NVIDIA to start making CPUs?
 

now we hear that development is underway at Nvidia's just-announced Portland, Oregon, Design Center, where chip folk are beaving away on 45 nanometre designs.

The project should bear fruit sometime in 2008, as Nvidia prepares plans to compete with Intel and AMD on the blended graphic and CPU concept. This is what OEMs want in 2008. Sixty-five or 45 nanometre processes make this possible and AMD and Intel are going to do it, so Nvidia doesn’t have much choice.

My question is can Nvidia make a platform powerful enough to compete with Intel and AMD? I don't see myself upgrading to an Nvidia cpu if they made one unless it was greatly outperforming the competition.

a platform would be CPU/GPU/MOBO

NVIDIA already does 2/3 , adding CPU would make them all-in-one as much as Intel now and DAAMIT soon

nVidia CPU that only runs on nVidia boards? It'd have to be one heck of a performer at a good price point to even get me to consider switching to something that limited, I haven't forgotten the 320FSB OCing issues of nF5, nor it's other drawbacks. Maybe they'll try and borrow Intel's 775 socket for drop in compatibility like the old Cyrix days?

somehow I hope that this 'trend' remains something for the low-performance market, because I prefer having CPU and GPU seperated. I expect this because it would be impossible to cool like 200W without causing a local tornade :d .
I also think this will be more an 'embedded' system cpu for home theater, laptops and office use and not for replacing a gaming desktop.

I think ANY competition in the computer world is healthy. this keeps other chip-maker's honest. Where would we be without nVidia chipsets they gave us features we may never have or had at a snails pace.

Nvidia gave us SLI which forced ATI and Intel to give us Crossfire and while both are simply marketing fodder they bring us close to the original goal of a true dual core GPU which will be the future once the chipmakers WAKE UP.

We wouldn't have Conroe today if there weren't other options to compete with it and we have AMD to thank for this.

A monopoly is never a good thing in any business. not tomention the jobs created in Portland which is a beautiful city just an hour from some of the largest surf breaks on the West Coast and right now rents there are so cheap it's pathetic. It's actually a GREAT time to move to Portland Oregon one of the last vestiges of wilderness in the USA.

I'm seriousy considering moving there in the next year!