R4XX GTOs all were/are inventory SKUs (R480, R430, at least). Speaking of R480 in particular, ATi ordered large amounts of wafers while their yields on 130nm Low-K improved considerably, what lead to a lot of supply of working cores and demand wasn´t there anymore. (We know the reasons). So, GTO is all about "selling" your inventory at way lower prices, because you have to much left of it and you don´t want to be sitting on those forever, at least not if you can avoid it. A surplus is always a bad thing if demand doesn´t meet your supply.geo said:
It doesn´t exactly work that way, because you don´t order SKUs from the FAB, but instead you do calculate demand with current yield-figures in mind and order a fixed amount of wafers at a given time period. Naturally the XTs are the cream of the crop, but there´s also the XL and there are always some more left which could also be sold later as another SKU. Which means that if ATi orders "too much" of those wafers and at the same time miscalculates yields / market requirements / competition, they will ultimately need to come up with some idea to sell those, so the GTO brand seems to be quite "fitting". They would also need to lower their MSRPs on the other SKUs accordingly.geo said:
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