Earlier this week we reported on the sandbox fight between Intel and NVIDIA, where Intel was trying to ridicule Ion and NVIDIA the same with Intel’s Atom chipset. Intel tried to make it look like Ion had nothing to add to the netbooks market and that NVIDIA’s platform was both more expensive, more power hungry and be very short-lived. NVIDIA has decided to release another answer to Intel’s accusations and hasn’t just published a letter that defends Ion on all points, but there is also a PowerPoint presentation where it tries to show the market support for Ion along with companies like Microsoft, EA and several Internet media.
NVIDIA is defending its Ion platform well and the arguments that remains for Intel is that the netbook platform is only intended for browsing the web and simple text editing, simply nothing graphically demanding, where Intel can get away with the lower power consumption. If you start up games, graphics-heavy applications, or play some HD video the situation is quite different.
And that the Ion platform is a somewhat more expensive alternative than Intel’s own solution, which may not feel all the odd considering the advantages Ion carries over Intel’s chipsets.
Intel also said that its Pineview processor arriving in the fourth quarter will house integrated graphics, which makes a graphics circuit on the motherboard redundant. NVIDIA turns this as to meaning that Intel is forcing consumers to use a sub-par graphics circuit and that the Ion 2 platform that will launch in the same period of time will offer even better performance and functionality.
We’re not sure who has the biggest bucket and shovel but the power struggle will continue for some time. Intel VP Paul Otellini commented on the whole thing with these words;
“If you don’t have a microprocessor, what else do you have to sell?” Paul Otellini
Intel is simply saying that the graphics circuits are moving inside the processor, while it will also keep pushing for its own discrete solution based on the Larrabee project, to those who want real graphics power.
Below is NVIDIA’s reply to Intel’s Ion attack;
“We (Nvidia) are currently communicating with our customers to correct the claims Intel made against NVIDIA ION.
We believe that our partners are concerned and intimidated by Intel’s claim that “Like with notebook and desktop platforms, NVIDIA’s chipset for Intel Atom processor is not validated by Intel”. It would be unfortunate if Intel chose to turn their back on our mutual customers. OEM-validated, Microsoft-validated, NVIDIA-validated MCP79/7A PCs from Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP, NEC, Samsung, and Toshiba are all now shipping worldwide.
Intel’s claim that “ION offers no advantages in Netbook and Nettop market segments” is simply incorrect. ION is faster, more feature rich, and offers a better experience vs. Intel-based netbooks, nettops, and notebooks. ION was created with the purpose of enabling small, affordable, “green” premium PCs and it can and will do that. ION offers a modern 2-chip solution (GPU + CPU) in contrast to Intel’s 4-year old three-chip solution (945GSE + ICH7 + CPU) with the advantage of a 10X performance in 55% less motherboard area.
Intel’s claim that “the Technical Community sees no value in ION platform” is countered by the fact that the ION has been overwhelmingly praised by technology press here and software venders such as EA, Epic, and Cyberlink here. Microsoft just recently endorsed the ION platform for its Premium Windows experience and you can see it here. We are confident that the overwhelming support the NVIDIA ION platform has generated in the technical community reflects real customer demand.
Contrary to Intel claims, ION delivers 10X graphics performance at similar battery life according to Mobile Mark 2007 benchmark compared to Intel’s offering. You should note that reviews to date have been on desktop ION platforms that were built with a desktop CPU and power management features were not enabled.
ION is an outstanding platform that the industry wants. OEMs are excited to use it, and consumers are eager to have a better experience on affordable PCs with ION. NVIDIA looks forward to competing fairly in the marketplace through innovative products like ION.”
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