NVIDIA's Fermi: Architected for Tesla, 3 Billion Transistors in 2010
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 30, 2009 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
Today's launch is strange. I tried to convince NVIDIA to release more information about Fermi but was met with staunch resistance from the company. NVIDIA claims that by pre-announcing Fermi's performance levels it would seriously hurt its existing business. It's up to you whether or not you want to believe that.
Last quarter the Tesla business unit made $10M. That's not a whole lot of money for a company that, at its peak, grossed $1B in a single quarter. NVIDIA believes that Fermi is when that will all change. To borrow a horrendously overused phrase, Fermi is the inflection point for NVIDIA's Tesla sales.
By adding support for ECC, enabling C++ and easier Visual Studio integration, NVIDIA believes that Fermi will open its Tesla business up to a group of clients that would previously not so much as speak to NVIDIA. ECC is the killer feature there.
While the bulk of NVIDIA's revenue today comes from 3D graphics, NVIDIA believes that Tegra (mobile) and Tesla are the future growth segments for the company. This hints at a very troubling future for GPU makers - are we soon approaching the Atom-ization of graphics cards?
Will 2010 be the beginning of good enough performance in PC games? Display resolutions have pretty much stagnated, PC games are first developed on consoles which have inferior hardware and thus don't have as high the GPU requirements. The fact that NVIDIA is looking to Tegra and Tesla to grow the company is very telling. Then again, perhaps a brand new approach to graphics is what we'll need for the re-invigoration of PC game development. Larrabee.
If the TAM for GPUs in HPC is so big, why did NVIDIA only make $10M last quarter? If you ask NVIDIA it has to do with focus and sales.
According to NVIDIA, over the past couple of years NVIDIA's Tesla sales efforts have been scattered. The focus was on selling to any customers that could potentially see a speedup, trying to gain some traction for the Tesla business.
Jen-Hsun did some yelling and now NVIDIA is a bit more focused in that department. If Tesla revenues increase linearly from this point, that's simply not going to be enough. I asked NVIDIA if exponential growth for Tesla was in the cards and if so, when would it happen. The answer was yes and with Fermi.
We'll see how that plays out, but if Fermi doesn't significantly increase Tesla revenues then we know that NVIDIA is in serious trouble.
The architecture looks good, Fermi just needs to be priced right. Oh and the chip needs to hurry up and come out.
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SiliconDoc - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
Good for you, one of 7 billion, and then again one of perhaps 20, as reported for Europe.But, all you see is yourself, because you're just that selfish. And, you're a big enough liar, that you even posted your insane smart aleck stupidity, like a little brat.
That's what you're about. Case closed.
bobvodka - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
Ah, I see, you have no facts to refute me with thus you fall back to unfounded insults safe in the knowledge that you are nothing but a troll hiding behind a keyboard.Sorry I wasted my time with you, clearly you aren't able to deal with the world in logical terms.
rennya - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
Uhmm... maybe because it is common knowledge that ATI can actually get 5870 launched properly, with multiple manufacturers on board, and get the retail stores stocked up?20 for the whole Europe? What a joke. If I am a millionaire, I can get 20 of those 5870 GPU thing easily.
SiliconDoc - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
This is October 1st, not September 23rd, so for being a millionaire, you certainly are one ding dang dumb dumb.gx80050 - Friday, October 2, 2009 - link
Isn't the internet great. It allows shitheads like yourself to say shit that would, in real life
get your head cracked open.
Hopefully you'll suffer the same fate fucking cunt.
Please turn to the loaded gun in your drawer, put it in your mouth, and pull the trigger,
blowing your brains out. You'll be doing the whole world a favor. Shitbag.
rennya - Friday, October 2, 2009 - link
Hahahaha.... even that today is already 1 October, you are still claiming that 5870 GPU is paper launch, when it is definitely not.rennya - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
What paper launch? Is Newegg is the only place to get one? Here somewhere in SE Asia getting one of this 5870 GPU is as easy as going to a store, flash your wad of cash at the cashier and then returns home with a box with pre-rendered 3D objects/characters on it (and of course an ATI 5870 GPU in it). In fact, after a week from the release date, there is a glut of them here already, mainly from Powercolor and HIS.SiliconDoc - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
LOL - roflmao - So announce in the foreign tongue, and move to the next continent when ready, you dummy. They didn't do that. They LIED, again, and failed.A week late is better than several or a month or two for the 4870.
You can't buy quantity yet either, but for peons, who cares.
rennya - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
Uhmm... the second language in SE Asia is English. What, just because I can prove to you that 5870 launch is real, you started to deny it? Are you the typical American that thinks the rest of the world doesn't exists?SiliconDoc - Thursday, October 1, 2009 - link
Yuo can't prove anything to me, since you won't be proving the GT300 LAUNCHED like the author claimed.Instead, none of you quacking loons have anything but "foreign nation", no links and it's too late, and strangely none of you type in the Asain fashion.
LOL
So who the heck knows what you liars are doing anyway.
The paper standard was set by this site and it's authors, and the 4870 was paper, the 4770 was paper, and this 5870 was paper, PERIOD, and as of this morning the 5850 was also PAPER LAUNCHED.
What's funny is only you morons deny it.
All the other IT channels admit it.
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Good for you red roosters here, you're the only ones correct in the world. ( no, you're not really, and I had to say that because you'll believe anything )