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

To: Patrick Grinsell who wrote (9990)	1/5/1999 7:30:00 AM
From: Scott Garee	Respond to of 16960

Bingo. Given the boxmakers "give a crap" attitude about 3d other than price/benchmark performance levels I think we can expect OEMs to care less about 32bit 3d rendering and more about reliablity. If OEMs were as technology sensative as you make them out to be, ATI would be bankrupt... And to emphasize Pat's point, HP today announces 2 new Pavilion PC's with ATI Rage Pro graphics. Cutting edge baby!

To: Patrick Grinsell who wrote (9990)	1/5/1999 11:39:00 AM
From: Obewon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 16960

<< Contrary to popular belief, the TNT has had nowhere near the OEM penetration levels of the Riva128. I think there is a reason for this and I would welcome all comments as to why this is the case.>> How about COST maybe? By "industry" I was refering to both developers and the core gamers that have been 3Dfx's traditional market. OEMs haven't casted their vote yet whether they consider those features to be important. Someone else just posted that HP had awarded ATI with another line with the Rage Pro cards. Let me ask what are OEM's options these days? 1) Banshee is somewhat production limited and 3Dfx and Creative have their hands full supporting the OEM lines Banshee already has. 2) TNT is too expensive to be the default card for many PC lines That leaves the Rage Pro and Riva128 as the only viable options and the Rage Pro has a leg up over the Riva128 technology wise. Any comments? OB

To: Patrick Grinsell who wrote (9990)	1/5/1999 12:12:00 PM
From: timbur	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 16960

COST = SALES Oberon's right. Cost is the prime determinant in OEM choices. Of course, the chip must be stable to decrease technical support costs. And it must meet a basic checklist of features (display res, refresh, 2/4/8/16MB, 32bit color, 3D are considered). Let me give you an example. A few months ago I tried to run a hardware company. (Yes, I was once an OEM!) I was disturbed by certain local OEM stores advertising crap for $300-$400 and then selling the customer add-on after add-on and walking out with a $800-$1000 order. Turns out the company was losing money on the advertised box! (And still is.) The same consumer who would say "no, let's get the $69 Viper instead of the $89 Banshee" would also go ahead and get the 2 year warranty for an extra 20 to 30%, when 75% of the warranty is pure markup! So my computer store would be different. I would only sell complete systems with quality components. Put the ad in the paper, but didn't get many takers until I started advertising the real cheap systems. We ended up not getting the quantity of orders we needed to succeed, but it was a good learning experience. That's the problem that Dell, Gateway, or any non-retail OEM will have. Unless someone has already seen the difference, they will not order a high-end video card. Sure, we know better, but I bet 90% of my extended family does not. They would rather go with the Riva128 instead, since it's $100 cheaper. That's why I have always thought that 3dfx should pay for demo machines in places like CompUSA or Best Buy that show the difference. Too late now probably. And the retail consumer will probably get on the ball once the OEMs start pushing the 3D graphics. I hope they do. Cheers, Timbur