Nvidia CEO on x86 Project: "Haven't Found It Yet"

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Is Nvidia working on a CPU?

With both Intel and AMD working towards integrating GPU and CPU together, Nvidia is left standing on its own with its graphics specialty. This lead to rumors that Nvidia was looking to get into the x86 processor business and going head to head with its already-big competitors.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told the New York Times that if such a project was going on at his company, he hasn’t found it yet.

“If we have such a product, I haven’t found it yet,” Mr. Huang said. “It’s just not important right now.”

Obviously even if there was work on an x86 CPU at Nvidia (and the CEO managed to find it), Huang still wouldn’t be one to reveal the news in a single interview.

If Nvidia isn’t working on a special x86 project in house, it could partner with Via Technologies, which does hold an x86 license from Intel – a key piece to the puzzle. Nvidia is rumored to be investing heavily into Via – something also denied by Huang. At any rate, we’ll know for sure at Via’s investor meeting later this month.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
21 Comments Comment from the forums
  • rockabye
    “If we have such a product, I haven’t found it yet”
    What the hell does he do all day that he doesn't know his own company's assets? Either he's incompetent or the company is extremely disorganized.
    Reply
  • megamanx00
    Easiest thing to do is get a controlling interest in VIA and sell under them with their X86 license. Of course initially they would be limited to low power markets like the VIA Eden and Intel Atom are aimed at. Since anyone could use hyper transport it is conceivable that they could pair a CPU they develop with any chipset they developed for AMD (like the 780a or 980a)
    Reply
  • lucuis
    rockabye“If we have such a product, I haven’t found it yet” What the hell does he do all day that he doesn't know his own company's assets? Either he's incompetent or the company is extremely disorganized.
    ^^ Fail Post. What's he's saying is that IF there is a project as such, that he is unaware of it. Or in other words it doesn't exist. Reading comprehension is important.
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    Theres more probability of an Intel video card succeeding then nvidia making a decent CPU
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    megamanx00Easiest thing to do is get a controlling interest in VIA and sell under them with their X86 license. Of course initially they would be limited to low power markets like the VIA Eden and Intel Atom are aimed at. Since anyone could use hyper transport it is conceivable that they could pair a CPU they develop with any chipset they developed for AMD (like the 780a or 980a)
    LOL there would be 10x the raw power in the IGP compared to VIA's cpu
    Reply
  • brendano257
    rockabye“If we have such a product, I haven’t found it yet” What the hell does he do all day that he doesn't know his own company's assets? Either he's incompetent or the company is extremely disorganized.
    I think he's pointing out that there isn't one. It's called SARCASM, he's not dumb of incompetent, he's saying that it's not happening, or if it was it's without his knowledge, AKA, it doesn't exist.

    Reply
  • Ciuy
    poor via isnt what it was before ...
    Reply
  • tipoo
    Am i the only one who thinks a Via-Nvidia merger would be awesome?

    If this whole Larrabee shebang is what its cracked up to be (and i'm not saying it is), Nvidia would be in trouble since they are the only major graphics player without an x86 license. Well, if Larrabee gains significant marketshare, that is.
    Reply
  • Lans
    Via and/or ARM might be the better options for Nvidia short of merging with Intel or other rumored possibilities. Although latter is unlikely with Larrabee. Hey never say never, if Larrabee fails and Nvidia's balance looks healthier?

    As much as I hate the way Nvidia acts, I still think is better for consumers to have them around. Via would give them an x86 license for cheap(er?). ARM would at least give them a CPU but no x86 license. I see great promises for Via/ARM + Nvidia bases products.
    Reply
  • I'm not an NVidia fan, and honestly wished AMD and Via would create a perfect netbook/low power pc solution; but I don't want NVidia to get bankrupt neither.
    Despite being an ATI fanboy, and AMD all the way to the Athlon XP(After a small silence the Core2Duo of Intel became my favorite chip of choice); I still want NVidia to survive the battle!
    Even if it meant being an underdog of Intel (like AMD) in the CPU development.

    I don't believe in monopoly; but those 3 companies, as long as they exist create a healthy battle of producing the fastest, the cheapest, the most power efficient, or the most optimized for games or special applications. So I hope NVidia will survive,and not remain left behind as the last graphics card only manufacturer... Or they might end up like S3.
    On the other hand I think NVidia is focusing more on creating compatibility with it's CUDA technology for games and programs on normal CPU's.
    If NVidia found a way to utilize some of the 10Watts of Graphics processing inside a netbook (whatever the graphics card has left over, and the CPU lacks), they could create a very powerful platform,like the ION, but more powerful, while using the same components and have the same TDP.
    CUDA compatibility would be great for gaming or blueray (and even for watching youtube video's) on netbooks! If that could be combined with a processor that has a GPU on chip/die that would be the most power efficient solution available to date!
    Reply