Consumer Electronics Show 2005: AT's Coverage
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 10, 2005 3:49 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
The CPU and Chipset Marketplace
When given the opportunity to sit down with the leaders of the Taiwanese motherboard market we're always able to get a good idea of who's really leading in terms of industry marketshare. We asked our contacts at all of the motherboard makers we met with what they were seeing in terms of CPU marketshare and chipset marketshare in 2005.
We talked to one motherboard manufacturer whose motherboard shipments were 60% AMD and 40% Intel. The rest of the motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan are still shipping more Intel than AMD but we're seeing a continued shift towards a 50/50 AMD/Intel split when it comes to motherboard shipments. By the end of Q2 all Socket-478 CPUs will have dried up, meaning that anyone looking for an Intel platform will be forced to move to 915 or 925X(E), which should obviously increase shipments of those two platforms but may also increase the number of AMD platforms sold.
ATI's chipset penetration is basically nothing amongst the Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers, despite ATI's efforts to brand the Radeon Xpress as an enthusiast solution. Part of the problem is ATI's previous history of chipsets and the other part of the problem is NVIDIA - the Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers are quite happy with nForce4 on the AMD side and they'd rather not produce any more Intel motherboards that won't sell, so ATI loses out.
VIA's best ally among the Taiwanese motherboard manufacturers is currently shipping around a 60/40 split when it comes to VIA vs. NVIDIA chipsets. The rest of Taiwan however appears to be more along the lines of 50/50 between VIA and NVIDIA. The manufacturers we talked too indicated that as soon as nForce4 was available on a more widespread basis that their AMD motherboard shipments would soon be much stronger in favor of NVIDIA.
VIA appears to be focusing on their Pentium 4 chipsets which we didn't hear or see much support for from the Taiwanese makers when we met with them at CES. Right now it seems like NVIDIA will be the chipset maker to watch out for in 2005, especially with the introduction of their upcoming Intel chipset.
NVIDIA's Intel chipset will support DDR2 and may actually bring some much needed excitement to the Intel platform. The entire Sound Storm division at NVIDIA has been shut down and thus NVIDIA's Intel solution will have HD Audio support, but we will not see the return of Dolby Digital Encoding support or NVIDIA's Sound Storm DSP.
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sprockkets - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
Forget using a DLP television, I want a DLP projector on a 100"+ screen.Oh well each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Better not have any stationary images on a plasma I've heard :)
snorre - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
#23: Well, so you're telling me that the Inquirer are deceiving us then whey reported the following less then a month ago:http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20211
"The good news for all of you Sound Storm 2 supporters is that Nvidia decided to get this audio back. It just prematurely announced it, as it will take Nvidia at least nine months to put it back to Southbridge. The decision has been made.
Soundstorm 2 will come back but not before roughly the "fall" of 2005."
AtaStrumf - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
To my displeasure ATi has managed to get at least one product with their new RS300 chipset for Intel out the door. It's called:SHUTTLE ST62K ZEN Barebone
It's could have been a fine product IF only they made it a little bigger so they could put in a PSU, which would enable them to power a graphics card in which case they would actually put in an AGP slot, which they didn't, hence it's a freakin' dead end machine if a word 3D games is in your vocabulary. The on-board 9100 IGP isn't as horrible as I feared, but it sure isn't what you would want to be stuck with, especially at that price.
Why the hell get that thing them? Why not just get a laptop instead?!?!
Do these people even think when designing such products?!?!
Enough ranting.
bob661 - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
#24It ain't happening. SS is dead and long gone. Accept it. Wallow in it. Order out for more.
Richthofen - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
#23well The Nvidia CEO seems to tell a different story at least during the last conference call :)
I don't believe for a second either that Nvidia is out of the sound business. They are out of that business right now but that doesn't have to be the case in the future.
I would expect a comeback from them in the sound business once they have made a big step into the Intel chipset business or when they manage to combine sound technology with GPU technology.
Reflex - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
#9: This has been confirmed multiple times for months now. In fact, the SoundStorm team was completely disbanded before the release of NF3 almost two years ago.I have stated it multiple times, its been both officially and unofficially confirmed before as well. I work for a large software company that has extensive dealings with nVidia. Specifically I work in the audio group, and believe me, the nVidia guys are long gone.
You don't have to believe it, but we are now two chipsets past the last SS enabled one and a lot of people don't quite get it that SS is dead and buried. Will they continue to post about it when the nForce9 is released..?
thraxes - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
#14While technically correct that the gases in Plasmas wear out with extended use, the effect is hardly noticeable.
I work in a TV studio where we use Pioneer Plasmas and professional grade Barco DLP-RP monitors. The Barcos and the Pioneers have both been in almost continuos use for at least 8-12 hrs every day since 2001. Guess what: The Plasmas are still way way brighter than the DLPs. In fact, the DLPs are probably going to be replaced soon by... plasmas.
Reasons:
1: Brightness - especially when the DLPs are visible on Camera and need to show graphs etc. they are very lacking. Plasmas are bright enough for this and more importantly - camera angle independent. This is even after running them 12 hrs/day for 4 years.
2: Cost of ownership. Run these machines over 12 hours a day EVERY DAY and the money starts to add up. The DLPs are slightly less expensive to buy but need the lamp replaced every few months which is comes to a significant amount of money over the lifetime of the unit. Energy consumption of DLP vs. Plasma is identical at about 400W. The DLP loses out because of your perceived advantage of "just changing the light bulb".
Phantronius - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
Grrrr no PCI express cards till mid time this year? WTF is this?SunLord - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link
This is amusing but do we have any proof it was a dualcore and not just a dual system they called a dual core?thraxes - Monday, January 10, 2005 - link