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Technology Stocks : 3DFX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pierre-X who wrote (4859)	6/29/1998 2:35:00 PM
From: Miguel M. de la O	Respond to of 16960

from 3d over time review of nVidia TNT: I'll close with an observation and a question. First, the observation: the only company to meet its predictions with any frequency (i.e. at all) in this industry so far has been 3Dfx, and their products have sampled at or very near (e.g. 95%) full speed 2 months before release. (I mention 3Dfx only because it is the only model we have in this industry for what to expect prior to an on-time and up-to-spec release). As a result, expectations from past industry performance should be that the TNT will either be late and slower than expected or that it should be performing at or near its performance targets now. In point of fact (something no one is arguing with me about, btw), the TNT is not performing anywhere near it's specs - it is performing at roughly 35% of the expected level. To a large degree, at this point in the game (2 months before planned release [or one month, if you believe Chips and Bits]), it doesn't matter so much why it's performing so poorly as that it is. Second, now that I've answered the questions put to me, let me pose a question of my own for your consideration: "Why are all of these people so positive about a chip that, according to it's own creators' benchmarks, is running at 1/3 of rated capacity whatever the cause, 8 weeks before its planned introduction?" ...and a bonus question: "What would these same people be saying about, say, the Banshee, which is due out at the same time, if it were currently producing benchmarks at 1/3 of its rated capacity?" Just some food for thought. voodooextreme.com

To: Pierre-X who wrote (4859)	6/29/1998 2:43:00 PM
From: Peter Kerling	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

I invested in TDFX to get money to buy a voodoo2-board. Now it looks like I will have to wait and buy a OEM 2D-VGA-card. Somehow I feel sure that I am not the only guy on this board cutting down his hardware budget. "Cowards die many times before they die, the heroic tastes death only once." (Sheakspeare) Peter

To: Pierre-X who wrote (4859)	6/29/1998 5:07:00 PM
From: Anthony Maza	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

<<In your opinion which market should they have focused on?>> Hindsight is always 20/20 and I could offer solutions in retrospect but it seems to me that they could be using their technology to gain marketshare and capture the video card industry. Instead it seems they rely on game makers to do their advertising and fall short at implementing their technology to dominate the market. Banshee should have been the fastest 2D AND (especially from 3DFX) the fastest 3D. (SLI V2) Instead they limit the Banshee to just under the performance of the Voodoo2 because they have the rediculous notion that people will continue to buy the 3D only accelerator and a 2D/3D card. Guess what, it will soon be difficult to find a 2D only card. That means you will be asking people to buy a 2D/3D and a 3D accelerator?! No way, the 3D only card is dead. Once again the market has changed the computer industry overnight and whoever is on top (eg. Cirrus, Matrox, Oak, Trident) will be pushed aside by the competition. 3DFX is on top now but the base is crumbling. The leaders that stay on top do it through constant persistence and innovation. Intel doesn't release a "good enough" new processor. They constantly raise the bar. I think that my reasoning characterizes the streets sentiments on this kind of company. Hence the stock price. Here today, gone tomorrow. Tony