ATI Ships 25 Millionth DirectX 11 Graphics Processing Unit

[compres]

I'm online right now. It starts up with my pc (which is on 75% of the time whether I'm using it or not). Trying to compare it to xbox live numbers is ridiculous at best. I'm certain there are tons of people playing games, way more than consoles, but the best way to find them would be to look at facebook activity.

OK maybe I don't get your point. Are you suggesting a big percentage of users of steam just let it run on the background and never play PC games? If so then I will say: that is a ridiculous assumption at best.

You can also look at the per game online numbers and compare them to consoles if you like. Can't claim those are "idling in game".

PC gaming is doing OK.

 

[AlphaWolf]

OK maybe I don't get your point. Are you suggesting a big percentage of users of steam just let it run on the background and never play PC games? If so then I will say: that is a ridiculous assumption at best.

You can also look at the per game online numbers and compare them to consoles if you like. Can't claim those are "idling in game".

PC gaming is doing OK.

I'm saying that using steam activity as a metric to track the health of PC gaming is stupid and useless.

 

[RedVi]

I'm online right now. It starts up with my pc (which is on 75% of the time whether I'm using it or not). Trying to compare it to xbox live numbers is ridiculous at best. I'm certain there are tons of people playing games, way more than consoles, but the best way to find them would be to look at facebook activity.

Why do you let steam startup with windows if you don't play games on it? I do play games on steam and still have the auto startup disabled. I somehow doubt that most subscriber-only non-users still have the steam client startup with their computer.... most probably have a new PC since they signed up to steam and don't even have it installed.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Why do you let steam startup with windows if you don't play games on it? I do play games on steam and still have the auto startup disabled. I somehow doubt that most subscriber-only non-users still have the steam client startup with their computer.... most probably have a new PC since they signed up to steam and don't even have it installed.

I used it a long time ago, it really doesn't affect my browsing, any reason I should turn it off? Does it bother you? STOP MESSING UP MY DATASET Damn you!!!.

 

[Mintmaster]

There's a big difference between the number of graphics cards sold and the number of people actually using them for gaming…

Is there really? In the last couple years, it would be pretty dumb to buy a discrete graphics chip if you aren't doing some gaming. The GMA 4500HD is more than capable of handling 99% of non gaming workloads, and the Intel HD is twice as fast as that.

Only HTPC users, graphics professionals, and people buying stuff they don't need would buy a discrete chip in a computer nowadays. When you're trying to be thrifty in a recession, I don't think the last group is that big.

 

[Andrew Lauritzen]

Is there really? In the last couple years, it would be pretty dumb to buy a discrete graphics chip if you aren't doing some gaming. The GMA 4500HD is more than capable of handling 99% of non gaming workloads, and the Intel HD is twice as fast as that.

Yeah I have to agree - my *netbook* (CULV, Intel HD) is plenty fast enough for everything but gaming... hell it can even handle some low end gaming. If you're buying discrete graphics cards nowadays and not gaming you're just throwing your money away.

I'd even argue you don't even need a discrete chip for HTPC now... the integrated chipsets are quite sufficient and have competitive video decoding (and encoding). Only really gamers and professionals left.

 

[Alexko]

Is there really? In the last couple years, it would be pretty dumb to buy a discrete graphics chip if you aren't doing some gaming. The GMA 4500HD is more than capable of handling 99% of non gaming workloads, and the Intel HD is twice as fast as that.

Only HTPC users, graphics professionals, and people buying stuff they don't need would buy a discrete chip in a computer nowadays. When you're trying to be thrifty in a recession, I don't think the last group is that big.

Average Joe — Excuse me, which computer should I buy?
Salesman — Well it depends on what you intend to do with it, sir.
AJ — Oh, well… I guess some emailing, Internet browsing, Youtubing… Some por… err… I mean, I need something that can play videos well, holiday videos, that is, you know?
Salesman — Sure. Well this model here is real nice because it has everything you want and a discrete graphics card with dedicated memory!
AJ — Oh! Is that the "Radeon HD 5450"? Is that good for videos?
Salesman — That's right! And it's real affordable too!
AJ — OK, I'll take it, then.

 

[Andrew Lauritzen]

Average Joe — Excuse me, which computer should I buy?
Salesman — Well it depends on what you intend to do with it, sir.
AJ — Oh, well… I guess some emailing, Internet browsing, Youtubing… Some por… err… I mean, I need something that can play videos well, holiday videos, that is, you know?
Salesman — Sure. Well this model here is real nice because it has everything you want and a discrete graphics card with dedicated memory!
AJ — Oh! Is that the "Radeon HD 5450"? Is that good for videos?
Salesman — That's right! And it's real affordable too!
AJ — OK, I'll take it, then.

Lol quite he opposite! Remember the OEMs are basically responsible for the low-end/integrated GFX/high-end CPU business!

 

[Alexko]

Lol quite he opposite! Remember the OEMs are basically responsible for the low-end/integrated GFX/high-end CPU business!

I'm not sure what your point is, but salespeople are paid on commission, at least partially, so they try to push discrete graphics as much as possible.

 

[Mintmaster]

I'm not sure what your point is, but salespeople are paid on commission, at least partially, so they try to push discrete graphics as much as possible.

Hell no. If that were the case, they would have pushed discrete graphics a lot more back when Intel's integrated stuff was pure crap. If a salesman wants to push you into spending more, they will have a much easier time selling you a faster processor.

I just bought an awesome Acer 3820TG for $750, because it finally became available in North America (still in in the US, but can be shipped from Canada). i3-370M, so the processor isn't too fast, but it has an HD5650, which is one hell of a GPU for a sub-4 lbs notebook. Now, do you really think that Acer would hold this away from the US if notebooks with GPUs were in demand or easy to sell? They sell plenty of i5/i7 notebooks with Intel HD at the same price.

When a salesman wants to sell you something more expensive, he'll point you to the MacBook Air, the Dell Adamo, a Lenovo X201, etc, all of which have integrated graphics and cost more. Same thing with desktops: he'll have a much easier time selling you more GHz, more RAM, Bluray, etc. to the average non-gamer than a GPU.

 

[Alexko]

Hell no. If that were the case, they would have pushed discrete graphics a lot more back when Intel's integrated stuff was pure crap. If a salesman wants to push you into spending more, they will have a much easier time selling you a faster processor.

I just bought an awesome Acer 3820TG for $750, because it finally became available in North America (still in in the US, but can be shipped from Canada). i3-370M, so the processor isn't too fast, but it has an HD5650, which is one hell of a GPU for a sub-4 lbs notebook. Now, do you really think that Acer would hold this away from the US if notebooks with GPUs were in demand or easy to sell? They sell plenty of i5/i7 notebooks with Intel HD at the same price.

When a salesman wants to sell you something more expensive, he'll point you to the MacBook Air, the Dell Adamo, a Lenovo X201, etc, all of which have integrated graphics and cost more. Same thing with desktops: he'll have a much easier time selling you more GHz, more RAM, Bluray, etc. to the average non-gamer than a GPU.

I actually had desktops in minds, and I don't have any data to support my claims, but I really think they would try to push discrete graphics whenever possible—and a faster processor too, and more RAM, and a bigger HDD… and be happy if any of it sticks.

Well, my campus isn't far away from a mall, and I have a long lunch break Thursday, maybe I'll put my theory to the test!

Besides, "fast" desktops usually come with discrete graphics anyway, even if it's just HD 5450-level stuff.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Sales people will be told to push certain items. Generally that's whatever they have lots of, or the best margins on.

 

[fbuffer]

I actually had desktops in minds, and I don't have any data to support my claims, but I really think they would try to push discrete graphics whenever possible—and a faster processor too, and more RAM, and a bigger HDD… and be happy if any of it sticks.

Well, my campus isn't far away from a mall, and I have a long lunch break Thursday, maybe I'll put my theory to the test!

Besides, "fast" desktops usually come with discrete graphics anyway, even if it's just HD 5450-level stuff.

Well as someone who has worked sales extensively from nearly all aspects, my personal experience says that sales staff will "push" whatever comes down from corporate, has a commission tied to it or is the "flavor" of the week. In retail for example, managers use incentives to help push hardware that often has been tied to either a release or other times where an upcoming release is impending and there is desire to unload stockpiled inventory. Many times managers are given incentives as well to push their staff's sales numbers of a certain product, many times more than not they are all inclusive "OEM" type where the company (say BestBuy) is getting a credit/rebate etc for each unit moved. You ever wonder why you hear they BestBuy/Microcenter/CompUSA sales staff trumping up that Intel CoreDuo 3.33 Ghz when there is a new i3/i5 sitting right next to it with possibly better components etc in it ?? Sure there is the chance Salesman Bob hasn't a clue what he's talking about but more than likely Bob gets 10% extra that week from Supervisor Hal who gets 15% extra from the store manager if Hal's department sells y % more of X units if the Store Manager increases by 20%.

 

[Alexko]

Well as someone who has worked sales extensively from nearly all aspects, my personal experience says that sales staff will "push" whatever comes down from corporate, has a commission tied to it or is the "flavor" of the week. In retail for example, managers use incentives to help push hardware that often has been tied to either a release or other times where an upcoming release is impending and there is desire to unload stockpiled inventory. Many times managers are given incentives as well to push their staff's sales numbers of a certain product, many times more than not they are all inclusive "OEM" type where the company (say BestBuy) is getting a credit/rebate etc for each unit moved. You ever wonder why you hear they BestBuy/Microcenter/CompUSA sales staff trumping up that Intel CoreDuo 3.33 Ghz when there is a new i3/i5 sitting right next to it with possibly better components etc in it ?? Sure there is the chance Salesman Bob hasn't a clue what he's talking about but more than likely Bob gets 10% extra that week from Supervisor Hal who gets 15% extra from the store manager if Hal's department sells y % more of X units if the Store Manager increases by 20%.

Thanks, that makes sense and now that I think about it, it fits pretty well with what a friend of mine (who works in sales) told me.