Develop a GPU intended to power a board in the midrange market where there is more potential for sales than flagships, then double it up to get performance numbers. It's pretty smart for XGI if you ask me. Instead of trying to show everyone that you your bark is just as loud as the other big dawgs by wasting R&D on a single chip flagship that you know will never generate you much sales in market already heavily entrenched, you use your R&D to develop a budget chip, then you offer a 2x solution as your flagship, very little extra work needed in comparison to designing a flagship separate from your mainstreams.
The best part about it is that the Rage MAXX and the Voodoo 5 were born into a world that was right on the upswing of PC invasion and really we've yet to see another dual GPU attempt now that PCs are practically as common as TVs and broadband is spreading like wildfire as half of Americans use the internet to get their news. Everytime I walk into a store like Best Buy it almost always seems as though they're always sold out of the $400 cards they happen to be stocking. This wasn't true several years ago when there simply wasn't the demand, there might be a market now, and the market is just as gullible as ever to fall victim to fancy looking terms. Someone nailed it right on the head when they predicted a BB salesman quoting "2 engines = 2x performance", and mumbo jumbo like that makes sales, even if it isn't for the expensive 2 engine product. Customers will be wowed by such a powerful sounding card and if they can't afford that beast they'll have to settle for the 1 engine version for the time being... caught in the trap.
Maybe if the GPU market weren't one of the toughest markets to survive in in the computer industry, maybe then XGI would have a chance, but unless they are really playing their cards well with the Volari I see only very little chance for them to survive. ATI and nVidia will crush XGI as long as their products aren't getting embarassed (I mean a real good butt whoopin') simply because they are the Coke and Pepsi of the GPU market, no room for RC no matter how up to par it might be. At the same time I wouldn't count them entirely out. ATI has come a looonnnggg way with the Radeon. Starting with the Radeon 256 they kept up, just enough. With the Radeon 8500 they were able to average on par. With the 9700 Pro the took a huge lead and maintain a marginal lead with the 9800 Pro/XT in the ongoing king-of-the-hill battle against nVidia. It didn't happen overnight, and judging from hints as to Volari performance, they seem to be in a Radeon 256 - Radeon 8500 stage in terms of where they are today, but I'll wait to say anything more before I see some more/better indications of what XGI can do with their Volari.