I read a bit on... http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/08/01/why-amd-should-merge-nvidia

They have to now really do they not?

AMD CPU chips cocked up with their multi cores of late and are not doing very well right now and they have made a big mess of the ATI cards, there are good ones being released but its not all that.
Nvidia have recently had a mass recall and a total balls up of their mobo chip sets and They are going stupid with the graphics cards they do games a mental goodness but they are getting too power hungry and to big.

Intel are looking to have multi core cpus with 1/2 core graphics processing built into them as well as their own mobo chip set and their CPUs currently are very good and doing well.

AMD and Nvidia need to merge, they need to sit down sort out their CPUs and get them rolling out better and work together to develop better Graphics cards, multi core GPUs and Full cards that are not stupidly big. Work to take the good from Xfire and what makes SLI good and develop great motherboard chips again.

Both need to sack their driver teams and hire some of these 3rd party chaps who do a great job as well as new staff from where ever.

Would be a mess to start with, with both shipping out their stuff currently still in the pipeline and it will be hard for a bit but I think for them and Us it would be worth it as both are a mess right now.

Thoughts?

My imediate thought is that a merger of the two main players in GFX cards would be a bad thing for consumers. Intel have never yet produced a graphics chip which provided gaming performance on the level of ATi/Nvidia cards. Without the other one to provide serious competition, would either ATi or Nvidia bother much at all?

I agree that GFX cards are getting too power hungry. Last time I upgraded my system (admittedly a long time ago now) the main consideration over the size of your PSU was what CPU and how many HDDs you planned on running. Now its which and how many graphics cards.

If AMD sell themselves to anyone itll be IBM.  They have the money, and the access to the technologies that AMD lack.  Also, their existing businesses dont cross over a huge amount.

Quote from: BeakerIf AMD sell themselves to anyone itll be IBM.  They have the money, and the access to the technologies that AMD lack.  Also, their existing businesses dont cross over a huge amount.

Consoles?

Quote from: neXus

Quote from: BeakerIf AMD sell themselves to anyone itll be IBM.  They have the money, and the access to the technologies that AMD lack.  Also, their existing businesses dont cross over a huge amount.

Consoles?

360 has ATi Grpahics, as does the Wii, both are powered by IBM Chips at the core.  the PS3 has nVidia graphics, but its still an IBM fabbed ship.  

Edit :: Ill explain better.  IBM and AMD offer some directly competing products (Power Chips v Opteron in HPC roles), however the great majority of each companys business compliments rather than competes.  Even in the CPU space AMD isnt really completing with IBM, because the major market for AMD is the business desktop and server (Worth millions more than the enthusiast market, no matter what people seem to think).  IBMs hardware arm is exactly that, its a section of the business.  IBMs major earners are its software and service products at the moment.  However Ive heard a few rumours over the past year or so that IBM are sniffing around AMD as a possible purchase.  They can do it for (relataive) pocket change, while if nVidia tried to make the purchase there some serious regulatory concerns, alongside the fact it would be very very risky for nVidia to swallow up a company that is nearly its own size.  

Quote from: MongooseMy imediate thought is that a merger of the two main players in GFX cards would be a bad thing for consumers. Intel have never yet produced a graphics chip which provided gaming performance on the level of ATi/Nvidia cards. Without the other one to provide serious competition, would either ATi or Nvidia bother much at all?

 

tis a retarded idea.

That would be really bad if  AMD and Nvidia merged 500+ quid graphics cards no thanks!  

The FTC would never let it happen.