Yes folks, another one. Why you ask? Because we can. lol No, I"m just kidding... kinda. ;)
I"m sorry to say it but I"m disappointed in the fact that NVIDIA"s new offering has the lead by a very narrow margin, and then to top it off, only in certain benchmarks! After all the hype, I guess I expected more from a card that was released months after ATI"s flagship card, and I know that some of you, as well as some important hardware reviewers, agree with that. However, for you NVIDIA fans out there, please don"t misconstrue what I"ve just said with having chosen a side of the fence. I"m nowhere near the fence in fact - I"m sitting on my lawn chair enjoying the show. :) Anyways, enjoy!
With a near perfect record of execution, NVIDIA inspired great expectations when details first started leaking out about their next-generation GPU: NV30. But when ATI"s Radeon 9700 was announced, launched and released to the public and we had still not seen as much as a demo of NV30 from NVIDIA, everyone began to worry.
Rumors ran rampant (as they always do) but it was none other than TSMC"s 0.13-micron manufacturing process that kept NV30 from meeting its original release target, as well as its revised schedule. Just before the release of Matrox"s Parhelia, NVIDIA briefed us on NV30 and promised a tape-out in May and retail availability in August. The part was sure to be a powerhouse and boasted some very impressive specifications, including a 350 - 400MHz core clock (which later turned out to be a significant understatement).
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