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NVidia Announces Mobile GeForce 2 Chip
AFCArchvile writes: "NVidia might be giving ATI, the current dominator in the laptop graphics chip sector, a run for its money. This Yahoo article tells about how the release was announced in Vegas, and PlanetHardware has a preview of the chip (a low-power derivative of the GeForce 2 MX), with some technical specs as well. The GeForce2Go, as it has been labeled, performs over half as well as a GeForce 2 GTS (572 Mtexel/s) while consuming much less power (0.8 watts typical, 2.4 watts maximum)."
I don't know about most people here, but that mobile GeForce chip is still more powerful than most of the desktop graphics chips being sold today. Now I for one wouldn't mind having it in my machine, without requiring any fan or heatsink on the graphics card, which has been the problem recently.
Still, this will make one powerful laptop, although destined more for the power laptop (mostly plugged into an external power supply) rather than the mobile laptop (low power requirements from battery). Don't expect to see one of these in a Transmeta powered laptop soon. Maybe a die reduced ATI mobile chip will make it there, where power consumption is the priority and killer 3D graphics are less important.
In a year or so these chips will be amazing. 0.13 micron
40 fps. Is that a trick question?
-- You can't idiot-proof anything, because they're always coming out with better idiots.
This is the first really exciting product announcment of Fall Comdex '00 thus far, though Comdex doesn't officially kick-off till tomorrow morning.
.18 micron manufacturing process
The actual figures that pertain to the GeForce2 Go chipset are not that impressive off the bat, especially when compared with Nvidia's GeForce2 and GeForce2 Ultra products. However, one must keep in mind that this chipset is aimed at the mobile market, and its performance is truly geared in that direction. For instance, Nvidia has tried to reduce the power consumption of their chip, making for increased battery life of the overall mobile system.
Heres a feature list:
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Built on a
Based on the GeForce2 core
143/166MHz (core/memory) speed
17.2 million triangles per second
4 Texels/clock
286Mpixel/s, 572 Mtexel/s, 2.6GB/s memory bandwidth
0.8watts typical power consumption, 2.4watts maximum power consumption
AGP 4x support, with FastWrites
HD Video Processor/DVD decode
Nvidia Shading Raserizer (NSR)
TwinView & Digital Vibrance Control
32/64/128-bit SDR/DDR configurations
8 - 32MB of memory
Integrated dual-channel LVDs
Yes, it is indeed totally pointless for business applications
And yes, relatively simple 3D games already run fine on the current chips.
But, have you ever tried to take your cutting edge 3D game, development tool, or engine to a tradeshow like ECTS or E3, to give a demonstration ? Currently, you can choose between either taking your full tower (right), a laptop with crappy 3D support, or a couple of demo CDs -- hoping for the best concerning publisher's hardware & driver uptodate-ness. A laptop with a cutting edge 3D chip with proper driver support would rock, which is exactly what NVidia has been delivering, save the "laptop" part.
Granted, it won't generate the revenue of a business model (well, maybe when VRML kicks off or something), but there are many (would-be) game developers waiting for this thing..
And about the screen part; when giving a demonstration a decent screen or even projector is usually available. It's the hardware+drivers that are the risk.