"Nvidia takes a crack at PCs" -- Interesting article from ZDNet

[Miles Lane]

I noticed this article on ZDNet and wondered if any of the kernel
developers might be able to get a prototype motherboard from NVidia
in order to do early support work for this new chipset.  It sounds
like pretty interesting technology.

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Nvidia takes a crack at PCs

By Ian Fried
Special to ZDNet News 
June 4, 2001 8:26 AM PT

TAIPEI, Taiwan--After grabbing the top spot in the graphics chip market,
Nvidia is looking to grab more of the real estate on the PC motherboard. 

On Monday, the company announced its nForce chipset, a pair of chips
that combine the company's GeForce graphics with the core logic
functions that control the interactions between the processor and memory
and other peripherals. 

The first chip, dubbed an Integrated Graphics Processor, includes the
graphics core, memory controller and an advanced type of caching engine
that is designed to predict what information will be needed. The second
chip, known as a Multimedia Communications Processor, combines an audio
processor as well as controllers for various peripherals such as USB
and PCI connections. 

Versions of both Nvidia chips are being used in Microsoft's Xbox game
console. However, while Xbox will use Intel's Pentium III processor, the
nForce will initially support only PCs that use processors from Intel
rival Advanced Micro Devices. 

That's because Nvidia does not have a license for the interface used to
connect a chipset to Intel's processors. Microsoft was apparently able
to get a license for the Xbox as part of its deal to use Intel's chips
in the gaming device. 

The nForce has other ties to AMD as well. Nvidia is licensing AMD's
HyperTransport bus--a high-speed method of connecting its two chips. As
a result, the chips can share data at 800 MB per second, or about three
times faster than the PCI bus that typically connects the parts of a
chip set. Nvidia is also licensing AMD's method of connecting to Double
Data Rate (DDR) memory. 

Nvidia announced the details of the chipset at a press event at the
Computex trade show here. The product won't show up on computer
motherboards until this fall. 

A motherboard is the main circuit panel in a PC. It typically houses the
central processor, coprocessors for specific functions, memory and other
systems vital to the system's functioning. 

The entry into the chipset arena, as well as recent moves into the
notebook and Macintosh markets, is part of Nvidia's strategy to continue
its fast growth spurt. Last week, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company
topped Wall Street estimates and reiterated its expectations of growing
its revenue by 50 percent in fiscal 2002 and by 40 percent in fiscal
2003. 

The company did not reveal its exact pricing for nForce, but said it
would be comparable with the cost of a graphics chip and chipset.
Although others have introduced such integrated chipsets primarily for
the low end of the market, Nvidia is targeting the mainstream and
performance segments. 

"We have never been the absolute lowest-cost (provider)," said Tony
Tamasi, Nvidia's senior director of product management for nForce. 

Tamasi said the nForce will be priced higher than a chipset from
Taiwan's SiS that includes basic graphics. Instead, Nvidia appears aimed
more at unseating performance chipsets from Via Technologies and others.