NV30 not taped out yet....

[RiotSquad]

Ok.... I was under the impression that the "tape out" as it were is something that is normally only done once .....

If I got it right it is more or less only done once...(read Russ's reply in another thread...I think it was Russ anyway...not the sharpest memory around and of course I might remember wrong/have understood wrong...and won't mind a clarification...)
The initial start was referred to as tape out and then there was revisions to the original design...(not referred to as tapeouts)
_But_ we have to remember this is a CEO and hence he might have another view of it...(misintepretation/what he understands it to be and so on)
I for one will be happy if nVidia loses the speed crown,not because I'm anti-nVidia or pro-ATi,just because I think it's good when you wake the current leader up...
I mean,I doubt the P4 would've been levelled up as it is without the Athlon around...

 

[Guest]

I'd assume that wrapping it up means the same no matter what you're talking about: they're in the final stages of doing whatever they're doing.

I guess my question is how long does it take to "wrap" it up? This sounds like a pretty open statment for interpretation and is a far cry from being definate about things.

Whether its verifying their metal fixes, or doing the final layout for the first try, or...

Hrm, I don't think that the CEO of nvidia could have made it any clearer. It hasn't been "taped out". Therefor it hasn't even been done yet initially. Why would the CEO make a an unnessary statement causing billions lost in share valuations? No good reason that I can imagine .. unless he wants to put his job in jeaprody. There is no good reason for him to state that the nv30 is not taped out if it is taped out. That is not a "rational" argument really.

I'm personally not putting any money on any predictions, either for product on the shelves by the end of the year or not.

Well if in fact the NV30 has not done its intial tape out as the CEO says then I would "put money on" it.

The tea leaves are way too capricious. Every hint is countered by another innuendo; every substantiated fact by an equal but opposite fact. None of it even seems to make a general outline of whats really happening. Since all of it is second hand(via websites), or very strange terminology (the conferece call), I'm in the "I'll sit and wait until the smoke clears" camp.

Yeah and you can thank nvidia CEO for all the confusion. There is no fact being countered by another fact here. The truth is being countered by lies and thats a fact. Yeah talk about your "smoke and mirrors"(Or fog however you like it.) nvidia CEO is a real smoke and mirrors kind of guy.

Either way, some day soon, when I want to buy a DX9 card, they'll all be too expensive and I won't.

LOL, yeah I can simpathise with that.

 

[jb]

Yeah and you can thank nvidia CEO for all the confusion.

Yea that makes you wonder when he made that comment about the NV30 in August back during the MS/nVidia arbitration stuff a few months ago.....

 

[Hellbinder]

This is SO not difficult..

Tape Out.... Translation by "Tape out for dummies"

"Has the Nv30 been uploaded Via FTP to the Fab plant for masking and initial production????"

"No. But we are close to Wrapping it up..." "we feel confident based on our history to still get the product on the shelves for the holiday season"

There.... that pretty much summs it up. Why all this reading into the statements, generationg inuendo that does not exsist????

 

[Andergum]

I suppose its possible that the person asking "has it taped out" may have prior knowledge of other developments and or other"tape outs" and was asking if the latest version had taped out without specifically mentioning the other tape outs.

If indeed this is the first run then I doubt it will be ready for x-mas.

If it is and nVIDIA does indeed get the Nv30 to market by December it will take a herculean effort.

 

[Guest]

My point exactly HellBinder

 

[Guest]

If it is and nVIDIA does indeed get the Nv30 to market by December it will take a herculean effort.

Oh I got one .. hehe can't resist ... and with Cerberus guarding the gates of Hell the that snowball hasn't even got a prayer. A real page out of GEEK Methology.. hehe oh thats bad...

 

[RussSchultz]

]"Has the Nv30 been uploaded Via FTP to the Fab plant for masking and initial production????"

Generally yes, thats an generally accurate description. See above list of uses for the term tapeout, however. As Andergum suggests, maybe there's a context we're not aware about (i.e. were they talking about the (hopefully final) metal rev having taped out)

]Why all this reading into the statements, generationg inuendo that does not exsist????

Because dates, etc don't add up. If it hasn't done its initial tapeout, then it will not get back even close to in time for products to be on the shelf for the holiday season. But the CEO suggested it should. Very curious.

As I said, the magic 8 ball says "Cannot Predict Now" and "ask again later". I'm sure tomorrows story will be different.

 

[Tahir2]

6 pages of discussion generated by three words... 'tape' 'out' and 'not'

Now someone is going to tell me that tape out is one word.

Amazing!

 

[Bigus Dickus]

Because dates, etc don't add up. If it hasn't done its initial tapeout, then it will not get back even close to in time for products to be on the shelf for the holiday season.

Bingo.

But the CEO suggested it should. Very curious.

That's what CEO's do.

 

[jjayb]

Listen carefully to the man's question again. He not only asks "has it taped out?" He also asks, has it reached the "100 day mark" or something along that line. Im not at home right now so I can't listen to it. So you can assume it's at least 100 days away.

 

[BoardBonobo]

I have no clue whether NV30 is based on the low-k version...

Low-k is intended for very high clock rates (pushing 1 GHz +) so I don't see why the NV30 would need it.

Mize

One of the various rumours that surfaced recently, I shall try and find the source, was that the NV30 was based around low-k. Maybe they were pushing for high core speeds to offset narrow memory bandwidth and increase shader\fillrate throughput. And maybe that approach has turned around and bitten them in the ass?

 

[SanGreal]

Listen carefully to the man's question again. He not only asks "has it taped out?" He also asks, has it reached the "100 day mark" or something along that line. Im not at home right now so I can't listen to it. So you can assume it's at least 100 days away.

He asks if its taped out, then he asks if their design->production time is still 100 days. The CEOs response was that it has not taped out, but nvidia has been historically fast with design->production times.

 

[WaltC]

Chang seemed quite nervous when the NV30 tape-out was brought up, will we really see Nvidia screwing things up after years of product clycles? If they miss this fall and are delayed till winter or even next spring, it would be essentially 2 years between truly new architectures... ouch!

I used to comment on the 3dfx forums as to how silly nVidia was to proffer the idea of 6-month product cycles to begin with, as inevitably it was going to place them in the position where they'd raise expectations to high levels and them be unable to meet their own self-imposed market deadlines. Insisting on a 6-month cycle is kind of like shooting yourself in the foot repeatedly--one day you'll miss and take out your leg--or worse.

Please--missing the cycles does not equate to "screwing things up", although I have to admit a certain ironic satisfaction at seeing nVidia faced with the absurdity of its own pronouncements. Hopefully, the "six-month product cycle" idea will be allowed to die a quiet, painless death and we won't hear anymore of this nonsense. It was all marketing drivel, anyway--because for a long time nVidia's been releasing stripped-down versions of its main chips and calling them "new products" to fit them within this self-imposed 6-month cycle. The fact is that nVidia has more often than not missed the 6-month deadline anyway, if we define "new chip architecture" as "new products" to plug into the formula.

So, I don't think Huang is nervous about the possibility of missing this cycle as much as he is worried about the chip itself. This chip is fantastically complex, probably an order of magnitude moreso than anything nVidia's released to date. It's an extremely ambitious undertaking--and if nVidia drops the ball I won't be surprised as eventually they will over reach themselves at some point. Personally, if the chip is going to be as good as nVidia is hinting I don't think Huang would be worried over a 1-2 month delay in shipping it. That's why I think he's worried about their ability to manufacture the chip in the first place. Oh, it's certain that we will see a "nv30"--but as to whether it will be the "nv30" nVidia intended is right now anybody's guess.

 

[seenenough]

Chang seemed quite nervous when the NV30 tape-out was brought up, will we really see Nvidia screwing things up after years of product clycles? If they miss this fall and are delayed till winter or even next spring, it would be essentially 2 years between truly new architectures... ouch!

So, I don't think Chang is nervous about the possibility of missing this cycle as much as he is worried about the chip itself. This chip is fantastically complex, probably an order of magnitude moreso than anything nVidia's released to date. It's an extremely ambitious undertaking--and if nVidia drops the ball I won't be surprised as eventually they will over reach themselves at some point. Personally, if the chip is going to be as good as nVidia is hinting I don't think Chang would be worried over a 1-2 month delay in shipping it. That's why I think he's worried about their ability to manufacture the chip in the first place. Oh, it's certain that we will see a "nv30"--but as to whether it will be the "nv30" nVidia intended is right now anybody's guess.

Please, at least have the decency to get the guy's name right. It's not Chang, and it's not Jensen, it's Jen-Hsun Huang.

Thank you.

 

[WaltC]

Please, at least have the decency to get the guy's name right. It's not Chang, and it's not Jensen, it's Jen-Hsun Huang.

Thank you.

You're welcome.... Honestly, I had never heard of "Chang", but since he used it I assumed "Chang" was simply someone at nVidia of whom I was unaware. Well, that's what I get for a-s-s-uming, right?....

Great example of just how incorrect information can be picked up and circulated round the 'net, even when the intentions are good. Thanks for the (obvious) correction.

 

[Crusher]

Technically NVIDIA already released a product for the second half of 2002 (the N-Force 2) so I don't see how they could really miss out on their 6 month product schedule. Still, it would be rather disappointing to have to use that as the only example of keeping their word.

 

[Andergum]

Technically NVIDIA already released a product for the second half of 2002 (the N-Force 2) so I don't see how they could really miss out on their 6 month product schedule. Still, it would be rather disappointing to have to use that as the only example of keeping their word.

heh..

I'll bet those new R9700 video cards will run extremely well in the 8x AGP N-Force 2

 

[RussSchultz]

I'll bet those new R9700 video cards will run extremely well in the 8x AGP N-Force 2

Nah, they'd constantly bicker and in the end just get replaced with newer models.

 

[Nagorak]

Because dates, etc don't add up. If it hasn't done its initial tapeout, then it will not get back even close to in time for products to be on the shelf for the holiday season. But the CEO suggested it should. Very curious.

As I said, the magic 8 ball says "Cannot Predict Now" and "ask again later". I'm sure tomorrows story will be different.

Maybe because he's the CEO!!!! He wants to make as optimistic projections as possible, whether or not they have more than a slim chance of coming true.