Awaiting Evergreen

EVERGREEN is a popular name in Taiwan, from the gigantic Evergreen shipping conglomerate which owns EVA Air, to the codename for AMD's upcoming 58XX series of DX11-compliant graphics cards.

Remember all the talk about custom HD4890X2 dual GPU designs in the absence of an AMD reference card?

Three months ago, two vendors in Taiwan indicated they were planning a customised, power-monster 4890X2 design. Even two x 8-pin GPU power connectors were thought of to allow overclocking.

At the time they told me they would only build this monster if AMD dragged its heels on producing Evergreens. They reasoned that the monster would have three or four months to sell among enthusiasts and those from cold northern climes who need an extra heater in winter. But if Evergreen ran on schedule then the custom 4890X2 would never be built.

Last week they confirmed that the custom 4890X2 idea is dead.

Meanwhile, in the absence of Nvidia GT300 volumes this year, and of course no Larrabee out yet either, the Taiwanese have to fill in the high-end somehow.

One option is highly customised runs on the Nvidia GTX285, which can do only so much before the 700MHz factory-OC limits kick in. Another is to focus on the Evergreens. Here they'll probably have to limit their custom designs, because, judging by past behaviour, AMD/ATI will insist on selling the 58XX reference design only for the first quarter, even if it hits 120C inside your poor PC.

At least half a dozen Taiwanese GPU vendors must be hopping mad at Nvidia for not having the foresight to shrink the GT200 die to 40nm as a Plan B. If Nvidia had, there would be a far more interesting GPU choice now, including the 4890X2 and more feasible dual-GPU offerings within the usual 8 pin + 6 pin power budget.

The Taiwanese manufacturers also need more custom design sales to make some money from the graphics business, for a change. µ