NV and ATI - more details on PCI Express Compliancy Test

[jimmyjames123]

I found some more details about the PCI Express Compliancy Test done by PCI Sig (the organization that owns the PCI Express specification):

I just got this email from a friend who is a computer technician:

For PCI-Express Graphics, Only NVIDIA solutions have been PCI-SIG Certified!

In mid-June, NVIDIA participated in the first ever PCI-Express compliance testing workshop. The PCI SIG compliance suite includes hundreds of rigorous interoperability, protocol, and electrical tests accompanied by a 114 page component compliance checklist for the purpose of evaluating product quality in terms on the PCI Express 1.0a specification.


In summary:

- 54 new products were submitted for testing.

- 10 products have passed PCI-Express 1.0a testing as of 2Aug04

- 9 of 10 passing products belong to NVIDIA.

- Our competitor brought 3 products to be tested. Their absence from the 1.0a compliance list incidates NO ATI PRODUCTS HAVE PASSED PCI-Express 1.0a compliance testing!


- This independent testing proves that NVIDIA has the most robust, reliable PCI-Express graphics solutions on the market.


The specific NVIDIA products that have passed PCI-Express 1.0a compliance testing are:

GeForce PCX 5300
GeForce PCX 5750
GeForce PCX 5900
Quadro FX 1300
NV41
NV43/P229
NV43-GT/P216
NV43M (mobile)
NV45/P211 (6800 Ultra, 6800 GT, and Quadro FX 3400)

The complete listing of products that passed PCI-Express 1.0a compliance testing can be found here:

http://www.pcisig.com/developers/compliance_program/integrators_list/#addin

(Note: Only listings designated with "PCIe 1.0a" in the "rev" column have passed PCI-Express compliance testing. All other listings except "PCIe 1.0a" are for older PC SIG standards such as PCI and PCI-X.)

http://discuss.futuremark.com/forum...p;view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=1

DaveB, do you know anything more about this?

 

[gkar1]

Can you say grasping at straws?

 

[gordon]

Grasping at straws!

 

[ET]

Hey, it must be an honour just being on a list with an ARK Logic chip. And there are ELSA cards there (Savage based?). And the mach64 ATI cards. Wow, this brings up memories. Good company there for NVIDIA.

 

[Fodder]

Can you say grasping at straws?

Puts a nice twist on all the claims that ATi's cards would be PCIE compliant and nVidia's wouldn't after news broke of the bridge chip.

 

[Unit01]

Hrm how should i read this, let's see. First it say in quote "i just got this email from a friend who is a computer technician" Then later on in that so called mail it reads "-our competitor"
Well i wonder is it just me or why does he word it like -our competitor if he is just an observer or someone that just got ahold of that information.
Would PCISIG say "-our competitor brought x number of cards"??

Link to the report instead would be good perhaps? If there is one that is

 

[gkar1]

Can you say grasping at straws?

Puts a nice twist on all the claims that ATi's cards would be PCIE compliant and nVidia's wouldn't after news broke of the bridge chip.

Back that statement with some quotes please.

 

[Richteralan]

it's just a matter of time that ATI's PCIe cards pass these compliancy tests.

maybe some f**bois will say ATI'll start their own PCIe standard....

 

[3dilettante]

Have there been any recent changes to the PCIe specs?

I recall reading in the inquirer *pinches salt* that Intel had a brief problem with the Lindenhurst chipset due to an alteration in the specification supplied by the SIG in midproduction.

If this is the case, ATI might have a bunch of GPUs that are slightly out of line of the current specifications, while Nvidia might have just respun a bunch of bridge chips.

Perhaps a bridge chip isn't so bad to deal with a standard's growing pains.

 

[Pete]

If all of nV's cards use HSI, which one of their ten samples didn't pass, and why? :?

 

[incurable]

If all of nV's cards use HSI, which one of their ten samples didn't pass, and why? :?

I think you misunderstood the email; 9 out of 10 products that have passed qualification were from nVidia, the 10th apparently is a "Mellanox Technologies Ltd. InfiniHost III ExHCA Card", according to the list. It doesn't say anything about an nVidia product no passing qualification. (which isn't exactly surprising, considering the source of the message )

cu

incurable

 

[ChrisRay]

Jimmy, Why are you reposting the exact same thing I posted here?


Its just a futuremark thread with the exact same listed I posted 2 days earlier.

http://www.beyond3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14710

 

[jimmyjames123]

The post I saw at Futuremark seemed a tad more detailed than your post, sorry

 

[Pete]

I think you misunderstood the email

Indeed I did, incurable. Indeed I did.

Well, another potentially interesting mystery lost before it let the gates. What a pity.

 

[euan]

The X800 series, and I presume all the X?00 cards have a completely new bios. (screwing up the open-source fraternity BTW). We now seem to have VESA 3 support. So it looks like ATI are busy re-organising the basics for now. Given their lack of Vesa 3 for the last 10 years, I don't think ATI will be interested in having 100% compliancy for a verification test, if there are unnecessary features that will never see the light of day. It just seems to be the ATI way. Focus on the essentials, and screw the rest. <fanboi mode> quality not quantity </> hehe