Do you subscribe to Maximum PC magazine? If so, turn to page 11 in the recently released October issue (everyone else scroll down to the 2-free trial issuesl order form, or jump straight to the subscription page). In the sidebar, Tom Halfhill discusses how AMD isn't too big to fail, and should they fall, it would leave Intel as the sole provider of x86 chips to the high end consumer market. Even staunch Intel fans can recognize this to be a bad thing, and as Halfhill points out, "AMD's demise would [overnight] create a monopoly that's almost impossible for another company to break." Or would it?
According to one of the hotter rumors making the rounds on the web, Nvidia might be doing more than just looking to get into the x86 market, they might already be working on it. Preposterous? Maybe not. Few would consider Intel's and Nvidia's relationship to be a warm and fuzzy one, and as the divide between GPUs and CPUs look to close, it's at least within the realm of possibility that Nvidia could be hashing out a x86 chip.
The question is, are they?
Image Credit: Nvidia
Comments are closed on this article
Keith E. Whisman
August 24, 2008 at 6:51pm
I think that Nvidia can do it and succeed. They have the well known brand name and the loyal customer base that will support their production.
Perhaps Nvidia will make a manufacturing agreement with AMD. Just a possibility.
bcweir
August 21, 2008 at 7:47pm
Nvidia is referred to as one entity, so singular tense would apply. Thus "Is Nvidia developing its own CPU" is grammatically correct. If the sentence involved more than one entity such as "Is Nvidia AND MICROSOFT developing THEIR own CPU" the word THEIR would apply, since it would imply multiple ownership.
It all depends if the company is being referred to as a single entity or a collective of multiple individuals. Technically either would be correct, depending on the context being conveyed.
I should get paid for this.
frankstanley
August 22, 2008 at 5:10am
I'm sick of seeing people complain about grammer in this posts. I'm here to read and discuss the news and I have never seen anything at Maximum PC so poorly written I couldn't understand it. If I had to decide between an english major or somebody who knows a thing or two about tech, I know who I would pick. You think you should be paid for this? Look at the ego on you! I think you should keep your comments related to the story.
jwalch.hawk
August 21, 2008 at 4:39pm
I love how this comes within a very short period (couple weeks, maybe?) after there was a rumor going 'round that nVidia was leaving the desktop chipset biz. So, yeah... I think someone at nVidia is intentionally leaking these rumors just so they can have their lolzerz at all of us going apeshit about it. I refuse to believe this one until more concrete evidence shows up.
A third (x86) CPU vendor would be nice, though.
bholstege
August 21, 2008 at 12:23pm
Cause after their chipset problems, and the huge batch of new cards that are defecetive, I definitley want an Nvidia CPU in my computer.
Strongbad536
August 21, 2008 at 12:08pm
While I'd love to see CPU prices drop even more, I don't know how good a product it would be due to the lack of experience with x86 chips on the nvidia side. But we'll see. Maybe there will be another AMD for Intel to open whoop ass on.
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Keith E. Whisman
August 24, 2008 at 7:10pm
Well actually GPU's are alot more intricate and complicated than CPU's and Nvidia has been making chipsets and GPU's for many years now. A CPU line would come easy for Nvidia.
Besides they could always just purchase a Processor manufacturer like Cyrix Logic or other lessor known manufacturers. I remember building machines based off the Cyrix 6x86 133 PR 166. Perhaps Nvidia can do better than Cyrix. I think they merged with IBM so maybe not Cyrix but you get what I'm saying...
n0t_a_n000b
August 21, 2008 at 11:54am
Yeah! Maybe their already looking at E8500s and Q9450s under the microscope. Man, than building a computer would be fun again because of the cheap prices of RAM and GPUs. If all the CPUs drop too, then Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! I think that Yeah wasn't long enough. Just kidding!
N0t a n00b
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