XGI Technology

XGI Technology Inc. (Chinese图 诚 科技, Pinyin Tú Chéng Keji, Sketch / serious / technology) was founded in June 2003 by Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS ) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC ) in Taipei founded. By early 2006, the company's goal was the production of high-end graphics chips for the desktop and notebook market. Since that time, the focus is on the server and embedded markets.

History

Creation time

In order to facilitate the entry into the market, the graphics division of SiS, the graphics chips, such as the SiS Xabre, SiS 300 SiS 6326 was developed, has affiliated with the new company. Moreover, even were the graphics division of Trident Microsystems, which was especially successful in the early 1990s, taken, so you had two teams of developers and two ready-made designs to start a business available.

Volari Family

The end of 2003 came with the Volari V8 Duo also the first graphics chip from XGI on the market. The Volari V8 is a former SiS development that was originally intended under the name Xabre II on the market. XGI brought the chip for mass production. A stir the then unusual measure, two graphics chips made ​​to obstruct means of BitFluent Protocols on a map.

Theoretically XGI could thus had a high-end chip. In practice, however, the Volari V8 Duo disappointed by lack of power, lack of driver quality, lack of features and large power consumption and heat dissipation.

In addition to the duo, there was the single variants Volari V8, V5 and V3. The Volari V3, however, was a renamed Trident XP4, had nothing in common and was designed more with the original SiS chips as notebook chip.

The Volari series was a flop, and XGI was for its flowery marketing language and the optimistic declaration, within 5 years the market leader will want to be known.

Decline

Late 2004 and early 2005, it was rather quiet around XGI, but in November 2005, a new entry-level graphics chip generation called Volari 8300 was introduced, which was developed by former Trident team. These models are to get in Germany have hardly or not at all.

Actually the Volari 8600 was expected for early 2006, which should be a development of the Volari V8. After a number of rumors about the future of ATI XGI was on March 6, 2006, the acquisition of the development departments in Shanghai / China and Santa Clara (California ) / USA (former Trident team ) known. XGI itself remained and wants to concentrate with the remaining parts of the company in the future on the server and the embedded space.

Marketing Disaster

XGI has probably hoped for greater synergy effects through the two graphics team and therefore has full-bodied announced the market leader within five years already in the founding of the company. The weak results of the Volari chips led but to the fact that this provocative announcement was perceived by the public as ridiculous and absurd. In addition, XGI had for even the most normal and generally accepted technique creates a usually very flowery marketing term, what the reputation and credibility in the eyes of the general public could fall further.

Open source driver

XGI has started in April 2005 to release the source code of the driver under Linux for their graphics cards. Starting this has Volari Z7 with the server graphics card from XGI, which, however, only 2D dominated. End of November 2005 XGI has announced the complete driver - including the 3D part - the Volari disclose 8300. However, this is not yet done. By revealing the driver source code it would be possible to integrate it in X.org and the Linux kernel, and so to dispense with a proprietary driver.

Models

  • Volari V8 ( Duo)
  • Volari V5 ( Duo)
  • Volari V3
  • Volari V3XT
  • Volari Z7
  • Volari 8300
  • Volari 8600 (XT)
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