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Please discuss the editorial with the above title found on www.murc.ws in this thread.
Matrox Graphics. How do I take them as an entity now? How should I? At one time they were the best there was. Their legend began with Millenium. At that time, they had about as many employees as they do now (since all the layoffs and resignations have come down). They were focused and they were effective. They concentrated on one thing and they did it like not anyone else could. They weren't trying to make markets where there were no markets. They simply produced the highest performance card at any price and had the most features. It was not novelty card. It was not a made to be a mass-market card. It was meant to kick arse and it did. This product allowed Matrox to grow very large. They won OEM contracts. Everybody who was a geek wanted a Millenium. Some time after all this, Matrox Graphics found they could make a lot of money producing old hat to fit OEMs. Each successive generation of card lost more of that shine that made the Millenium what it was. The focus on the brute performance and the quality that made it so appealing was eroding. Matrox Graphics fell into the rut. The G100 came and flopped, cost big bucks in the numerous revisions they had to make to get it right. G200 came and was a disappointment. It could have been good. But the focus was no longer to put all effort into kicking arse and stomping pcbs. G400 was a huge step over the G200, but was still plagued with problems internally. The card should have been 50% faster than it was. The card should have had better memory performance. The card should have had a few more features. But in the game of trying to be too many things for too many people, it lost some of its shine. Even though it was off target for what the people at Matrox wanted, the public wanted it. But Matrox could not keep up with demand because of poor planning and IMHO poor distribution decisions.
The powers that be thought that going with another high end card would be a mistake. Even though they already had the technology for an entirely different core ready to go, they instead went with a G450. Dual head for the masses was the idea. Not a bad idea, but they forgot one little thing. There has to be a flagship card to push the mass market card along. Having a high performance, top of the line card is very much important, because when people think of a brand name like Matrox, Intel, Nvidia, they usally think of their best model. That is what allows people to think about the lower end models like Celerons and MX's. Not only does keeping a high end model make a good name for the brand, but it also keeps the technology current and allows it to filter down into the low end cards when the time and need comes to improve them. The same is the story with the G800, oops G550.
Parhelia, the new hope. I had high expectations for this part because it seemed that perhaps Matrox was getting back in form. They went for the throat when penning the chip. If it hadn't been for the eTV, we probably would have seen the card last year, and it would have been recieved much better. Instead, Matrox was playing catch up. Because they were neglecting their high end needs by focusing their resources on the low end market, they lost out. The end result was a decent card that could have been much more than what it is. Parhelia is one great card. I just bought one, it cost me dearly but I have no regrets. It truly is a good card. It just is a shame that they could not see that the card would not fly in the high end market without reaching the people's expectations first.
I know it may sound like a bitch session, but I would like to offer some advice to Matrox to dig themselves out of the hole they made with the Parhelia mistakes. :
1. Ditch the idea of the Triple Head for the mass market idea. You guys at Matrox Graphics know what I am talking about. If you want a Triple Head card for the masses, then use the current Parhelia core for it. This would allow you to fix your mistake with the overstock you have now.
2. Use the current Parhelia core in a multimedia type card. Your PCB already has foot prints for what a lot of videophiles want. Cater to them. Parhelia has a lot features that aren't out there that would entice some good money your way with such a product.
3. Release the Parhelia 8X core. It will benefit you right now. Put it in the place of the current Parhelia 128 and price it at perhaps 10 percent lower. The fixes and the added performance alone would allow it to outsell the current Parhelia in short order.
4. Move forward with Pitou. Get it right. You and I both know it can perform, don't go cheap. Listen to your people who know how. They are not stupid and will make your card a winner.
5. After all this, if you want to make a mass market card, do it in the form of an easily trimmed core, such as the old Parhelia core or perhaps a trimmed Pitou core. But don't invest precious resources into making a whole new revision just to make a cheap card.
That about concludes today's steam popper, now it's time to take in an afternoon lager and hope that someone at Matrox will take the time to consider at least the first 4 points.
VigilAnt
Matrox Graphics. How do I take them as an entity now? How should I? At one time they were the best there was. Their legend began with Millenium. At that time, they had about as many employees as they do now (since all the layoffs and resignations have come down). They were focused and they were effective. They concentrated on one thing and they did it like not anyone else could. They weren't trying to make markets where there were no markets. They simply produced the highest performance card at any price and had the most features. It was not novelty card. It was not a made to be a mass-market card. It was meant to kick arse and it did. This product allowed Matrox to grow very large. They won OEM contracts. Everybody who was a geek wanted a Millenium. Some time after all this, Matrox Graphics found they could make a lot of money producing old hat to fit OEMs. Each successive generation of card lost more of that shine that made the Millenium what it was. The focus on the brute performance and the quality that made it so appealing was eroding. Matrox Graphics fell into the rut. The G100 came and flopped, cost big bucks in the numerous revisions they had to make to get it right. G200 came and was a disappointment. It could have been good. But the focus was no longer to put all effort into kicking arse and stomping pcbs. G400 was a huge step over the G200, but was still plagued with problems internally. The card should have been 50% faster than it was. The card should have had better memory performance. The card should have had a few more features. But in the game of trying to be too many things for too many people, it lost some of its shine. Even though it was off target for what the people at Matrox wanted, the public wanted it. But Matrox could not keep up with demand because of poor planning and IMHO poor distribution decisions.
The powers that be thought that going with another high end card would be a mistake. Even though they already had the technology for an entirely different core ready to go, they instead went with a G450. Dual head for the masses was the idea. Not a bad idea, but they forgot one little thing. There has to be a flagship card to push the mass market card along. Having a high performance, top of the line card is very much important, because when people think of a brand name like Matrox, Intel, Nvidia, they usally think of their best model. That is what allows people to think about the lower end models like Celerons and MX's. Not only does keeping a high end model make a good name for the brand, but it also keeps the technology current and allows it to filter down into the low end cards when the time and need comes to improve them. The same is the story with the G800, oops G550.
Parhelia, the new hope. I had high expectations for this part because it seemed that perhaps Matrox was getting back in form. They went for the throat when penning the chip. If it hadn't been for the eTV, we probably would have seen the card last year, and it would have been recieved much better. Instead, Matrox was playing catch up. Because they were neglecting their high end needs by focusing their resources on the low end market, they lost out. The end result was a decent card that could have been much more than what it is. Parhelia is one great card. I just bought one, it cost me dearly but I have no regrets. It truly is a good card. It just is a shame that they could not see that the card would not fly in the high end market without reaching the people's expectations first.
I know it may sound like a bitch session, but I would like to offer some advice to Matrox to dig themselves out of the hole they made with the Parhelia mistakes. :
1. Ditch the idea of the Triple Head for the mass market idea. You guys at Matrox Graphics know what I am talking about. If you want a Triple Head card for the masses, then use the current Parhelia core for it. This would allow you to fix your mistake with the overstock you have now.
2. Use the current Parhelia core in a multimedia type card. Your PCB already has foot prints for what a lot of videophiles want. Cater to them. Parhelia has a lot features that aren't out there that would entice some good money your way with such a product.
3. Release the Parhelia 8X core. It will benefit you right now. Put it in the place of the current Parhelia 128 and price it at perhaps 10 percent lower. The fixes and the added performance alone would allow it to outsell the current Parhelia in short order.
4. Move forward with Pitou. Get it right. You and I both know it can perform, don't go cheap. Listen to your people who know how. They are not stupid and will make your card a winner.
5. After all this, if you want to make a mass market card, do it in the form of an easily trimmed core, such as the old Parhelia core or perhaps a trimmed Pitou core. But don't invest precious resources into making a whole new revision just to make a cheap card.
That about concludes today's steam popper, now it's time to take in an afternoon lager and hope that someone at Matrox will take the time to consider at least the first 4 points.
VigilAnt
That would be really cool!
just imagine were matrox would have been now, if that was the case! a g400max at geforce2-speed!
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