I'd like to see this very much...

[WaltC]

There was a time not too long ago when nothing but Matrox went into my machines...before 3dfx, before nVidia...it's been a long time, but I have a soft spot for Matrox.

I'm indeed hoping these rumors are true! Heh, heh, even as nVidia strives to steal into Matrox's long-held 2D dominance, I think it would be just wonderful if Matrox came along with something like this and just blindsided them. It would be wonderful to see this from Matrox...

Matrox's rather lame efforts into 3D of the past several years seemed to point that Matrox was simply abandoning that segment of the market, or else has been hard at work behind the scenes working on something to upset the applecart in a big way.

That's why I feel this is very credible, indeed. Matrox has the know how, no doubt. And I completely agree that rather than to join the ATI/nVidia status quo and produce similar products it will be far better for them to leapfrog the rest of the industry, much as they did several years ago with the Millennium products--which for years had no peer (albeit in 2D only.)

So, I find this credible. I also find a possible link between BitBoys and Matrox to not be beyond question--wasn't it Matrox who first licensed some of the Bit Boys tech for DX bumpmapping (?)--can't really recall, but for awhile it was a tech Matrox licensed from them which nobody else really had for awhile--and M$ eventually licensed for inclusion in to D3d.

So here's hoping--I'd buy something like this with only one reservation, and that being Matrox's progress with OpenGL 3D support, which had been noticeably lacking in many of their earlier efforts.

So I'm guessing that either Parahelia is true for a fact, or that Matrox stands to significantly lose marketshare in the business sector to nVidia, which is fast trying to steal Matrox's long-held 2D domination of the business market, most espeically with multi-display support.

This could be what it takes to laucnh Matrox out onto the forefront again, and put all of the other guys scrambling to catch up. I also think it's interesting the amount of attention nVidia has brought upon itself with its unabashed interest in trying to secure Matrox employees. This could be simply to steal some of Matrox's 2D know-how, but maybe there's much more to it than meets the eye.

Go Parahelia, I'm hoping this is on the level!

BTW, if there's no 64-bit or 128-bit memory bus--then what is it? Possibly a dual-128-bit or dual 256-bit memory controller? This would certainly fall in line with their previous implementations of dual 64-bit memory buses.

Will be watching with avid interest! Heh--I used to follow Ant years ago, before I left the Matrox fold, and I know him and company to be sincere and about as on-the-level as you can find. So, yes, I believe it and pray that it's true. Nothing like competition, and I'd love to see a rejuvinated Matrox come out with the gloves off, especially teaching nVidia a thing a or two.

'nuff said.



PS: Sorry, I meant to post this in the Parahelia thread. My apologies....

[Joel]

I bought my first Matrox card in Mar 1996. It was the Millenium I with 2MB WRAM and I paid $326.00 USD. Except for a short bout with a STB 128ZX just before the G200 came out, glad I only paid $49.00 USD for it, and a Hercules Prophet 4500, which was an impressive card for it's 3D speed but hard on the eyes in 2D so back to the G400, there has been nothing else in my machines. And by the looks of things there will not be anything else in my machines but Matrox for awhile to come yet.

Joel

[Tempest]

Is this one of those "nostalgy" threads?

I bought my first Matrox card for the christmas of '95, a Millennium with 2 megs of WRAM. I had a hard time choosing between the newer yet cheaper Mystique and the Millennium, but a friend of mine got me convinced. Later I regretted a bit when 3D gaming kicked in and the Mystique had a bit more to offer in that area.

But ever since that day, I have been using Matrox cards. The only exceptions were me running Diamond Viper V550 for a month before I got my G400MAX, and trying out the brand new Radeon 64 DDR ViVo for two weeks because the G400MAX started running out of muscle. Needless to say, the Radeon did not work stably even in 2D (my motherboard probably played a part in this too) and I returned to my trusty G400MAX.

[KvHagedorn]

You know, I have to say I have never put a different brand card in one of my machines, nor in any I have built for others. My first was a Millennium (1) with 4mb WRAM, that was given to my cousin when I built her machine (and for sentimental reasons I want it back when she upgrades). That was replaced by a Millennium 2 8mb. I got a G400 16mb for a secondary computer and am currently using a G400MAX in my main rig. I've used Millennium 2s and G400 16 MB cards in computers I've built for other people, but I guess I've never really strayed..

I take that back.. I got a Voodoo3 2000 PCI card for some reason, but sold it to a friend almost immediately.

I WILL get a 128mb Parhelia.. one way or another.. and it will be going in my dual clawhammer system later this year.. (talk about a kickass box)

[xortam]

Say Tempest ... I was running a Viper V550 in my PC too while I waiting for the Max. I borrowed the card from a friend to put in my then new PC and waited four months before buying the Max when it became available.

[SteveC]

I temporarily had an SiS 6326 in my PC as my first AGP card