The Rumor Roundup

[Sabastian]

the only problem with that theory is its pretty much been said that Xbox2 would be based on the R500

lol. Change the label.. R400 +++ tweaking = R500 Xbox2 VPU.

EDIT:If you think about it, that really is not an outrageous conclusion. ATi isn't going to throw out the flag ship design for the R4XX series. Seems like a very prudent move on management behalf. I have always thought this since the rumors of skipping the R400 in favor of the R420 appeared. It was relatively the same time period were it seemed ATi was getting the contract for the next xbox as well. I might be entirely wrong, it is pure speculation on my behalf.

 

[volt]

"ATI and Nvidia to roll out last AGP8X chips before PCI Express takes the reins"

http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/Article.asp?datePublish=2004/03/24&pages=A1&seq=2

The NV40 will have eight physical pipelines, but they can act like 16, according to the sources.

According to information available on several websites, ATI’s R420 will feature 12 working pipelines, with a possible maximum of 16.

I would have thought DigiTimes would have more accurate info than ours

 

[ben6]

Digitimes reads The Inquirer LOL . It would explain some of their stranger stories lately

 

[StealthHawk]

Digitimes reads The Inquirer LOL . It would explain some of their stranger stories lately

Why would anyone bother reading the Inquirer

 

[digitalwanderer]

Why would anyone bother reading the Inquirer

To find out why I can't get to me homepage.

BTW-What's next, we'll find out the nV40 supports FP24? :|

 

[dizietsma]

Here's my rumour roundup

It is impossible for new rumours to have more weight than old rumours unless they have a source that is proven to be different and better than the old one.

Here's some other rumours

1) What was going to be a walkover for r420 suddenly became a walkover for nv40 and suddenly now it is a walkover for maybe er, both.

2) There are so many variables that it is impossible to tell whether Ati or nvidia will be quicker at this point in time.

3) 1 is connected to 2 and 2 is connected to 1.

End of rumours.

A rolling stone gathers no moss, eg example

Nvidia cheat at 3dmark and keep the money rolling in ( slight moss )
Nvidia produce nv40 out of the bag that is at least competitive ( some moss )
Nvidia on sales of new cpu king AMD64 chipset nforce3 250 spend $$ to make nv50 complete killer " fool me twice?" chip ( lots and lots and lots of moss )

nvidia are not lazy

Regards

Andy

 

[digitalwanderer]

nvidia are not lazy

I don't recall anyone complaining about nVidia being "lazy"; more about them being "deceitful", "untruthful", "evil", etc.

 

[Rugor]

LOL Dig, see something new to complain about Nvidia.

 

[tb]

R420


R420 will not support VS3.0
Reliability: Speculation

Based on this thread, there seem to be significant problems in coupling PS2.0 and VS3.0, and since R420 doesn't have PS3.0 support, VS3.0 support seems very unlikely. However, R420 supposedly inherited R400's vertex shaders, which were incredibly advanced. Only time will tell.

According to a later post in this thread, the problem with PS2.0/VS3.0 interoperability has been resolved as of DX9.0c SDK Beta 2. R420 will then probably have VS3.0.

I don't think so, maybe the MS refrast, but hw....
beta 2 says:
Direct3D9: (ERROR) :vs_3_0 shader executed in hardware vertex processing mode can only be paired with at least a ps_3_0 shader.

here is why:

VS_2_0 profile

Limits
12 temp registers
Static branching/looping support
Output to fixed registers
256 instructions


VS_2_a profile

Limits
13 temp registers
Dynamic branching/looping
Output to fixed registers
256 instructions


VS_3_0 profile

Limits
32 temp registers
Dynamic looping
Output to decl’d registers
Texture sampling support
512 instructions (minimum)


Just to point out the 32 bit float req. for ps3.0 issue:

Pixel Shader 3.0
Not much different from 2.0 with caps
Excellent min spec vs caps
Additional input registers (vFace,vPos)
Looping and Branching
Full 32bit floating point
Vertex Shader 3.0
More temps
Texture lookups!!

http://www.gamedev.net/columns/events/gdc2004/downloads/dxdevdaypres.zip

Thomas

 

[rwolf]

I would speculate that R400 was a radical design change and ATI couldn't get the drivers rewritten in time. I really don't think hardware was the problem.

It took Nvidia 10 months after the release of the 5800 to produce drivers that could utilize their hardware and they had a lot of time leading up to the release to work on the drivers.

I think the NV40 and R42X will be closer to their predecessors to preserve the investment in drivers.

 

[MuFu]

NV40 will launch April 13th and be available sometime in May.
Reliability: Launch date confirmed, retail availability high (speculation, but almost certainly accurate given past failures with paper launches months in advance)

I have good reason to believe it'll be available in July in quantity, with limited availability in June and perhaps late May. Come to think of it, perhaps it'll never be available in quantity... :?

 

[madshi]

I have good reason to believe it'll be available in July in quantity, with limited availability in June and perhaps late May. Come to think of it, perhaps it'll never be available in quantity... :?

Please tell us more!!

 

[nelg]

I have good reason to believe it'll be available in July in quantity, with limited availability in June and perhaps late May. Come to think of it, perhaps it'll never be available in quantity... :?

Are you suggesting another round of yield problems?

 

[digitalwanderer]

NV40 will launch April 13th and be available sometime in May.
Reliability: Launch date confirmed, retail availability high (speculation, but almost certainly accurate given past failures with paper launches months in advance)

I have good reason to believe it'll be available in July in quantity, with limited availability in June and perhaps late May. Come to think of it, perhaps it'll never be available in quantity... :?

Now normally I don't do this, but seeing as I got me house to meself for the first time in about a week and I am in a REALLY good mood (

) just kicking back and the temptation is just too great for me to resist....

I told ya so!

 

[martrox]

I've pretty much stayed away from all this wild guessing and presupposing... I cannot remember when this place has ever been this crazy....or this stupid!

 

[MuFu]

Heh, probably shouldn't have added the "come to think of it" bit. That's just speculation based on the fact that they obviously have a refresh part coming at some stage (although perhaps this is further off now if NV40 has indeed been "turbocharged" over the past few months).

 

[Natoma]

I've pretty much stayed away from all this wild guessing and presupposing... I cannot remember when this place has ever been this crazy....or this stupid!

* Natoma goes back to the pre-R300 and pre-NV30 launches for comparable crazy, zany, "you so stoopid"-ness

 

[madshi]

Heh, probably shouldn't have added the "come to think of it" bit. That's just speculation based on the fact that they obviously have a refresh part coming at some stage (although perhaps this is further off now if NV40 has indeed been "turbocharged" over the past few months).

Let me guess: The refresh will use low-k to bring up the clock and down the heat? Or will it use 11 instead of 13?

 

[radar1200gs]

Heh, probably shouldn't have added the "come to think of it" bit. That's just speculation based on the fact that they obviously have a refresh part coming at some stage (although perhaps this is further off now if NV40 has indeed been "turbocharged" over the past few months).

Let me guess: The refresh will use low-k to bring up the clock and down the heat? Or will it use 11 instead of 13?

NV40 will be fabbed at IBM, not TSMC. As far as I know, SiLK (IBM's Low-K process) isn't yet production ready, so that would leave FGS, which is already used on NV35/8.

Its possible the chip might use SOI though (note that use of SOI does not preclude use of Low-K as well).

 

[VVukicevic]

NV40 will launch April 13th and be available sometime in May.
Reliability: Launch date confirmed, retail availability high (speculation, but almost certainly accurate given past failures with paper launches months in advance)

I have good reason to believe it'll be available in July in quantity, with limited availability in June and perhaps late May. Come to think of it, perhaps it'll never be available in quantity... :?

Y'know, I hate contributing to the rumour mill, but I have both read and heard from others that nvidia will have hardware available/on the shelves when they release. I'm not holding my breath, but it would be a nice change of pace... I'd love to see them sell cards at the 13th launch party (for which I've got my ticket .