Any word on ATI and .13 ?

[Lord Cecil]

NV30 has been revealed, but benchies still aren't out so speculation for that will continue. However, I'm getting pretty damn tired of everyone ignorantly saying, "Well by then ATI is going to have its .13 9700 card with DDRII out!" Gimme a break.

Nvidia's card was delayed a good 5-6 months because they were trying to make the leap over to the smaller size. The Clawhammer by AMD should have been out 4 months ago so its total delay may become dangerously close to a full YEAR!

So, is there any reason why everyone things ATI will make the jump over like its nothing? Just curious...

[Chuck232]

Actually I think Nvidia was actually screwing around for a lot of that time trying to make the GFFX better than ATi's R300. That took a lot of time, plus the DDRII, which is pretty experimental at the moment.

As for Hammer, well that's AMD for ya...

[Un4given]

I don't think ATi is going to move to .13u until their next complete gen card...so R400. I think R350 is scheduled for higher clock speeds, and ATi may use DDR-II at that time, but I don't think the die shrinks are going to happen for about a year; at least that is a quote I saw from an ATi rep on some site awhile back, and don't ask for linkage because it was not a site I normally visit, and linked to it from another site that I do visit.

So, unless the fabs have totally worked out all the bugs and the transition can be made flawlessly, don't count on them making the move just yet. On the other hand, if the fabs have said they have fixed the problems and they can manufacture at will on that die size, ATi may give them a .13u mask and see what happens. If the yields are good that would be the way to go because of reduced cost, heat, and higher clock scaling.

[Chuck232]

Oh I agree with Un4 here. Don't expect ATi to pull something out of the hat and get a .13u comptitor to NV30 in Q1 2003.