MATROX DOES IT AGAIN - TOO LITTLE TOO LATE!

[Mike Zamarocy]

Guys, WHOA thar fer a moment, . . . .

What I meant was that Matrox hyped the G400 MAX enough to put me and many others off from buying ANY other video card - and kept us hanging on waiting for it, yet it sill is not in stock at any regular or super stores. And now that it is about to be in stores for sale, it will be obsolete in a few weeks!!! Its features will no longer matter cause NVidia will have their newest out (Creative's card set for end of this month or early next month) with the newer onboard GPU (dedicated graphics CPU). So as much as I wanted to get back to being a good loyal Matrox user, they have let us all down yet again - not quite as bad as the Mystake, but close to it!

And Scytale - E-Mail me so I know who you are???

[Scytale]

Hey Mike, we're not on the X-files, it's me all right...

[Kruzin]

Obsolete in a few weeks?

I think you are overstating that by a mile.

G400 will not be "obsolete" for a long time. I have no doubt mine will be in use for at least a couple of years.

Just because something is not the newest thing on the block anymore does not make it obsolete.

[Ant]

I might be OK for graphics cards but not processors, memory, motherboards, modems, hard drives, scanners, CD-ROMS, DVD-ROMs, monitors, soundcards, cases, mice, keyboards, fluffy dice. It takes a lot to keep a half up to date test system running

Oh and I'd been running the site for over 2.5 years before I got my first review product from Matrox :P




[This message has been edited by Ant (edited 09-10-1999).]

[Helmchen]

Mike
Sorry for the misunderstanding but so much i've reread your message i can't see the sense. And as i don't know you i can't interpret something into it.

Helmchen

[rickn]

Helmchen: Let me translate. Good hardware, lousy drivers. Matrox has always prided themselves on image quality, but I am sorry the visual artifacts in openGL and quite a few Direct3d games will not win them any awards over TNT2. We were being told over and over again by r0m and other beta testers on this board that the new openGL drivers were gonna give us a nice speed improvement. Well, that was just a flat out lie because the 5.13 ICD is faster.

[This message has been edited by rickn (edited 09-10-1999).]

[Scytale]

He he that's the spirit, Ant! Let's go for the fluffy dice...

[Mike Zamarocy]

Kruzin, no offense meant - but if Matrox hypes their card as having cutting edge technology, but does not release it to be sold in time BEFORE NVidia already has their even newer card in stores (supposedly in a few more weeks) with even better features, . . . . and this is not the FIRST time Matrox has done this, then I have the right to complain.

Or how can I make this more clearer?

The original V1 comes out, Matrox sells a crippled Mystake, then goes even deeper and makes that M3d (now selling for about $5 at your local suppermarket next to day old bread) fiasco

Then TNT came out and so did the V2 - Matrox counters with the G200, but though looks great, is very slow and buggy (and still no OGL ICD???) and late to be released

Now the TNT2 & Ultra are out, the V3 is out, and for some time now! But the G400 was what most were looking at VERY hard and WILLING to forgo a few less fps for the image quality and Env Bump Mapping, but its NOT in the stores even today!

And now, as the G400 is about to be released to retail, the GeForce 256 is about to come on the market in a few weeks! The G400 was supposed to be the competition for the TNT2/2U, but now that will be replaced by the GF256! So what I am getting at is that for ONCE could Matrox have been on time to be able to enjoy the G400 for a few MONTHS (NOT DAYS) before its features are already bypassed? Hell, if things go as normal, Matrox will release details of a G500 MAX comparable to the GF256, but it won't be for sale in stores till 2001, and Nvidia will have had a NV11 chip out 6 months before that!

Get what I mean now?

[tish beta2]

I like you Mike, you're trying to be real, not like some others here in the formums (typo not accidental)...

No just kidding, you others are cool du0des too



But you are wrong about some things...
the G-force won't be out until late october. and it's fillrate is not good enough to take advantadge of the T&L.

And before games have a chance to support it, the prosessors will be strong enough to take it's supposed position. And, when the games will support T&L then the polygon count would be too high for it's fillrate.

And it don't even have EMBM. Just dot-product. Dot-product is not able to do effects seen in Expendable etc I belive (please tell me if I'm wrong).

So basically the G400 Max WILL appear in a "local" store next week (ok you might have to call alittle around) WITH EMBM effects which the g-forca can't reproduce, ever.

And when it comes to CPU intensive AI+internet multiplayer... the Athlons being sold at the time games will have a chance of supporting T&L + a CPU intensive AI, will take just that role easy.

So there you have it. now go to here http://shop.matrox.com/ and order your G400 Max just like I did. I tell ya, those EMBM techdemos and EMBM walls/tanks in Expendable is damn impressive and not reproducable anywhere else.

Ok, now let's rant about windows 2000 drivers for the G400, ok Mike? ¦ )


Cheeeriiooo,
Fish.
----------
They'r a little stupid, but not that bad you know - fake sig beta 1

[This message has been edited by tish beta2 (edited 09-13-1999).]

[Wombat]

Now THAT is the point that disappoints me most about Matrox. Long periods of time w/o drivers? Fine.
Announcements on products and features not yet available? Lame, but fine.
Charging a credit card 6+ weeks before you have any intent of shipping a product? Greed, and probably fraud.
I'll keep my G200 until it stops meeting my needs, then I'll shop around for something with the best Linux support.

-Wombat

[merchant2112]

Mike, forseeing the max problem, i ordered a g400 non max dual head, and have been enjoying the card for about 2 months now. (i have no sense of time so it's hard for me to keep track of days/weeks months.) but i know ive had it that long cuase i had to wait for both driver updates.





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I think I need help. I'm not sure what do you think, do I need help?

[flenn]

This is a good thread. I like to hear both sides of the argument. Mike pretty much conveys my feelings toward the G400. Months ago when the G400 Max was hyped, and we were told that they'd be shipping soon, I was convinced I'd replace my G200 with one. Actually, I figured I'd wait a little while until after the release for the price to come down. Weeks went by, then months, and now the only thing I can find is the OEM vanilla version at my local computer show, packaged in kitchen cling wrap, offered by a guy that won't accept credit cards.

The fact that I can't get a Max at any retailer near me makes me nervous.
I occasionally come around here and read the posts, mostly to keep a feel on the driver situation. From what I've read, it's not too confidence inspiring.

[DK]

Mike,
They all hype, right now the only 1 you can buy is G400/G400max.

This is just another business trick by companies to create doubt in your buying.

Example, Geforce coming out next month, normal person looking for video card upgrade, should I buy whats out or wait til next generation card.

They all do it, its a business.
I'll believe it when they hit the street, until then, geforce, glaze and new voodoo are all vapor.

Derek

[Mike Zamarocy]

Well DK, you are partialy right. Yes, they all DO hype - but darn, the TNT2 Ultra was out before the TNT was getting into full swing. Yet the G400 & MAX has been hyped since the TNT. And so I would say that the G400 SHOULD have been in the RETAIL chain at near the same time as the TNT2U which it is supposed to go up against. So seeing that the TNT2U has been already in the stores for sale for some time now, then the G400 gets the VAPORWARE AWARD. Sure, you might say, look online - but even most of them have it on BACKORDER, with date of availability UNKNOWN.

Now once again I will say this: The G400 & MAX SHOULD have been out in the stores ALREADY, competing against the TNT2U which is in its class/generation. If the G400 hits the stores when the GeForce does as well, WHICH card do you think folks will buy?

And another REMINDER - I do NOT hate Matrox! A lot of them had become my FRIENDS! So it is because of them not getting their cards out on time so as to BE ABLE TO SELL THEM at the same time as the TNT2U (its direct competitior, screw 3dfx) where it had a chance of being a great seller, they have once again dropped the ball and will be relegated to the back shelves in the stores. I mean I went into Micro Center the other day, which DOES carry the G200 TV - and when I asked the Manager if they would carry the G400, he said NO! And CompUSA told me that they have NO INTEREST in carrying the G400 at all! So doesn't that tell you something if some of the chain stores will not carry a product - that to them it either does not sell, or is thought to be less than the rest?????

[DK]

Mike,
Very True
Retail stores where I live don't sell Matrox products either, thats a shame.
I had a TNT before this card, I know what you mean there. I'm just stating what i've been thru and seen, i'm not trying to be mean here.


Derek