[H]ardNews 10th Edition

R520 Delay Boost NVIDIA 4Q Sales:

DigiTimes says that ATi’s delay of the 520 will boost NVIDIA’s 4Q sales. It is somewhat stating the obvious that if one of the two top video card makers is late to market the other card maker will benefit. According to the same anonymous sources, ATi’s mainstream products are actually ahead of schedule.

ATI is currently revamping the chip design of its R520, said the makers, adding that the company is facing leakage issues, as it attempts to migrates its manufacturing to a 90nm process. The situation is similar to when Nvidia postponed the availability of its 0.13-micron NV30 high-end chip in 2002 due to production issues, the makers pointed out. Despite the delay of the R520, ATI may launch its mainstream R530 and entry-level RV515 GPUs ahead of schedule, with both parts being manufactured at 90nm, according to sources.