Nvidia to debut NV35 at E3?

Thanks to Reg readers for pointing out this page on the E3 expo web site.

Scroll down the page to Nvidia's entry and you'll see it sports a 'First Looks' logo. According to the site, that means "this exhibitor plans on debuting one or more products at their E3booth".

A sign, we wonder, that the company plans to announce its NV35 chip, the follow-up to the NV30, aka GeForce FX 5800, at the show?

E3 is the chief games industry shindig, and has played host to many graphics chip announcements before. However, glancing through the company's press release database, E3 releases are few and far between, and the only chip launches with similar dates to the show are for workstation-oriented Quadro parts. Quadro isn't a chip for entertainment systems, but it is of interest to an industry that uses graphics workstations in the games creation process.

Could NV35 be a Quadro part? The GeForce FX 5800 was announced some time ago, but has only recently begun to ship. May might seem like too soon a refresh. But the current Quadro FX 1000 and 2000 only arrived in January. That also seems too short a time to warrant a refresh so soon.

In any case, 'new product' in expo terms tends to be anything released in the last three months, so the E3 site could eaily be referring to a chip we've already seen.

E3 will held on 14-16 May at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Nvidia will be exhibiting in the South Hall, on stand 1636. ®