NVIDIA entered the motherboard market in 2001 with the release of the nForce chipset. Best known as a video card maker, NVIDIA has branched out into other markets including the motherboard chipset market, handheld graphics chips, notebook chips, workstation and more. NVIDIA is a multi-billion dollar US company with revenues exceeding 600 million a quarter.
nForce 590 SLI Intel - Front
nForce 590 SLI Intel - Back
NVIDIA started in the motherboard chipset market on the AMD platform. Intel required a bus license and controlled the market. AMD, on the other hand, allowed the motherboard chipset manufacturers to design and build their own chipsets without the need for a bus license. NVIDIA concentrated on the AMD platform with the nForce2 and 3 chipsets. 2004 saw the release of the nForce4 platform. Late in 2004, NVIDIA announced the nForce4 SLI for Intel platform, their first Intel chipset.
