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Nvidia Rumored To Be Readying X86 Chip Release
jdb2 writes with the (honestly labeled) rumor from the Inquirer "that Nvidia is preparing to release an x86 microprocessor with its guns targeted directly at its two major rivals — Intel and AMD/ATI," and excerpts from the just-linked Inquirer article: "THE HOT RUMOR going around IDF ... [is] that the company will do an x86 part. The background whispers say that the part will be announced next week at Nvision ... Nvidia's men in white coats certainly have the brainpower to do it, but they also most certainly don't have a license to sell such a part. NV is basically locked out unless Intel and AMD both decide to be magnanimous, and we would not recommend holding your breath waiting for this to happen ... That leaves the lawsuit option open ... Any attempt to enter the market without a license would bring down Intel legal on them like flying monkeys blackening the sky. It would get ugly. Really ugly. Expensive too.""
Socket and interface patents. Intel have patents on various bits of the interface between the CPU and the motherboard, which is one of the reasons why AMD use a different one for their CPUs.
Assuming nVidia is going to make a pin-compatible processor with one of the motherboard sockets already out there, they'll need a licence from intel or AMD. That's assuming they don't produce a small low power chip wedded to a particular board, like say the intel atom or the via nano, aiming for the new netbook market or the mini pc segment.
As I understand it, they already had to cough up a SLI licence to intel in order to get a licence from intel to make nehalem compatible motherboard chipsets, which means we'll finally see realistic motherboards with sli and crossfire.
Remember kids, it's all fun and games until someone commits wholesale galactic genocide.
Nvidia also denied that rumour vigorously, going so far as to demand a retraction of the story (from the news site, not Slashdot...). As typical, everyone seems to have caught the rumour and completely missed the denial.
Yes you did, and if you'd kept reading you'd have seen that story debunked - it's Via that's getting out of the chipset business, not Nvidia.
It's official. Most of you are morons.
Check out the legal histories of AMD v. Intel and VIA/Cyrix v. Intel. These essentially show that there are agreements and settlements all over the place, but few-to-no actual court decisions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VIA_Technologies#Legal_issues
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrix#Legal_troubles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD#Litigation_with_Intel
It essentially seems that NVIDIA would need to have a patent on something which Intel has produced in order to induce some kind of Mexican standoff, just like the others have.
Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
In the olden days, chip consumers insisted on a second source. AMD was annointed as Intel's second source so that Intel could sell to such folks (like the US government of yesteryear).
That's how AMD got the schematics to the original 8086, but that's no longer very relevant. Much more important today is AMD's patent cross license agreements with Intel. (BTW, the cross licensing also helped save Intel's position in the marketplace because it entitled them to use AMD's X86-64 design verbatim after the Itanium fiasco.)
On the basis of the IDT Centaur acquisition,[1] VIA appears to have come into possession of at least three patents, which cover key aspects of processor technology used by Intel. On the basis of the negotiating leverage these patents offered, in 2003 VIA arrived at an agreement with Intel that allowed for a ten year patent cross license, enabling VIA to continue to design and manufacture x86 compatible CPUs. VIA was also granted a three year grace period in which it could continue to use Intel socket infrastructure.
So the answer to your question is: Yes, but only until 2013.
Um no. More like long ago Intel needed a second source for CPU's and contracted AMD, granting a license in the process. AMD didn't start making any superior advances in CPU design for quite some time after that.
Now...get off my lawn.
NVidia has an x86 processor. http://www.nvidia.com/page/uli_m6117c.html
actually, it was IBM who required two sources (per their own company policy)
later, legal disputes settled the question
Cyrix originally didn't license anything. They reverse engineered 386/486 designs. Intel sued them over it and mostly lost. The settlement allowed Cyrix to continue producing the designs, provided they were made in Intel licensed factories. Later, Cyrix nailed Intel infringing on some of their patents, and it was settled by allowing each to use the others patents.
If Nvidia tries to produce their own CPU, I would guess they'd be sued, but it would probably end in a pro-nvidia settlement. I suspect Nvidia holds some patents they can dangle over Intel's head.
Anyways, all of the speculation is meaningless, if Nvidia is actually doing this they've got the legal parts taken care of.
Via's current chips are descendants of the IDT WinChip. Basically, a design similar to the original Pentium, IIRC.
From memory, and I may be missing some, here's all of the unlicensed x86 compatibles and their descendants:
NEC V20/V30 (these may be licensed, I forget whether NEC was a second source for Intel, as well)
Cyrix 486DLC/486SLC/486/5x86/MediaGX (now sold as the AMD Geode GX1)/6x86/M2 - this line was going to evolve into the VIA Cyrix III, but the 3rd-generation Centaur design, which was supposed to be the low power/budget chip, was also much faster
IDT WinChip/WinChip 2/VIA C3/VIA C7 - there's a modern descendant to this line that I forgot the name of, but can FINALLY do out of order execution
NexGen Nx586 - the successor to this was almost the Nx686, but AMD bought NexGen, repackaged it, and called it the K6
IBM Blue Lightning 486 - yes, IBM did their own 486 design, while also manufacturing Cyrix 486s
Rise mP6/SiS550
The VIA chips are proof that licensing isn't necessary - they support 3DNow, MMX, and various forms of SSE...