Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA • Hacker News Board

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#31

Post by eli » Tue, Dec 08, 2009, 10:46 PM UTC

dnsworks wrote: post #30

eli wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cringely means well, but he tends to get these sorts of hunches that don't necessarily have any basis in reality. From the article: " If this reads like a huge conspiracy theory that’s because it is. "

I am at a loss as to any predictions that Cringely has ever gotten right. In that regard, he is somewhat akin to the Amazing Criswell ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Criswell )

He predicted the HP/Compaq merger (and, further, predicated that it wouldn't help). He also predicted Sun's march to irrelevance. And that the iPhone would crush Windows Mobile.

But yeah, most everything else has been wrong. This episode was particularly amusing: http://www.cringely.com/2009/03/the-neokast-mystery/ That was around the time I unsubscribed from his RSS feed.

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#32

Post by protomyth » Tue, Dec 08, 2009, 11:02 PM UTC

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #7

Maybe we'll start getting some decent open source graphics drivers.

well, if this article http://www.brightsideofnews.com/print/2009/10/12/an-inconven... is true, then the answer is no.

from the article: The problem is that Intel hired a 3rd party vendor called Tungsten Graphics [now a whole owned subsidiary of VMware Inc.] to create the drivers for the parts. Problem with those drivers is the fact that "GMA500 suffers from utterly crappy drivers. Intel didn't buy any drivers from Imagination Technologies for the SGX, but hired Tungsten Graphics to write the drivers for it. Despite the repeated protest from the side of Imagination Technologies to Intel, Tungsten drivers DO NOT use the onboard firmware of the chip, forcing the chip to resort to software vertex processing."

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#33

Post by dnsworks » Tue, Dec 08, 2009, 11:02 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #31

dnsworks wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am at a loss as to any predictions that Cringely has ever gotten right. In that regard, he is somewhat akin to the Amazing Criswell ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_Criswell )

He predicted the HP/Compaq merger (and, further, predicated that it wouldn't help). He also predicted Sun's march to irrelevance. And that the iPhone would crush Windows Mobile. But yeah, most everything else has been wrong. This episode was particularly amusing: http://www.cringely.com/2009/03/the-neokast-mystery/ That was around the time I unsubscribed from his RSS feed.

The HP/Compaq merge wasn't too hard to see. Somebody had to buy up Compaq as the market consolidated, and it wasn't going to be Dell.

As for Sun, that's like predicting that the year will end in a few weeks. Mcnealy was one big pile of fail with his rapid course changes and bluster.

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#34

Post by cloudkj » Tue, Dec 08, 2009, 11:23 PM UTC

Intel and NVIDIA generally operate under different philsophies. Intel, of course, adamantly backs the CPU. NVIDIA has for a while been touting the superiority of the GPU and the idea of general purpose GPUs, with projects like CUDA.

Not to mention, NVIDIA is still reeling from the costs of repairing faulty GPUs from last year, coupled with the impact of the recession on demand. They were also facing pricing pressures from AMD, especially at the consumer/enthusiast level. All of this led to fixed costs and cut into margins, which resulted in lower profits in the last several quarters. However, NVIDIA's management has remained resolute with a long-term focus. IMHO, NVIDIA is, at the moment, grossly undervalued. So that $110B vs $8B market cap is a bit misleading.

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#35

Post by igorhvr » Tue, Dec 08, 2009, 11:58 PM UTC

NVidia is one of the few fairly big companies I know that is able to write extremely good documentation. That, alone, makes me root for them.

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#36

Post by fungi » Tue, Dec 08, 2009, 11:58 PM UTC

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #7

Maybe we'll start getting some decent open source graphics drivers.

While i share your sentiment, NVIDIA's binary blobs are pretty good.

I wont be buying any ATI product until their drivers improve substantially and Intels GPU's don't really cut it for anything beyond basic desktop effects.

Re: Speculation: Intel Will Buy nVIDIA

#37

Post by malkia » Wed, Dec 09, 2009, 1:23 AM UTC

Just one comment about the x86 instruction set: Right is wrong. I'm just amazed at the engineers at Intel who are getting out with this horrible instruction set (horrible, and the same time - the only assembly instruction set that I can read & write) :)