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

To: Marc who wrote (7005)	9/9/1998 12:03:00 PM
From: Scott Garee	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

ATI got those deals because the vendors needed a card (weeks ago) that was shipping. None of the new stuff was available at that time. It is interesting that Riva128ZX or I740 didn't get any of those deals. All these boxes are likely to be short lived. HP replaces Pavilion models every few months. I doubt any of them will be around to see Santa.

To: Marc who wrote (7005)	9/9/1998 9:48:00 PM
From: Stuart C Hall	Respond to of 16960

It aggravates me to see AGP touted so highly in ATI press releases when the true use of AGP is still a generation or two away. Show me one business application where AGP is really "essential." PR people make me sick. ATI uses a classic logic fallacy of appealing to the masses in their PR. ie. Since we have 80% of the AGP cards on the market we're the best. How does number of cards shipped in any way indicate they have the best cards? It doesn't, it just means they've shipped the most. It's all crap and shows the real lack of performance numbers they can point to when they appeal to the masses in this way. I don't like it but I'm not saying it isn't effective. And from Harold's post 7015 about PR and OEMs: "They will choose the best price/performance package out there. I wouldn't worry about the PR where OEM products are concerned. " I disagree. No matter how bright the Product Managers are for the OEM's regarding performance they don't work independently of Marketing or Sales. If AGP is what the consumers want or what is "perceived" as the key to selling boxes then you can bet OEMs will have ATI AGP regardless of it's performance rankings against non-AGP parts. Similarly it is important that TDFX fight this battle on all fronts with their own PR less the perception of their company suffer from not creating their own hype. ATI press release: ''Corporate and consumer PC systems need the AGP 2X interface to fully support the advanced 3D, DVD and video applications that are becoming essential for both business and home computing use,'' said Ed Grondahl, vice president of product marketing at ATI. ''ATI's RAGE PRO TURBO AGP 2X chip delivers the best AGP performance on the market and the fact that it was selected by these top OEMs for the latest processor technology is proof of the chip's advanced architecture.'' Selection of the RAGE PRO TURBO AGP continues ATI's dominance of the AGP interface, which is quickly becoming the industry standard. Mercury Research, a market intelligence firm, predicts AGP will increase its market share in desktop graphics systems from 4% in 1997 to 80% by 1999. AGP dramatically increases the amount of textures that can be displayed on the screen because it enables use of main processor memory for 3D and DVD use, rather than only the limited memory of a graphics controller. ATI is the clear leader in providing full AGP (2X) solutions to both the desktop and mobile markets. The company recently shipped its ten millionth AGP chip, and enjoys an estimated 30 per cent market share in AGP graphics.