XGI Volari Duo V8 Ultra vs. ATI and NVIDIA

[BFG10K]

Its performance is decent but the cost is probably going to be quite high thanks to the dual-GPU configuration.

 

[nRollo]

Its performance is decent but the cost is probably going to be quite high thanks to the dual-GPU configuration.

Doubt it. Why:
1. The market sets the price for anything, and people won't pay premium for SIS/Trident
2. People won't pay premium for performance that isn't there. Say what you will about 5900s, they offer approximately equal or faster performance at any games that are out that anyone cares about.
3. Did I mention people won't pay much for Trident/SIS?

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: Rollo

Its performance is decent but the cost is probably going to be quite high thanks to the dual-GPU configuration.

Doubt it. Why:
1. The market sets the price for anything, and people won't pay premium for SIS/Trident
2. People won't pay premium for performance that isn't there. Say what you will about 5900s, they offer approximately equal or faster performance at any games that are out that anyone cares about.
3. Did I mention people won't pay much for Trident/SIS?

XGI will not introduce the XGI Volari Duo at $200 or below, which is what they are going to have to do to stay competitive with the 5900nu, which it is similar to in performance.

People (the masses) weren't ready to pay a premium for the Parhelia either, but that's unfortunately what new high-end GPU's cost to develop. The Parhelia was $399 I believe at launch; what makes you think the dual-GPU Volari will cost less? XGI won't be making any money on this card at all if they release it at "competitive" prices. The Volari Duo is supposed to be their top of the line card, they even have an entire lineup below the single-GPU Volari cards.

 

[Insomniak]

Pretty much. Unless they can crank out much more performance, people are going to spring for cheaper and faster video solutions.

 

[nRollo]

People (the masses) weren't ready to pay a premium for the Parhelia either, but that's unfortunately what new high-end GPU's cost to develop.

This is a different situation. Matrox's market is the office, the Parhelia still costs MUCH more than it's gaming performance would justify.

The Parhelia was $399 I believe at launch; what makes you think the dual-GPU Volari will cost less?

Even if it launches at that, the price will drop like a rock because no one is going to pay $399 for an unknown brand, with unknown driver quality and less performance, when they can buy 5900Us and 9800Ps for less than that. The only people who might would be guys like me that sometimes buy cards just to try because they're bored with the old one. I don't see a big market there, but I could be wrong.

XGI won't be making any money on this card at all if they release it at "competitive" prices. The Volari Duo is supposed to be their top of the line card, they even have an entire lineup below the single-GPU Volari cards.

So you know what it cost XGI to produce these? The clock speeds on the GPU and RAM aren't lightning fast, so both of those are probably relatively cheap, compared to .13 micron 5900U gpu and 2.2ns DDR. If something can be built cheaply, I think SIS and Trident can do it.

My .02

 

[Wag]

With a name like that, it's got to be good!