Last week rumors of NVIDIA betting on x86-based codes was reborn as the company was caught hiring engineers from form processor maker Transmeta. We hesitated a bit as NVIDIA’s intentions weren’t made clear, would it try to battle Intel and AMD on the tough x86 market, but apparently not. In a phone interview with CNET Jen-Hsun Huang answered the question with a loud and clear No and that the rumors were unfounded.
He elaborated further by pointing out that NVIDIA’s plans for the future are very clear, both internally and externally, that graphics circuits is the deal, although with support for more processor-like tasks.
“Our strategy is to proliferate the GPU (graphics processing unit) into all kinds of platforms for growth”
In other words, NVIDIA is sticking to the idea of fighting with CPUs, with the help of its own GPU architecture. In the same breath Huang took the opportunity to show the company’s loyalty to semiconductor maker TSMC.
Fresh starter Global Foundries split from competitor AMD and is therefore not part of NVIDIA’s plans.
NVIDIA can still change its plans, but we should not expect any x86-based CPU or alike from the company anytime soon.
NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture can do many things only processors could earlier
