http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/ Engadget Comments for NVIDIA thinking about acquiring VIA? http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
However, in the long run it may be more beneficial for them to invest in some fabs and try to develop x86 chips in-house. I don't see how they could compete with Intel or AMD while still having to contract production out to TSMC and the like.]]>Mar 18th 2008 3:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 19th 2008 5:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 4:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 4:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
nVidia supposedly has CPUs in the works, and Via has been doing low-end stuff for years with a dash of 3D & media. The only PC chip they don't make is wireless as far as I know. Via has the closest to it's own platform but won't actively "bite the hand that feeds it" (microsoft compatibility) by proclaiming it's linux support (which is OK but gets publicly ignored for long periods). Perhaps an nVidia merger would push them to create a true platform... not just copycat low-end intel, but really market their own thing, their own software APIs, perhaps draw support to a third big platform. (I'd go for $300 tweaked game boxes that run Linux of some sort) nVidia has enough draw, and ambition to do that. AMD/ATI is firmly in bed with the console makers, intel is in bed with Microsoft (and with Apple to look cool) that leaves an opening in the social oligarchy for one more big PC brand and Linux hasn't really stepped up in the consumer market. Legally the battles are fought and paid for and for the most part Via/nVidia has fought them off. ]]>Mar 19th 2008 12:40AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 19th 2008 12:21AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/God helps us all!]]>Mar 18th 2008 10:20PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 3:49PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
Also, if they could drag a few VIA chips up into the high power, high performance arena, it would be great to see a 3 horse race between Intel AMD and nVidia]]>Mar 18th 2008 3:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
That is the question folks?]]>Mar 18th 2008 4:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/


...but really, can we just auto-hide comments containing the words "blend", "play quake", "play doom" and "first!!1"? That would probably make the world an itsy-bitsy tiny bit better imho.





Anyway, does anybody know when Isaiah is going to hit the market - I'm kinda interested in that since the HP 2133 UMPC/subnotebook thingy is said to be powered by a VIA CPU and that one doesn't sound so bad...]]>Mar 18th 2008 4:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 4:24PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 4:40PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 4:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 5:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 5:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 10:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 5:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
NooOOOOOOOoooooo! I am not a NOM!]]>Mar 18th 2008 5:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 6:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
I think Nvidia should go forth with this, it'd beat Intel to the punch (so far, their integrated chips are more paper than stone), and it'd be rather easy for Nvidia to integrate their processor's with VIAs.

The one thing integrated chips worry me on, though, is cost effectiveness. Right now you pay $200 for a AMD Phenom and then you can choose a graphics card of any cost to go with it, but sticking within ATI solutions at max you'd pay $350 for a 3870X2. So your total price there is $550.

What if you wanted to buy a good CPU now but upgrade the card later? You could, right now, buy the $200 CPU then buy a $160 3870 and run with it until you could upgrade to the 3870X2. Then, when you want to upgrade to a 3870X2, you spend $350.

But if chips become integrated, then when you go to buy the equivalent of a 3870 you might spend $330 and have both processor and GPU (I'm assuming that an integrated processor/gpu is cheaper than a de-integrated processor/gpu). What happens when you want to upgrade to the equivalent of a 3870X2? You have to spend money on both a processor and GPU again, maybe another $400-$500.

It'd be cheaper to reuse your last top of the line processor with the new 3870X2 card then have to buy another processor and card all at once. If processors and GPUs become integrated, you'd basically have to buy a processor and GPU every time you'd want to upgrade just one component.

What I'm saying here is that where as today, I can buy a top of the line processor and saddle a shitty graphics card to it to wait for better cards to come out, or buy a good graphics card and then later saddle it with a good processor, I can't do that with a integrated CPU/GPU. Hence, I'd end up spending more money for the same results.

As of right now, no one is talking about massive performance increases in integrated architecture over the current independent CPU and GPU configuration. Theoretically they are there, but theory and reality don't always meet right away, if ever.]]>Mar 18th 2008 6:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 7:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 18th 2008 8:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/_>]]>Mar 18th 2008 11:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/
On the other side, I could see them buying a PCB manufacturer to make them their own mobos and PCBs for GPUs...]]>Mar 18th 2008 11:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 23rd 2008 11:24AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/18/nvidia-thinking-about-acquiring-via/Mar 19th 2008 12:35AM