what happened to the other GPU manufacturers?

[dacconverter]

As of 10 yrs ago, on this very day, I recall shopping amongst a longer
list of GPUs.

ATI and nVidia were there too but so were S3, Matrox, Rendition, etc.

Today, I feel like I'm limited in choice because there are only ATI
and nVidia. What the heck happened to all the others?

 

[rjn]

As of 10 yrs ago, on this very day, I recall shopping
amongst a longer list of GPUs.
True.

ATI and nVidia were there too but so were S3, Matrox, Rendition, etc.

and
3Dfx (ATI consumed the remains) and
Intel (rumored to still be in the GPU biz .

Today, I feel like I'm limited in choice because there are only ATI
and nVidia. What the heck happened to all the others?

S3 - aka SONICblue; VIA may have the bones on that.
Matrox - still around but a niche player (I'm using a Parhelia)
Rendition - Bought by Micron. Nothing came of it.

See also:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gpu>
Normal wikiwarnings apply.

 

[Raymond Del Tondo]

and
3Dfx (ATI consumed the remains) and

Small correction: NVidia swallowed 3Dfx,
and ATI was swallowed by AMD recently;-)

Intel (rumored to still be in the GPU biz .

Yes, mainly for embedded or onboard gfx, like the GMA3000.

S3 - aka SONICblue; VIA may have the bones on that.
Matrox - still around but a niche player (I'm using a Parhelia)

My first Matrox card was a Mystique, my latest a G550. Superb quality!

Ray

 

[rjn]

Small correction: NVidia swallowed 3Dfx,

I knew that, and realized the error seconds after posting.
But I knew I could count on the self-correcting nature
of usenet Thanks for not letting me down.

My first Matrox card was a Mystique, my latest a G550. Superb quality!

I've had occasional KMODE Exceptions ever since building
this Parhelia machine, and suspect the Matrox, although
my earlier Milleniums and G-series card were trouble-free.

Next PC build probably won't be a Matrox.
They have fallen too far behind.

It seems to be the fate of many tech markets to devolve
to two major suppliers.