Nvidia to Power X-Box

Speculation continues to surround Microsoft's X-Box, which is scheduled to be announced at this week's Game Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. Last week, we reported that GigaPixel had won the bid to develop the console's graphics chip using its own tile-based rendering technology, which it currently uses in its GP-1 processor. Even though company officials couldn't confirm or deny those rumors last week, when we spoke with GigaPixel at Comdex, we were told that a "major" announcement would be issued within a few months of the Las Vegas show concerning the GP-3 processor, GigaPixel's current work in progress.

However, an article published by the EETimes this morning stated that Microsoft made the decision yesterday to drop GigaPixel in favor of Nvidia. According to the EETimes piece, GigaPixel had moved a majority of its development staff into Microsoft's WebTV building in Mountain View, Calif. However, Nvidia was still chosen to develop a graphics processor for the X-Box because of the company's long line of stable products. While it's still unofficial, it's been widely accepted that the GeForce 256, or some variation thereof, will be the chip that delivers the graphics capabilities of Microsoft's console.

We'll be at Gates' keynote at the GDC this Friday to cover any announcement made about the X-Box. Stay tuned.