Matrox announces their commitment to release more PCIe cards...

[Mikko]

Montreal, Canada, May 31, 2005

http://www.matrox.com/mga/media_center/press_rel/2005/corp/pcie.cfm

"Our initial PCIe graphics cards were launched at the end of 2004 and we will continue to release more PCIe graphics solutions throughout 2005, all of which will be based on proven technology, deliver superior stability and be backed by specialized product support teams."


Same old news throughout the year 2005...?

[Tjalfe]

proven technology = parhelia core .. nothing new here

[Fluff]

Matrox will show it's commitment to the audio market by releasing a passively cooled P650 pci express.

[Kurt]

M will release PCI-E cards,,,,erm DOH!

So there IS a market for PCI-E after all. Who would have thought ?

[magician]

I don't want to sound malicious but I think that the best thing Matrox could do at this time is to build PCIe version of G4x0 and figure out how to make it SLI capable.

I mean, with modern design tools and 90nm tech processes, they could probably shrink the core to a size of a bean and clock it to at least 300MHz... give it a 128bit memory bus with 64MB of DDR2 and improve scaler unit... maybe add same IDCT and motion compression units to assist MPEG2 and MPEG4 encoding... and sell this card for not more then $100.

I guess it wouldn't be so hard to adapt drivers to support PCIe interface and SLI mode so we could use it for general purpose things in PCIe x4 slot and add NVidia or ATi card in x16 slot for all that 3D work. That just reminds me so much of time when we combined G200 with Voodoo accelerators.

O.K. maybe I just got carried away but considering circumstances it sounds good to me.

[Taz]

Matrox are sticking to the Parhelia core probably because they don't have anyone left to design a new one

[magician]

Matrox are sticking to the Parhelia core probably because they don't have anyone left to design a new one

That shouldn't stop them from reusing the old one. At least never did so far.

[Wombat]

Yeah, they haven't finished with the part where they take the old tech and make it slower.

G400-450-550

Parhelia512-256-???

[Nicram]

Well, they should back to G400, add VS & PS from Parhelia, make gfx clock up to 400MHz & sell those new, wonderfull cards that all ppl love

[magician]

Unfortunately that's not how things work, so I really think that they should stay off 3D hardware. Last time they tried to incorporate vector and pixel shaders into a core they ended with "banding effect"â„¢ and "last year's" performance benchmark.

@Matrox: Just give us a decent 2D card with HD video encoding, rock solid Windows and Linux drivers and SLI capabilitys for no more then $120 and will make our own regarding 3D.

Botom line: they should really consider making SLI capable cards that will work with any ATi/Nvidia products. Perhaps Canadians could join forces, or ATi will mercy on Matrox and buy them out.

[Kurt]

The problem is they will need some form of 3D for Longhorn.

[magician]

Well... I don't think that it will be a must... you could alway use software fallback. Of course performance is another story.

[Nowhere]

magician, why do you want it to be SLI capable?

[magician]

magician, why do you want it to be SLI capable?

Well... I had in mind something similar to "G200 + Voodoo" combination. It wouldn't be exactly a SLI setup, and I'm not sure if it's possible at all, but it would be an interesting offer for us Matrox geeks.

In SLI setups, on card is working on PCIe x4 slot and another on PCIe x16, so I guess it's not quite a S(ymmetrical)M(umli)P(rocessing) sort of thing. Did I misunderstood something?

I think it would be pretty cool to revive such "graphic card + 3D accelerator" setups.

[Nowhere]

Yes, you did misunderstand. In SLI cards work in identical slots, both acting as one.