Next Version Of Parhelia

[VigilAnt]

Discussion for the editorial with above title found on www.murc.ws should be directed here.

As promised, I am posting information about the next card likely to be released by Matrox. It seems that Matrox has another version of the current Parhelia on its way, similar to the current one, but 64 MB of memory as opposed to simply 128 MB. This card will also have a couple of other features that are different from the current Parhelia. One is lower performance. You read that correctly, lower performance than the current Parhelia 128. It will also lack the FAA feature of Parhelia, which is one of the key features of the 128. There will be no additional video features which are to be included in a release driver from Matrox. What is it going to cost? Sources say that it will be around the 250 U.S. dollar mark. This VigilAnt Matrox follower is really disappointed about decisions like this, where they think that end users will see the value in spending nearly triple for a card that offers less performance, less 3D quality, fewer features overall, and offers only triple display as the distinguishing feature when compared to a Radeon 8xxx or Geforce 4 Ti series. Shame on whoever made this decision.

ViglilAnt

[Liquid Snake]

They should've removed the Triplehead instead. It would probably appeal more to gamers, since most gamers don't have/can't afford three monitors for surround gaming anyway. Most gamers here probably find FAA more useful and practical than surround gaming.

[K6-III]

At a $150 pricepoint it would sell.....

[ElDonAntonio]

If this is true, then it's absolutely ridiculous. Those who want to save 100$ by going for the parhelia 64 won't pony up ~600$ on 3 monitors.
No FAA, no performance, no sales. For 120$ you can get a 64MB Radeon 9000. Better scrap the card altogether, no one will be interested. Worse than that, it'll cripple the "Parhelia" name even more.

Just go for the 256 MB with better performance and fixes at 399$, lower the price of the current Parhelia by 50-70$, and you've got a sharp increase in sales.

[DuRaNgO]

of course it does, the "cash" they save buys the beer

[Muad'Dib]

Is it just me or is that going from a bad situation to a pathetically pitiful situation.

Who the hell makes these decisions and why don't they get their head out their asses.

[Casey Jones]

Originally posted by Muad'Dib
Is it just me or is that going from a bad situation to a pathetically pitiful situation.

Who the hell makes these decisions and why don't they get their head out their asses.

Dan Wood makes the decisions if IIRC.

Casey

[DGhost]

mmm, gotta love it when a companies idiotic decisions and refusal to embrace a new market results in them getting their asses kicked in their own market...

[P5ycho]

Don't these companies do any market research at all? Someone should kick the guy who makes the big decisions in the nuts or something. Even my grandfather can see where this is going, and it aint where the sunshine is.

[Captain Marvel]

I dont get it either... I hope the FAA's not on there still and crippled like some features on other cards. Someone else said it right earlier..... if your making a cheaper version, why aim it at someone who has to buy three monitors to use the features your paying for...duh.. your gonna spend $1000. damn dollars on 3 monitors and buy the (slightly cheaper version of a marginal) card ???? Also... while I'm on a rant , I thought M's bread & butter was oem sales... what company is gonna put that in there rig... when was the last time you saw an oem rig with 2 or 3 monitors, even the G series had single head oem versions(and sold for around $20-40 dollars).Not only didn't they take the high end ,I think they just destroyed the only market they had left.??

If anyone disagrees please correct me.

thank you.

[piaxVirus]

I actually don't see this as a bad decision. I do think the price is a bit high and TH/SG shouldn't be an option. With TH, it may compete against thier MMS cards.

When the P first came out. I was wondering how they were going to replace the G series cards for the DH workstation market. I was beginning to think they would keep the G550 around for a few more years.

The low end gaming market is becoming severely overcrowded. Matrox has never competed (maybe with the G200) in that market. Taking a chance by entering it now could be suicide.

The one market that Matrox has a strangle hold on, is the multi monitor workstation market. Which includes programmers, video editors, market analyzes, etc. This is a very large market that they already have a monopoly in and has been their bread and butter. Losing focus on that market would be insane.

Today, I just sold a web developer on a G550 when they were about to buy a GF4600. All they needed was DH and good IQ.

Matrox should have called this card a 'Parhelia DH', dropped the TH and SG options, and kept the true DH + feature options. The price should only be $150-180 US.

Instead of releasing a 64Mb version of the P-128. They should instead drop the price of the P-128 by $100-150 US. If they were to release an identical 64Mb version. The price would not be much cheaper. Which would not have sold well or would cut into their P-128 sales.

[ElDonAntonio]

I understand what you're saying piaxVirus, and it makes sense, but the real money is with companies like Dell/Gateway/Compaq and the likes.
You're saying the 64MB card will replace the G550 for those who only want multiple monitors and good IQ for "cheap", but that won't sell hundreds of cards a day.
A deal with Dell WILL sell hundreds of cards a day. That was the way Matrox made all its money in the good old days. And companies like Dell will surely not sell triple head machines (with 4 boxes shipping). They're more interested in selling the latest and greatest (ie Radeon 9700) for the high-end, and integrated or budget cards (ie Geforce MX) for the low-end.

That 64MB card means doom, if you ask me (and I'm certainly not talking about the game, more like the layoffs).

[DGhost]

yeah, axing the triplehead, keeping FAA, and dropping the price to under $200 would be damn nice.

the quality of the dual-head make it worth that... the triple head stuff is nice, but not important... plus the triple head stuff would eat more memory and make a 64mb card very strained... i dunno if you could run any recent games at decent frame rates in triplehead in 64mb.

plus, like other people have said, the FAA is a good selling point...

plus, $200 for a workstation card that has good 3d acceleration, certified drivers, the dual-head features the Parhelia has (the dual overlays and shiz in particular)... its a steal...

[Maniac]

So Ant has finally reached the level of disgruntedness (there I just made up a word ) that I reached awhile back. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Matrox? stay tuned to find out...

[VigilAnt]

Originally posted by Maniac
So Ant has finally reached the level of disgruntedness (there I just made up a word ) that I reached awhile back. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for Matrox? stay tuned to find out...

Sorry, but this isn't Ant. This is VigilAnt. Very different people....plus I am better looking than he.

To be serious, I am not disgruntled at all. And this site has been one of the more vocal critics of Matrox for the last few years from what Ant has told me. So don't have any dreams that this is something new.

I am merely bringing the info I have into the open. You can either take it or leave it.

VigilAnt