Hello lml, great post, though I cannot help thinking that the below thought is not quite complete, a couple of questions come to mind:
<<<Nothwithstanding all the controversy over the Voodoo II chipset boards, stock price performance is not surprising. Why? DIMD's overall market is about to take off. It has scored some major hits with Dell & now aligning itself with Intel, by supporting the 740, which is just the beginning....>>>
To what do you precipitate Intel's decision to manufacture and supply chips to OEMs rather than manufacture complete add-in cards themselves?
Also, what do you anticipate for DIMD upon Intel's eventual move of the i740 to the motherboard itself.
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To all,
It is my philosophy to simply FOLLOW the technology, which will lead to the "hot" companies and to buy and sell points as well. If the technology of a company or industry is of little benefit in your investment/trading philosophy read no further.
<<<...Intel want a share of the graphics chip market & it will not settle for a small segment.>>>
I take the above to mean that Intel's motivation for the i740 is purely to accrete to their bottom line, and as a result they desire to grab as large a share of the graphics market as possible.
From what I have learned the i740's purpose (and consequently any market share it achieves)is evident of Intel's desire to CONTROL the development of any and all subsystems that effect the importance/margins of Intel's CPUs.
There exists a developing trend for graphic subsystem developers to move video/3D rendering capabilities, the "Geometry" load, off the CPU and onto the video subsystem, thus achieving greater "performance".
On the face of it, this development would not be in the best interest of Intel, as it could possibly lead to an "equalization" of CPUs. In effect Intel might lose its (FPU) advantage over its competitors such as AMD and Cyrix.
Thus, we have AGP(regarding memory) and now the i740, developed not by Intel, but by an outside contractor. If I recall correctly, Intel has a successor chip under development which also is being outsourced. The fact that Intel does not "own' this technology outright is telling.
Tom's visit to the "Microprocessor Forum 1997",
sysdoc.pair.com
A site which gives a basic understanding of Geometry and Rendering, as well as 3D in general,
brandonszone.com
I hope this adds to the discussion. |
