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Gloves come off in graphics war between AMD and Nvidia
AMD and Nvidia are preparing to fight off Intel's push with video-enabled CPU
- By Scott Shuey, Chief Reporter, Gulf News
- Published: 00:00 October 21, 2009
- Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates airline and Group, visits the Gitex 2009 at Dubai World Trade Centre and Exhibition hall.
- Image Credit: Ahmed Ramzan/Gulf News
Dubai: Civility between computer-chip manufacturers Intel, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia has never been in abundance, but due to the growing demand for high-end graphics the situation is about to get worse.
At the centre of the fight is something called a graphic processing unit, or GPU. A Central Processing Unit (CPU) typically provides a computer's processing power, but GPUs often help the CPU process what users see on the screen.
For the last 25 years GPUs have been a niche product aimed mainly at gamers who wanted better performance from their graphic intensive games, but with the rise of social media, especially high-definition video, many are expecting GPUs to become the next big thing.
This isn't news for the companies that make them. Canada-based ATI has been producing dedicated GPUs — often referred to as video cards — since 1985.
Their chief rival for years was Nvidia, a company founded in Silicon Valley in the early 1990s. The market is beginning to shift however.
Problems
AMD in 2006 bought ATI with the aim of developing a CPU that came with integrated GPUs. The company is currently working on a chip called Fusion that is expected to hit the market in 2011.
Nvidia isn't involved in the CPU business, but the company is finding ways to get their chips into a variety of new products, from MP3 players such as Microsoft's Zune HD to netbooks.
The company's new Ion chipset is currently being used by computer manufacturer Lenovo in its new S12 series. Nvidia is also charging ahead with a new line of video graphics cards for PCs called Fermi.
Intel is developing its own version of a CPU with integrated GPUs called Larrabee, which is expected to be released in the second half of 2010, although it is likely to be near the end of the half.
For years, the business model for AMD and Nvidia was to sell video cards — or dedicated GPUs — directly to the consumer through retailers, although computer manufacturers have been increasingly installing video cards in their computers.
Both companies expect to face problems with the launch of Intel's Larrabee processor, saying that Intel, which already commands an almost 80 per cent share of the CPU market, could cut them out of the market.
Intel for its part is generally dismissive of GPUs and says that its current line of CPUs, such as the recently released Core i7, eliminates the need for GPUs. "We still believe that the CPU is the focus," said Khaldoun Aboul Saud, Intel's Market Development Manager for the Middle East.
"Everything will be done through the CPU but to enhance this we are adding GPU functionality into the CPU."
Shika Alex, a local marketing engineer for Intel, said the CPU is still where most of the processing, which included graphic rendering, is done. When Larrabee comes out, she says, there will be no need for dedicated video cards.
AMD's Raed Hijer, an applications engineer, doesn't agree. Intel just doesn't have the experience, he says. "There are two companies in the world that make high end graphics, Nvidia and ATI," he said. "We have the expertise and the knowledge and the knowhow to design more efficient graphics."
Nvidia, for their part, say they don't want to comment until they actually see Larrabee, says Serge Lemonde, the company's director of marketing for EMEA and India. However, he does give a critical evaluation of Intel's previous graphic capabilities.
"We're never seen an integrated graphics chip from their side that works with a lot of games," he said.
Saud admits that Intel isn't very competitive in the graphics market at the moment. The company does have an almost 70 per cent market share in low-end integrated (build-in) graphics, but AMD and Nvidia dominate the high-end.
Return to competition
"Today we are out of this competition," he said. "With Larrabee we will compete."
The ability to produce good graphics may not be the bottom line however. Intel's market share and substantial revenue put them in a dominant position.
Intel reported third-quarter revenue of $9.4 billion (Dh34.4 billion), while AMD reported third-quarter revenue of only with $1.396 billion. In the first six months of 2009, Nvidia saw revenue of just over $2 billion.
Nvidia and AMD say they could be looking at more anti-competitive lawsuits.
In May, the European Union ordered Intel to pay a fine of 1.06 billion euros (Dh5.32 billion), charging Intel with several violations of anti-competitive practices.
Dr Gaith Kadir, general manager for AMD in the Middle East, said those practices weren't going to stop overnight.
Bea Longsworth, a corporate communication manager for Nvidia, said all her company could do at this point was to "continue to innovate, continue to invest and continue to be confident that we can produce competitive solutions."
But she said, "I think it would be unwise of us to not be prepared in the future."
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