[Dave Baumann]

During a recent visit to Toronto and ATI's HQ we got the opportunity to briefly sit down with the man who's been steering ATI for the past few years and who is to soon assume the mantle of their CEO, Dave Orton. We discuss how ATI is now organised, how focused it is on the desktop market and chat about their latest line of graphics chips.

"What we are now moving towards is actually a unified design team of both east and west coast, that will develop our next generations of platforms, from R300 to R400 to R500 to R600 to R700, instead of a ping-pong ball between them both. Within that one organisation we need to think about where do we architecturally innovate and where do we not in order to hit the right development cycles to keep the leadership, but it will be one organisation."

Read the full interview here

[Evildeus]

Good interview.

But how does it clarify the roadmap? I don't see what you were meaning in your teases? I still see a R400-R500 and i would say R500 won't be there before april/may 2005 :?

[bloodbob]

If you dissect in, for example, to the R600 product, with is our next, next generation, that development team is all three sites - Orlando, Silicon Valley, Marlborough – but the architectural centre team is in the Valley, as you point out, but all three are part of that organisation.

Well thats interest since the 480 or whatever and the 5XX are still being worked on how which chips are gonna get the proirity?

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Evildeus

Good interview.

But how does it clarify the roadmap? I don't see what you were meaning in your teases? I still see a R400-R500 and i would say R500 won't be there before april/may 2005 :?

Yes it seems like there won't be SM3 model card before 90nm.

If they move from a 16x16 core at 130nm to an 18x18 core at 90nm the 90nm core will have as many as 420mio transistors.

[Anonymous]

We changed the roadmap.

You can look at cause and effect. That was not the cause, internal changes was the cause and the outcome was that we decided the best way to go forward was to do “this” with the PC roadmap and take “that” and use it with X-Box. But that wasn’t the cause of the roadmap change, we had to make this change anyhow due to execution issues.

thx, interesting read

[Anonymous]

This is the most open and upfront interview with a large company I have ever read. Most of the stuff answered was previously unconfirmed rumors.

Really professionally done also

Good stuff

[Evildeus]

Originally Posted by Tim

Yes it seems like there won't be SM3 model card before 90nm.

If they move from a 16x16 core at 130nm to an 18x18 core at 90nm the 90nm core will have as many as 420mio transistors.

Yes but that's nothing new, i never did expect SM 3.0 with the R480 (?) refresh but with R500. I'm still puzzled :?

[PatrickL]

And then I’ve heard some, tongue in cheek, talk that NVIDIA isn’t counting die-per-wafer, but wafers-per-die

For once it s ATI that give us a nice quote :P

[Quitch]

Refreshingly frank. A good interview.

[bigbud120]

Reading this interview and other comments on the boards, it almost sounds like the R400 hasn't been completely scrapped and instead has continued development for use in future consoles (xbox2)?

Am I crazy?

Just after the introduction of R300 you talked about R400, however shortly afterwards that appeared to go off the roadmap and R420 appeared – what happened during that period? And would that be related to upcoming contracts with console vendors?

We changed the roadmap.

You can look at cause and effect. That was not the cause, internal changes was the cause and the outcome was that we decided the best way to go forward was to do “this” with the PC roadmap and take “that” and use it with X-Box. But that wasn’t the cause of the roadmap change, we had to make this change anyhow due to execution issues.

[elroy]

Originally Posted by bigbud120

Am I crazy?

Nope.

That's how I read it as well.

[Saem]

Dave Baumann said that there would be no R500, but the interview doesn't really seem to suggest that. Or are we just speaking purely about R500 the symbol instead of the chip it represents.

[Evildeus]

I don't know, that's why i think DB needs to clarify what he meant

[Kombatant]

Originally Posted by Saem

Dave Baumann said that there would be no R500, but the interview doesn't really seem to suggest that. Or are we just speaking purely about R500 the symbol instead of the chip it represents.

"R500" in the interview is more like "R500 family of products". That stands for the rest as well.

Great interview Dave, as always

[AlphaWolf]

Great interview Dave. /salute Dave Orton for his candor.

When can we expect the Godfrey Chung interview?

[Dave Baumann]

Originally Posted by Saem

Dave Baumann said that there would be no R500, but the interview doesn't really seem to suggest that. Or are we just speaking purely about R500 the symbol instead of the chip it represents.

Actually, it does, although you have to read it with a synergistic approach. Looking at the answers individually tells you some things, adding it all together tells you more.

[Anonymous]

i wish you wouldnt be so cyptic

very informative interview, thanks

[Saem]

Actually, it does, although you have to read it with a synergistic approach. Looking at the answers individually tells you some things, adding it all together tells you more.

I was afraid of that. I wanted to avoid thinking. I knew something was up as he was answering, I just didn't feel like doing anything about it.

Oh well, time to re-read it.

[Evildeus]

If you find the clue before me Saem, let me know (i will do the same )

[DarN]

Not everyone speaks Vorlon you know.

[Anonymous]

Okay, so what happened to the vpu for Nintendo next game console? I'm not talking about DS or gba. Dave Orton was sure quiet about it, although he sure wasn't quiet about the vpu for Xbox2.

Previously Dave B. implied that vpu for Nintendo's next genration console isn't being designed/made. Is that still the case?

[LeStoffer]

Originally Posted by DaveBaumann

Actually, it does, although you have to read it with a synergistic approach. Looking at the answers individually tells you some things, adding it all together tells you more.

All the interview really states is that ATI wont do SM 3.0 in 2004 and that they wont do SM 3.0 before the 0.09 process is ready. I cant read from that they scrapped R500, only that we wont see it on 0.13.

Now, they might have decided that 0.09 is uncertain for use next spring and are doing a redesign on 0.11 thus enter the R511, but Orton gives no clue in that direction.

[gkar1]

Originally Posted by DarN

Not everyone speaks Vorlon you know.

The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote :P

[Evildeus]

That's how i read it LeStoffer. Moreover, it does seem that the next generation part (R5**) will focus on SM3.0.

[MuFu]

Great interview. Doesn't sound like a CEO Q&A session at all; it's almost BS-free.

There’s always the debate of who steps down first. I think what’s going to happen is we’re going to hit a power limit, so through other innovations and technologies we have to manage efficiencies. And then I’ve heard some, tongue in cheek, talk that NVIDIA isn’t counting die-per-wafer, but wafers-per-die, and whenever this is the case you’ve certainly crossed a threshold!

Tee-hee. Bet that one did the rounds for a while.