I don't recall nVidia saying that at all, Randell. The closest I remember a rep from nVidia stating to that was, "Coming this fall, you're either DX9, or you're not." Which, of course, was to imply that some other manufacturers weren't going to make as advanced of processors as the NV30.
I don't remember that...though I do remember some other things specifically, including:
"By the end of this year, we'll be able to do the Final Fantasy scene that the GeForce4 did in realtime with full details." (paraphrased, of course...but the thing I remember specifically was the "by the end of this year" part...)
"NV30 will be on time" This one's been repeated a number of times, even after it became obvious that the NV30 wouldn't make it for nVidia's standard fall launch dates (August-October), which might make one think that the NV30 hasn't been delayed as much as some have suspected.
Regardless, you're still going down a very slippery-slope. That is, just because the CEO was wrong about the launch date once (I'd really like to see a link on that, btw...) doesn't mean he's wrong again. These things do not follow. It is most certainly in Huang's best interests to put out a fair and accurate estimate of current status of engineering, to the best of his ability, to his shareholders. Continually placing estimates that are too optimistic will, in the long run, erode confidence and devalue the company.
That, and this is sort of unexplored territory for nVidia. They've never released a product (or planned to release...) this late in the year.
And, finally, if tapeout indeed just occurred, then a worst-case scenario (based on nVidia's past execution record) would place the NV30 at an early January release.
I don't remember that...though I do remember some other things specifically, including:
"By the end of this year, we'll be able to do the Final Fantasy scene that the GeForce4 did in realtime with full details." (paraphrased, of course...but the thing I remember specifically was the "by the end of this year" part...)
"NV30 will be on time" This one's been repeated a number of times, even after it became obvious that the NV30 wouldn't make it for nVidia's standard fall launch dates (August-October), which might make one think that the NV30 hasn't been delayed as much as some have suspected.
Regardless, you're still going down a very slippery-slope. That is, just because the CEO was wrong about the launch date once (I'd really like to see a link on that, btw...) doesn't mean he's wrong again. These things do not follow. It is most certainly in Huang's best interests to put out a fair and accurate estimate of current status of engineering, to the best of his ability, to his shareholders. Continually placing estimates that are too optimistic will, in the long run, erode confidence and devalue the company.
That, and this is sort of unexplored territory for nVidia. They've never released a product (or planned to release...) this late in the year.
And, finally, if tapeout indeed just occurred, then a worst-case scenario (based on nVidia's past execution record) would place the NV30 at an early January release.
