Nvidia To Silently Kill Chipset Division?

Chicago (IL) - The Internet rumor mill suggests that Nvidia may be cancelling future developments of new nForce media and communication processors, commonly referred to as chipsets. There is no official confirmation from Nvidia and we don’t expect such a confirmation anytime soon. But the sheer number of reports and quotes from industry sources certainly is reason enough to keep a close eye on Nvidia.

A possible shutdown of its chipset division is the last thing Nvidia wants to talk about these days. The company is gearing for its first big developer event, Nvision 08, which will open its doors in San Jose on August 25. PR and marketing is already in full swing and we just learned that the company is preparing some Guinness World record attempt and convinced astronaut Eileen Collins and actress Tricia Helfer to appear at the show. But the Internet isn’t very interested in the show yet and apparently wants to talk about the future of the company’s chipsets.

A sign that Nvidia is at least evaluating what to do with its chipset division comes from The Inquirer’s Charlie Demerjian, who claims to have talked with sources who were at a spicy meeting with Nvidia’s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang. Demerjian said that Huang was in a discussion with Taiwanese

motherboard manufacturers asking them why Nvidia should keep developing and selling chipsets. Apparently, this question was met with silence. The conclusion: Nvidia chipsets are dead.

Well, not entirely. Nvidia currently sells 12 different chipset models (MCPs) - the 500, 600 and 700 series for AMD- and Intel-based motherboards. Demerjian believes that these MCPs will remain available and even already started chipsets will continue to see an introduction. But early-stage and future developments may be canceled.

We leave it up to you to decide whether this will happen or not. Nvidia already denied chipset-killing rumors and, if the rumors are true, is likely to do so for many months down the road. We are pretty sure that nothing can be squeezed out of Nvidia this month since the company is unlikely to sabotage its own tradeshow.

Common sense applied, Nvidia always said that it is focused on visual computing and wants to be involved in every segment where visuals offer an opportunity. Right now, chipsets may assist the company in driving its GPUs deeper into high-performance and GPGPU computing areas, but if the company believes that it cannot add value to what is already out there, a chipset division may only be a distraction. In the end, the company bets its future on the GeForce GPU, the GPU-based Tesla HPC platform and the mobile Tegra SoC.

  • apache_lives
    I dont really trust there chipsets so i dont really care what happens here...
    Reply
  • baddad
    Tom's just another internet rag.
    Reply
  • harrycat88
    Nvidia killing the chipset division? That's the best news I ever heard.
    Maybe they'll finally release the source code for the chipset drivers so we can fix those damn buggy driver they keep giving us.
    If I had the money to buy the ULi division and the 3DFX division from them, I would jump on it.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    maybe this could also mean open SLi too sooner or later?

    3Dfx.....
    Reply
  • jaragon13
    harrycat88Nvidia killing the chipset division? That's the best news I ever heard.Maybe they'll finally release the source code for the chipset drivers so we can fix those damn buggy driver they keep giving us.If I had the money to buy the ULi division and the 3DFX division from them, I would jump on it.Oh,if only.
    Reply
  • jevon
    Yeah except that they just made a statement a couple days ago saying the rumour that started @ digitimes was completely false...
    Reply
  • Well its probably because their chipsets are buggy as hell. Best news Ive heard all day.
    Reply
  • jaragon13
    hvypetalsWell its probably because their chipsets are buggy as hell. Best news Ive heard all day.Not only,but they are slower and hotter,the only real advantage is SLI,and even that's buggy.
    Reply
  • kenyee
    that doesn't make sense...more people are using integrated chipsets now because of the better graphics. Only way to tell would be to find out their profit numbers of chipsets vs. graphics cards...
    Reply
  • dragoncyber
    Man there sure are alot of Nvidia haters out there. See, the problem I have here is that I have owned an Nforce 2,3 and 4 board, a 680i Sli, and now a 790i Ultra,and have also used both their AMD and Intel based boards. Funny thing is I have never had a problem with any of them. I don't understand what all the hostility is for towards Nvidia chipsets. I have read the forums and seen the complaints about various issues, but it's nothing more than any other chipset being offered on the market currently or in the past. Intel based chipsets have issues as well, as do VIA chipsets, and lets not get started with the problems for ATI/AMD chipsets, which up until recently were basically worthless.

    Everyone here needs to remember that every manufacturer out there has released something that didn't quite work to the exact hopes and dreams of every consumer. Yes Intel has made mistakes just as Nvidia has, but the point is not everyone has issues with their boards. I have not any any issues thus far with any board I've used that wasn't fixed by bios updates, and that includes Intel and Nvidia chipsets.

    So Nvidia haters stop bashing products that most of you don't even use, or have had minimal experience with. Point is that if you wanted the best graphics available, with SLi support to boot, you had to have Nvidia chipsets, that simple. However this may all change soon.
    Reply