The graphics market is a cutthroat game, and we have seen many casualties recently. Not all of them have been fatal, like Matrox, which has recently backed out of the consumer race, or Rendition, whic
The graphics market is a cutthroat game, and we have seen many casualties recently. Not all of them have been fatal, like Matrox, which has recently backed out of the consumer race, or Rendition, which was acquired by Micron, or S3, which no longer exists as a name but as a joint venture between SONICblue and VIA. However, the most significant exit from the race was the demise of 3dfx, the company that revolutionised the graphics market with the Voodoo Graphics and Voodoo2-dedicated 3D graphics adaptors. NVIDIA then took up the reigns and surged ahead, and no serious contenders have emerged as an alternative to the NVIDIA juggernaut it seems all have been lost in its volumetrically modelled, pixel-shaded dust trail. And with products like the GeForce3, who can complain?
But people quickly get bored of a one-horse race, and, thankfully, ATI has joined in with the new Radeon 8500. Moreso than the original Radeon, the 8500 presents a real challenge to the lead established by NVIDIA, with performance that can mix it up with the GeForce3, and a host of hardware features to match the best from NVIDIA. The new line-up has the underdog, ATI, and its Charisma II engine locked in battle with NVIDIAs nfiniteFX engine.
So, after this titanic struggle, what does the future hold? There is PowerVR, with the Kyro range of cards, carving a small niche for itself. Matrox is rumoured to re-enter the arena early next year, sporting a radically new architecture. Then there is the pipe-dream that is Bitboys, perennially set to hit the scene with its own reinvention of the GPU, though yet to deliver on any promises. NVIDIA seems to be settling in as market leader, but it may well learn that things are never comfortable at the top for too long.
Labs Manager: Ashok Zaman
Staff Writer: David Kidd
Contributor: John Gillooly