Matrox announces Millennium P690 Series

[Mikko]

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/corpo/news/pr/2007/P690Series.php

Matrox Graphics announces Millennium P690 Series fanless graphics cards
New series offers reliable, ultra-low power graphics solution with wide enterprise flexibility.

Montreal, Canada, October 16th, 2007 — Matrox Graphics Inc., the leading manufacturer of professional graphics solutions, today announced the availability of its Millennium P690 Series fanless graphics cards. These cards are available in several form factors, offer low power consumption, and unified display drivers for easy deployment across multiple systems. In addition, the P690 Plus LP PCI/PCIe products can be upgraded (via a Quad-HD15 cable) to drive four analog monitors—and up to eight analog or four digital monitors in a joined-graphics card configuration.

"The P690 Series is a redesign of the popular P650 Series graphics cards, combining new 90nm chip design and DDR2 memory technology with our rock-solid unified drivers," states Alan Vandenbussche, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Matrox Graphics. "As a result, the P690 Series is an ideal choice for professionals looking for low power consumption and a long production life, without the risk of unproven drivers."

[rylan]

Wow still no duallink.

[PAugustin]

Great another card based on ages-old technology
I doubt any company will spend $150-200 on such a card when you can get a $50 card that will do the same... or better.

I wonder what this "new 90nm chip design" is based on... Old Parhelia tech or... real new design ???

[Tjalfe]

I have to wonder how many people they still have working in the graphics department. If this is the best they could come up with in this many years....

[Marshmallowman]

"rock solid drivers" does that mean there have been no usefull updates for a millenium

[Adis]

"rock solid drivers" does that mean there have been no usefull updates for a millenium

[Tom]

New series offers reliable, ultra-low power graphics solution

That might look better if it was ultra-low power requirement graphics solution.

[magog]

That might look better if it was ultra-low power requirement graphics solution.

Their current low power comes only because of the 90nm process while AMD/ATI now moves to 55nm (from 80nm - HD2900 cards...RV600).
What did Matrox used before...maybe 130nm?

If they announce the P690 you can assume that the P790 will follow. The difference is minimal.
The question is which name or addition to the name Parhelia is choosen if that one is also updated.


@Marshmallowman: Nice comment!

@rylan: I'm not that sure that the card doesn't support dual link. It's that much of a standard now that no one really announces this feature any more...it's just there.
A question at the matrox forum may help to find out more.

[Mikko]

A question at the matrox forum may help to find out more.

There is no Matrox Graphics Technical Support Forum anymore.

[Heiney]

I've been reading this forum since I picked up a G200 back in 1998. I guess this is pretty much the end then. They haven't released a truly new GPU since 2002.

Is there really a market for this? I suppose it does have some unique connectivity options.

[rylan]

According to the specs on Matrox site for the P690 boards, the maximum digital resolution is 1920x1200, which is single link.

From looking at the unpopulated components on the PCB, I would make a guess that another version of the board (P790 maybe) has additional output capability... either duallink or quad head since the smaller square outlines with the thermal land in the centers are for silicon image transmitter chips.

[Kruzin]

I've been reading this forum since I picked up a G200 back in 1998. I guess this is pretty much the end then. They haven't released a truly new GPU since 2002.

Is there really a market for this? I suppose it does have some unique connectivity options.

Thier market is now financial offices who need mulitiple screens for trading, and the off-the wall apps, like fast-food drive throughs (who also utilize multiple displays, at the order taker, order placer, and grill).

They have given up on Joe User and totally given up on any hope of gamers. This is proven by the fact that they dumped Haig and their tech support forums.

[Mikko]

I've been reading this forum since I picked up a G200 back in 1998. I guess this is pretty much the end then. They haven't released a truly new GPU since 2002.

Is there really a market for this? I suppose it does have some unique connectivity options.

If you're an extreme gamer, then you should buy NVIDIA/ATI graphics card and Matrox TripleHead2Go for Surround Gaming.

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gxm/products/th2go/digital/home.php

[DentyCracker]

My Parhelia just got fuXx0r3d by a power surge so that's it for me next card will be a 3xxx HD I guess. Still can't buy nV, not even their chipsets

[Mehen]

If you're an extreme gamer, then you should buy NVIDIA/ATI graphics card and Matrox TripleHead2Go for Surround Gaming.

http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/gx...gital/home.php

Yeah I'm really considering picking one up ~May-ish when I buy a new computer - I'd only have to add a 3rd 17" LCD. I really wish the th2go digital was about 100-150$ cheaper. At $340 (ncix) it's really stretching the budget.

17" LCDs haven't really dropped in price at all either, I guess because there's no demand for them - I might have to pick up a 19" for the centre screen. Or check ebay.