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Next-gen Matrox chip to launch 19 June

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  • Next-gen Matrox chip to launch 19 June

    The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/3/18832.html

    <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">
    Next-gen Matrox chip to launch 19 June
    By: Tony Smith
    Posted: 09/05/2001 at 11:42 GMT


    Matrox is set to unveil its next-generation 3D graphics acceleration chip next week in preparation for the part's official launch on 19 June.

    The company, of course, isn't saying which chip it will be unveiling next week, but the G550 - the follow-up to the current G450 - has to be most likely candidate.

    Matrox's next major part was to have been the G800, which was said to offer twin rendering pipelines, support 128-bit DDR SDRAM video memory and feature a built-in transform and lighting engine as per Nvidia and ATI.

    However, according to a Matrox representative, cited by The Tech Report last month, the G800 is "completely dead".

    The trouble appears to have been that G800 was a dual-chip solution and, like 3dfx's problematic multi-chip VSA-100, Matrox may have run into difficulty making the chip pay. Two chips per board hits costs hard, especially when the silicon yields are low, as they always are in the early days of a new chip.

    Instead, Matrox is thought to be working on a single-chip version, the G550. It is said to offer the same 128-bit DDR support and dual rendering pipeline with three texture units per pipeline, but cuts back the T&L engine to provide just one or two commonly used features. There's matrix skinning and displacement mapping.

    The G550 is expected to have a 200-250MHz clock and a 360MHz RAMDAC. The part will be fabbed at 0.18 micron and support AGP 1x, 2x and 4x. The Millennium G550 board will contain 32MB of DDR SDRAM.

    According to the Matrox guy, the G550 will ship by the end of May, "at the latest". Which broadly coincides with the end of the non-disclosure agreement Matrox is expecting attendees of next week's launch to sign. The chip will almost certainly appear under Matrox's Millennium brand and boards are expected to cost between $150 and $200. ®
    </font>

    One thing I don't get though, is if it's launched on June 19th, how will it be shipping by end of May?

    ------------------
    Cheers,
    Steve

    "Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

  • #2
    Maybe it's going to ship early so it will actually be available at the launch.

    amish
    Despite my nickname causing confusion, I have no religious affiliations.

    Comment


    • #3
      Or is it vulture central reading these very fori and selling rumours as facts?

      AZ
      There's an Opera in my macbook.

      Comment


      • #4
        Mwahahaha, take a look at the link again, and wonder where the magical 19 has gone to

        <font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Next-gen Matrox chip to launch June
        By: Tony Smith
        Posted: 09/05/2001 at 11:42 GMT
        </font>
        Edit:
        "Which broadly coincides with the end of the non-disclosure agreement Matrox is expecting attendees of next week's launch to sign." has been snipped as well

        Good catch Steve!!

        Although "The company, of course, isn't saying which chip it will be unveiling, but the G550 - the follow-up to the current G450 - has to be most likely candidate" is the funniest thing. I'll bet on something between a G475 and a G675, with the always possible outside of it being the Rising Eagle

        Jord, no MSP

        [This message has been edited by Jorden (edited 09 May 2001).]
        Jordâ„¢

        Comment


        • #5
          lol.. don't hold your breath

          And as eluded to, 'announced' doesn't mean 'available' to end-users.

          Comment


          • #6
            I still say it's going to be the Condor II chip... can't post the picture again because tripod shut down my account - there you see how far matrox's power reaches, and this is evidence that the pic was valid, matrox were obviously scared of their secrets being unveiled, and had tripod shut down my account

            AZ
            There's an Opera in my macbook.

            Comment


            • #7
              I keep my fingers crossed !! I was already evaluating alternatives ... but didn`t find a real one.

              MK

              ------------------
              Celeron II 860 MHz + Golden Orb
              256 MB PC133 Crucial 7E (CAS2)
              G400 16MB @ PD 5.52 + TGL
              20 GB IBM on HPT U-ATA100 RAID
              Iiyama Vision Master Pro 400

              [This message has been edited by MK (edited 09 May 2001).]
              <font size="1">
              Celeron II 700 @ 1,1 GHz
              ASUS CUSL2-C, Bios 1009 final
              Alpha 6035MFC, 60 -> 80mm adapter
              2 x 80mm Papst Cooler 19/12dB
              256 MB PC133 Crucial 7E (CAS2)
              Maxtor Diamond MAX VL40
              ATI Radeon 8500 64MB @ Catalyst 3.0
              Hauppauge WinTV TV-Card
              Iiyama Vision Master Pro 400
              Plustek Optic Pro U12B
              HP Deskjet 959C
              Plantronics LS1 Headset
              all on W2k Professional SP2
              </font>

              Comment


              • #8
                I have almost given up and moved to the company with the ugly red icons (god, I'd hate having one of those somewhere on my desktop or in my display properties ), but now that vulture central reiterates our own rumours, my faith that I'll hold a new matrox card in my hands is almost restored - the price sounds good, too

                AZ
                There's an Opera in my macbook.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Sure hope it's true

                  The Hercules Kyro II just made its way here.
                  I wanted to change my video card in a couple of weeks. Was thinking at a 32 DDR Radeon or the 3D Prophet 4500.
                  A G550 sounds better though

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I heard Kyro II has no win2K driver support.
                    Plus from the reviews I read the drivers aren't all that great.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      So, what´s new about this?

                      It´s just a rewrite of the tech-review article from april 20, with some added speculation on a certain date.

                      rubangry

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Ruby, it's just a "we post a new date every month" post

                        Nothing to be rubangry about... or your precious stone must be worth more than a normal ruby

                        Jord.
                        Jordâ„¢

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Shipping first to OEM's ???

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Jorden,

                            you´re right. Nothing to be upset about, I just was a little tired.

                            I´m ok today

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Until Matrox makes an official announcement I would take everything you see on the net with a grain of salt.

                              Joel
                              Libertarian is still the way to go if we truly want a real change.

                              www.lp.org

                              ******************************

                              System Specs: AMD XP2000+ @1.68GHz(12.5x133), ASUS A7V133-C, 512MB PC133, Matrox Parhelia 128MB, SB Live! 5.1.
                              OS: Windows XP Pro.
                              Monitor: Cornerstone c1025 @ 1280x960 @85Hz.

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