Nvidia works on second generation Fermi

[tviceman]

Wow the speculation in this thread is already rampant over a product that is behind another product that hasn't been released yet! LOL!

 

[Red Storm]

If a refresh is coming out the very same year of Fermi's release, then there's really no point in buying a first gen Fermi. I'd much rather wait for the improved power, operating temps, OCing, and (generally) better price/performance.

My 4890 continues to do a fantastic job of rendering my games, so I feel no reason to upgrade to either Fermi or the 5800 series. Bring on the refreshes and I'll give it another thought.

 

[v8envy]

With a 4890 you're set, no doubt. Problem is: some of us are still limping along with an 8800GT on a 19x12 display. It sucks to be me, for sure. I need Fermi to be out already so I can either get a 58xx or a GF100 and soon -- hanging out until Q4 2010 is simply not happening.

And no, considering how little I have left to wait I'm not doing a stopgap like the 5770.

 

[Lonyo]

If a refresh is coming out the very same year of Fermi's release, then there's really no point in buying a first gen Fermi. I'd much rather wait for the improved power, operating temps, OCing, and (generally) better price/performance.

My 4890 continues to do a fantastic job of rendering my games, so I feel no reason to upgrade to either Fermi or the 5800 series. Bring on the refreshes and I'll give it another thought.

It'll be 6+ months later, which isn't unusual for a refresh card.
Based on the logic of "something better is coming 'soon'", people should never buy a new card because there will always be something better coming.

If you want Fermi performance now, you get Fermi, if you want to wait for something which may be slightly better in some aspects, then you wait, but can be fairly sure that it won't be a monumental leap if it's just a refresh.
By the time the refresh comes, though, there will be a new card not too far off from ATI (I would expect), so why get Fermi Mk2 when you can wait for the next gen ATI cards (the ones after the HD5xxx refresh), which will be even faster than Fermi Mk2?
And then when that's out, why not wait for the cards which will replace Fermi Mk2 from NV?

This is a situation where Fermi is delayed, yes, but should perform well, so waiting won't buy you much, and you don't even know how long you will be waiting for, other than no longer than was planned before the Fermi Mk1 delays.

There is always waiting to be done in the PC world, but unless it's a reasonably short time period (say 1 month) and you have a clear idea of what you are waiting for, it's pretty pointless to keep on waiting.

 

[MrK6]

Wait... so now NVIDIA is telling us to pass on Fermi too?
This is certainly an interesting strategy.

Lol, sounds like it doesn't it. It's expected that companies continue to work on the next generation or refresh before the current is released. But is it often that buzz about it occurs so early? I mean, I didn't hear anything about a GTX285 or 4890 in summer '08, maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

I found the mentioning of the GT300 part interesting. Is the signifying a GTS350 will be available this spring? If so, could be a nice alternative part if it's competitive.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

i still think nvidia has nothing.. who else thinks so? ATI 1 (2?) - NV 0(-1 for renaming shit the past 2 years)

 

[Fox5]

It's probably more akin to 2900 XT to HD 3870.

More like r8500 to radeon 9700 pro.

 

[Wreckage]

With Fermi already in production, of course they are working on something new.

 

[Lonyo]

With Fermi already in production, of course they are working on something new.

They were working on something new before Fermi was in production.
They were working on something new while Fermi was not even totally finalised and probably before even the first tape out (more than just knowing it would exist.)

The whole point is that the follow up product isn't delayed.
Fermi's schedule of production due to multiple tape outs and being delayed for manufacturing has had minimal/no impact on its successor, and relating it to Fermi production is pointless.

 

[JSt0rm]

I plan on eating lunch and dinner amazing isnt it. Unless they are skipping lunch now

 

[soccerballtux]

I plan on eating lunch and dinner amazing isnt it. Unless they are skipping lunch now

No sorry, lunch has been delayed and will be served at 4PM, thanks.
On the other hand our competitor across the street is open and serving lunch right now.

 

[PingviN]

With Fermi already in production, of course they are working on something new.

But releasing a second gen. Fermi some 6-9 months after the first gen? Even you must realise how that looks odd.

 

[Lonyo]

But releasing a second gen. Fermi some 6-9 months after the first gen? Even you must realise how that looks odd.

Only about as odd as launching Microsoft launching Windows 7 "only" 3 years after Vista.

When a product is delayed, or there is an abnormal difference between two releases, close timing of a successor isn't odd, it just means it's going according to schedule despite problems with the previous version.

Take that 6-9 months and make it 10-13 and it seems less odd, because that includes a 4 or so month delay on Fermi.

 

[Bateluer]

I would think they would push back Fermi 2's release date to not hamper sales of Fermi 1. Would you buy Fermi 1 for 600 dollars knowing that Fermi 2 is a mere 6 months away?

I suppose they'd want Fermi 2 to be able to take advantage of a TSMC die shrink though.

 

[PingviN]

Only about as odd as launching Microsoft launching Windows 7 "only" 3 years after Vista.

That was not odd at all. The odd thing was that XP stayed alive for so long, Windows has been refreshed every couple of years or so going back a long time.

Time between releases:

Windows 95 - Windows 98: 3 years

Windows 98 - Windows 2000: 2 years

Windows 2000 - Windows XP: 1 year

Windows XP - Windows Vista: 5 years

Windows Vista - Windows 7: 3 years

So no, it's not about as odd. Graphics cards families has been released with about a year in between them for quite some time now. I do realise that GF100's delays doesn't necessarily have to affect GF200(?)'s release, but expecting people to buy a GPU for $500-600 6-9 months before the next one sounds odd. I don't think Nvidia want this to happen, but they just don't have a choice now. Do you think they would prefer this to having a year between GF100 and GF200(?)?

 

[Borealis7]

No sorry, lunch has been delayed and will be served at 4PM, thanks.
On the other hand our competitor across the street is open and serving lunch right now.

you should add:
"their lunch is cheaper and less hot"

in food terms, thats not always a good thing

 

[aclim]

good, I was planing on buying again when refreshes come anyway

 

[dguy6789]

But releasing a second gen. Fermi some 6-9 months after the first gen? Even you must realise how that looks odd.

ATI did that with the X1800 and X1900. The X1800 was seriously delayed, the X1900 was not, so it came out very shortly after the X1800 and totally made the X1800 obsolete and people who bought it feel bad. :ninja:

 

[v8envy]

ATI did that with the X1800 and X1900. The X1800 was seriously delayed, the X1900 was not, so it came out very shortly after the X1800 and totally made the X1800 obsolete and people who bought it feel bad. :ninja:

Not at all. I picked up my X1800XT for $250 when the X1900 came out. Sure, it was slower -- but it was still much better than the "midrange" crap in the same price range.

 

[Grooveriding]

But releasing a second gen. Fermi some 6-9 months after the first gen? Even you must realise how that looks odd.

It's not really odd that we are hearing about this and this information has been put out in circulation. NV knows about 6 months after Fermi comes out they are going to be trumped again by ATI's next card.

The information is likely out there to attempt to dissuade people from buying ATI's next card when it arrives. Otherwise they are left with 6 months only to sell Fermi, and then play catch-up again to ATI's next release.

If they don't get on the ball and somehow get out ahead of ATI again in release schedules, they're going to keep finding themselves lagging behind ATI's flagship cards.

 

[scooterlibby]

No sorry, lunch has been delayed and will be served at 4PM, thanks.
On the other hand our competitor across the street is open and serving lunch right now.

So true. The competitors also know they're the only game in town currently so your lunch will be costing more than usual today.

 

[Soleron]

Of course Fudo was completely right about the Fermi release date.

A while back I went through and he has had six different release dates over the last six months, each in one or two different articles. 'Q3', 'early November', 'Black Friday', 'late December', 'January', and now 'March'.

 

[Lonyo]

I would think they would push back Fermi 2's release date to not hamper sales of Fermi 1. Would you buy Fermi 1 for 600 dollars knowing that Fermi 2 is a mere 6 months away?

I suppose they'd want Fermi 2 to be able to take advantage of a TSMC die shrink though.

I would think pushing back Fermi 2's release is something they would never consider.

"Hey, lets push back our refined, higher performing product which is quite possibly cheaper to make in favour of keeping our much delayed product on the market longer, while letting out competitors increase their lead".

No thanks.

 

[shangshang]

OK who is leaking the "Fermi 2" release????

Seriously, this leakage, even if most people expect something better to come along, is definitely not good for NV business. Ask any CEO of any tech company, and almost all of them will tell you that leaking of a release of a future product is NEVER NEVER a good thing because it tends to stall the sale of current products.

You can bet that there's probably an internal email circulating within NV telling all employees to stop leaking. I'll bet it's probably one of them marketing guys who got too zealous with his mouth. 9 out 10 always the case.

 

[soccerballtux]

So true. The competitors also know they're the only game in town currently so your lunch will be costing more than usual today.

Lol, yep....