced in. Nvidia needs to focus on their core business and perhaps slowly expand into other, related fields that can enable them to leverage their current areas of expertise. I'm certain that intel would like nothing more than to have nvidia cripple their gpu r&d by trying to take them on mano-a-mano in the cpu arena.

edit: hey, didn't theo valich used to work over at the inq??? wow, tom's has really gone downhill...

 

[Nemesis 1]

/\
l

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: bryanW1995
edit: hey, didn't theo valich used to work over at the inq??? wow, tom's has really gone downhill...

Exactly...you can really tell when The INQ has touched something. This is a classic example. No sooner than we are talking about TG Daily putting out sensationalism headlines and we have this:
Former Inquirer Editors Abandon Ship... Swim To TG Daily

Case solved, no wonder the INQ was so tame on the story versus TG Daily. Yet another website I can stop visiting now.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: CTho9305
Heck, whoever made my microwave would probably be a CPU maker .

You gots to sexy-up that headline though to make yourself out to be a "real" journalist playing with the big boys.

"Microwave market takes on Intel! News at 11" - Brought to you by Theo

The worst cheerleader for AMD has got to be Charlie (groo). No one incited as much animosity towards AMD than his "dancing in the isles" fairy-tale from what I gathered in my general forum sweeps.

"The INQ - doing our best to prove there is such as thing as bad publicity"

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Reading the new article on AT about nVidia's acquisition of AGEIA certainly paints a picture that nVidia isn't going to be entering the big boy CPU market any time soon. Couple that with the fact that they're fabless and you guys should really ease off on this dream.

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: bunnyfubbles
Reading the new article on AT about nVidia's acquisition of AGEIA certainly paints a picture that nVidia isn't going to be entering the big boy CPU market any time soon. Couple that with the fact that they're fabless and you guys should really ease off on this dream.

Huh? Are you reading the same thread that we posted in? We are talking about exactly what you are surmising...and we are pointing out TG Daily is on a totally different planet.

 

[richwenzel]

i guess technically, didnt nvidia already enter the cpu market:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tesla_deskside.html

its more like a supercomputer...but hey...

the direction is there...

 

[Modelworks]

yeah that title is way overblown.
Its a freaking ARM with extensions.
Hardly a new cpu.
ARM micros have been around longer than nvidia.

The cpu in your router at home is probably ARM.

I guess next Tom will post an article with nvidia using a 8086 or z-80!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Would it be useful to point out that system core logic chipsets contain a microcontroller for the PS/2 ports? So if that counts as a "CPU", then Nvidia chipsets have had CPUs in them for a long time, ergo NV has been in the CPU market for a long time.