NVIDIA and SGI Align

Alowishus writes "Another nail in 3Dfx's coffin? NVIDIA and SGI team up - as a result, SGI drops their pending patent infringement suit and both companies swap patent portfolios. Press release is here. " I'm not really sure what to think of this - I can't see SGI giving technology to nVidia that would let us x86 users all have the same cards as their users...Is it just a way to get rid of the lawsuit? Maybe NVIDIA's manufacturing capabilities?

Comments

Who are SGI's customers?

[LL]

To understand the move, you have to realise what business SGI is in. Their customer base is
a) Big Data (Federal/Banks/Servers)
b) Complex Graphics (Entertainment)
c) Raw Science (Universities/Medical)

Finito.

Selling piddly graphics cards (that is compared with Infinite Reality Engine++ !! ... drool) for a high volume, fad-driven market is most definitely not their market.

What they are doing with their Linux strategy (and to some extent ditto for BigBlueIBM) is creating a scorched earth policy by releasing source code in the low-end server/workstation market to prevent certain software/hardware companies (you know who) from cutting into their margins and preparing a migration path from their proprietary Unices to value-added Linux components/tuning. You can see it in their MIPS processor strategy, developing for high-end then migrating to the embedded market (guess what's in your routers and printers?) once the R&D dollars are written off.

Anything that is a distraction at this point in time when their CEO is still turning the company around is a waste of energy. Despite this forum's fascination with technology, you have to understand that companies are hard-nosed businesses with zero tolerance for sentimental gestures. You get paid money for doing the things that are hard and other people are willing to pay money for, not sexy 3D games which take up a disproportionate amount of space on freshmeat.

When you understand the difference between work and play (or are rich enough not to care), then you can pontificate to your heart's content.

LL

SGI and NVidia both win

[throx]

This deal makes a lot of sense to me. SGI is moving down into the workstation market (look at the Visual Workstation as the first of many) and have been pushing the idea lately that they are going to embrace x86 systems as their low end solution - running both NT and Linux.

So, what does SGI get out of this: A great deal with the best video card manufacturer around and the freedom to develop their own custom chips for the higher end of the market. The low end cards (nVidia, ATI, 3dfx etc) have been creeping up farther in performance in much the same way the desktop PC market has been creeping up in performace. Without moves like this, SGI faces a rapidly contracting niche market with no room to move in the future.

nVidia gets out of a lawsuit which would have been very costly, and gets to be associated with the 'best' name in the business - SGI. nVidia probably gets a hand in on the Farenheit project which is likely to be a prettly big thing.

All in all, it sounds like a win-win situation. I was concerned about SGI's future about this time last year, but with their turnaround into the x86 market and their embracing of the best OSes in that market (NT and Linux) followed by their capturing a deal with the best 3D chip manufacturer (nVidia), I think they have a very bright future across the spectrum of 3D visual computing.

John Wiltshire