***More on ATI Rage 128
fourthwave.com
The WAVE Report recently spoke to ATI. We report the following.
Performance is expected at 1700+ for 3D WinBench98 and CDRS scores between 70 - 75.
Fill rate is projected to be 200Mpixels/sec.
In order to get a part to market rapidly ATI has lowered the internal clock from 125MHz to 100MHz. This is consistent with the declocking that many companies find they must do to get the latest generation parts to market. The performance numbers above reflect this clock rate.
The part uses .25 micron process technology. It has 8 million transistors and the fab is TSMC. The die size is less than 100 mm sq.
Another metal spin is due back in early October. A complete respin will come back from fab at the end of October and this will be the basis for the risk production.
OEMs now have early silicon for evaluation.
The drivers for DirectX 6 and the OpenGL ICD are considered ready. ATI has independent teams working on the OpenGL and DirectX drivers. Submission to WHQL is expected in early November
using the final silicon.
Retail products will be available in the channel in November. ATI states that for some time they have been the leader in retail unit sales. They characterize the retail market as being a very informed one with over 60% of the buyers consulting the Web before making a purchase. ATI is confident that they can meet the
retail demand in December.
ATI feels that its 32MB frame buffer capability is important to the market. Its RAGE Fury card, using the RAGE 128 GL part, for gamers at $299, is intended to meet this market demand. They
are confident that it will have the highest scores in the to be released 3D Winbench 1999.
Although the 128 GL part is not a high end workstation part ATI positions it as fulfilling the need for a part in the lower end segments of the workstation market. That is, the trend is for all the OEMs to have a range of options for each workstation and ATI feels its 128 GL part will have a strong position in the
lower tier of this market. ATI expects to have qualification announcements with major workstation software companies in Q1 1999.
ATI recognizes that they did not make the Q4 cycle for new chips but responds that they continue in a strong position with OEMs with the existing Rage Pro product line. To ATI winning in Q1 with OEMs is important.
WAVE Comments
ATI is late to market in 1998. They feel that missing the PC Magazine fall round up is not a major issue. Given the very informed purchasing patterns of buyers today, where buyers seek information from all sources including the Web, the magazine test results are but one source prospective buyers use. ATI also
states that the current Rage product line is doing very well with OEMs and that they will not severely impact its sales in Q4.
With the Rage 128 GL part ATI is seeking to position the company at the top if the mass market for 3D chips. At the OEM level this will not happen at the end of 1998. However, if the company can deliver to retail, on time, and with the projected performance, they still have an opportunity to shape the performance sector of the market in the last months of 1998. It remains a very competitive race for the retail Christmas business. We see three chips dominating the Christmas purchase patterns: NVIDIA TNT,
Banshee and ATI Rage 128.
Over the next 12 months, as this next generation of dual pipeline 3D engines shape the volume market, we expect that it will be a race between ATI, NVIDIA and 3Dlabs. As features and performance migrate to approximately the same levels other factors will dominate the market - a key one being price. Here we give ATI a significant advantage. They have consistently shown the ability to sell both chips and cards with price points positioned for volume markets. It is important that chip price points directly relate to the quality of the IP on the chip. That is, the smaller the die size for a given level of performance will increasingly define those eligible to win. It is all about fill rate per sq. mm. Those with the highest numbers have the best shot at winning.
ATI has turned the corner with the Rage 128 and have moved to being just a player to a potential leader in performance. Now we will watch to see if they can deliver. |
