12. Conclusion

Please keep in mind that the performance evaluation between Ati's new Mobility RADEON and NVIDIA's GeForce2Go is only of theoretical nature. The 3D-performance in actual notebooks can significantly differ from our best-case results, because it is up to the notebook maker to decide which core and memory clock rates he will use. The situation is very different to the desktop graphics cards, because in a notebook size and power requirements as well as the thermal situation matter more than pure 3D-performance.

The race has just begun. In the last years ATi had no performance competitors in the notebook sector. NVIDIA is pushing hard to conquer yet another market segment, using the strong performance of the Geforce2 Go as its weapon. However, things are different in the notebook arena. Pure 3D-power is not one of the most important things.

ATi's new Mobility RADEON offers some real nice features for notebook makers, in addition to its respectable 3D-performance. 'DualDie' will save space inside of the notebook and combined with its low power consumption the ATI chip will probably get plenty design wins.

The performance results that we show are simulations and don't reflect the shipping product. Notebook makers have many options for the implementation. The complete spectrum will be available in the market from low voltage, low speed with 8 MB to high voltage, high speed and 64 MB.

Without the T&L and with only 1 rendering pipeline, the ATi Mobility Radeon offers some good DirectX performance. The external TV Tuner is a nice value-added feature for users and unique in this market segment.

Will the NVIDIA brand be strong enough to gain a considerable market share in the mobile business? We don't doubt that GeForce2 Go will be a successful chip. For smaller mobile graphics maker like Silicon Motion, S3 and Trident the world will look different in a year from now. ATi will lose some market share in the high end, but the market will increase too.

Will the implemented solution be as good as the theoretical solution? The performance of the two chips will be limited by notebook-typical thermal and power considerations. The chips will start a new era for notebook users. We are one step closer to a real desktop replacement.