XGI

[Gamer X]

Do you think that they can compete with ATI and nvidia in the near future?

 

[leedog2007]

I woundn't buy them for gaming.

 

[nitromullet]

In the near future, I would say no... From the looks of it, they still only have the Volari for the desktop, which, as we all know, just isn't up to ATi or nVidia standards. Hopefully they are working on something better though. It would be really nice to see a third option.

IMO, XGI is a merger of two development groups (SiS and Trident) that were historically always putting out second rate video chips compared to the other two. If they are going to be a viable alterative, they are either going to have to buy/hire some new ideas or start thinking/working differently. Additionally, they are going to have to earn some credibility. The driver optimizations they implemented with the Volari in an attempt to make it competative drastically reduced the IQ and I think gave them a bad name right off the bat. The graphics chip industry is extremely competative and tough to crack into, and trying to pull the wool over the gamers and early adoptor's eyes with underhanded tactics was not a wise move. We are a small group, but we are very vocal, and for every one of us there are at least 10 people that take our advice and recommendations when purchasing PC hardware.

 

[Peter]

XGI is not a conglomerate. It's the video chip group from SiS spun off, with the notebook graphics chip business from Trident acquired right after the spinoff.

Consequently, their two product lines are XP5 and Volari V3 which are descendants of the last Trident chip XP4, and on the other side the Volari V3XT, V5, V8 and Duo, which descend from the SiS Xabre II chip. (Don't ask me where their "server console" 2D-only chip Z7 comes from, odds are that this is an even older Trident chip, much like ATi are still marketing their RageXL chip for that market.)

Sure, they aren't competing at the top end, but they've got a compelling feature set, quite solid drivers and low power consumption that make them attractive for the budget to midrange market.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
In the near future, I would say no... From the looks of it, they still only have the Volari for the desktop, which, as we all know, just isn't up to ATi or nVidia standards. Hopefully they are working on something better though. It would be really nice to see a third option.

IMO, XGI is a conglomeration of a number of development groups that were historically always putting out second rate video chips compared to the other two. If they are going to be a viable alterative, they are either going to have to buy/hire some new ideas or start thinking/working differently. Additionally, they are going to have to earn some credibility. The driver optimizations they implemented with the Volari in an attempt to make it competative drastically reduced the IQ and I think give them a bad name right off the bat. The graphics chip industry is extremely competative and tough to crack into, and by trying to pull the wool over the gamers and early adoptor's eyes with underhanded tactics was not a wise move. We are a small group, but we are very vocal, and for every one of us there are at least 10 people that take our advice and recommendations when purchasing PC hardware.

Well said :thumbsup:

I heard they're working on an SM3.0 chip. Hopefully they will find their way into this market so we can have a third competitor (in the low-end market probably).

 

[Peter]

SiS chips have always had low to mediocre performance, but offered the complete feature set of their time. They aren't going to drop that tradition ...

 

[nitromullet]

XGI is not a conglomerate. It's the video chip group from SiS spun off, with the notebook graphics chip business from Trident acquired right after the spinoff.

...fixed.