When can we expect the next refresh?

[v1p3r]

(Apologies if this has been discussed recently, the search is dead)

I've heard conflicting rumours on this, what's the general consensus at the moment?

 

[DrFreeze]

my thoughts are that there wont be a refresh. Ati simply hasnt put out a strong enough card to force nvidia into a refresh this time around

id say that by the end of the year, beginning of next year, depending on how ati handles its 65nm refresh, we will see nvidia's next generation chip, G90

i think most people around here would agree with me

 

[sabregen]

my thoughts are that there wont be a refresh. Ati simply hasnt put out a strong enough card to force nvidia into a refresh this time around

id say that by the end of the year, beginning of next year, depending on how ati handles its 65nm refresh, we will see nvidia's next generation chip, G90

i think most people around here would agree with me

I would agree that NV has no REASON to release their refresh, citing your argument of ATi's lackluster 2900 card performance. However, never underestimate the large companies ability to kick their competitors while they are down. Do I think they will release the refresh? No, I don't....but I am not a marketing guy either. Having 2 legs up on the competition would be better than one, as long as they already have the generation after G90 already in the pipe, why not?

 

[Trepidati0n]

I think nVidia will refresh on schedule. Why? The 2900XT is putting out impressive numbers w/o AA. What happens if ATI releases a refresh that fixes the AA problem and nVidia hasn't updated yet? A die shrink to fix power + fixing AA - nVidia refresh = possible table turn. Never sit...always move forward.

 

[Varmint]

I can't see NVidia selling the same high end cards for 12 months w/ no refresh. That would really cost them some customers. Besides, a refresh might actually be cheaper to manufacture than the current process.

Still, it's been what, 7 months w/ the 8800GTS? I hesitate to buy one today, especially when they were cheaper 3 months ago!

 

[streetkid]

what the hell does refresh mean

 

[Trepidati0n]

what the hell does refresh mean

Think of it like cars. It takes a lot of money to setup a car in manufacturing. There is tons of money spent even before a car goes down the line. It takes a lot of time as well. Therefore if you get some nifty idea to make it better or a way to do it cheaper you just can't add it in. Therefore you need to move forward with the plan and process you have (2900XT anyone).

So nVidia release the 8xxx series. Now lets say there is ways to make it cheaper (a die shrink = less silicon = less cost) or faster (change a few transistors inside). You may not be able to do it now...but you can start the process to eventually change those things to take advantage of it. This is typically called a refresh. For cars...it is obvious as model evolves...the Camry of 2000 is definately no the Camry of 2006 but the car is still fundamentally the same. For video cards it is typically a cost reduction with a bit more oomph and features added. But they definately didn't start from scratch again (going from the 7xxx to the 8xxxx).

 

[DrFreeze]

I can't see NVidia selling the same high end cards for 12 months w/ no refresh.

the 6800U was never refreshed, it stood against both the x800xt and the x850xt, and imho, did so quite succesfully, granted it wasnt the fastest against the x850xt, but only by a small margin

and compared to the 6800/x800 days, Ati is putting out a considerably weaker showing, with only a single high end product, which faills to compete, and no mid end products so far at all