In a normal class certification hearing, the plaintiffs revealed an email between Nvidia senior VP of marketing, Dan Vivoli, and ATI’s president and COO, Dave Orton, which points to inflated prices and collusion. It reads: “I really think we should work harder together on the marketing front. As you and I have talked about, even though we are competitors, we have the common goal of making our category a well positioned, respected playing field. $5 and $8 stocks are a result of no respect.”
While Nvidia’s supremacy has been clear over the last year, this email-gone-public is a huge blow to both videocard companies. Presiding judge Aslup stated the class certification will be further investigated.
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Last week saw the release of the monolithic GeForce GTX 280, which at well over £400 will only be an option for the richest of PC gamers. Fortunately, benchmark numbers for ATi’s latest card have also started trickling onto the internet, and it’s very good news for mainstream PC buyers. Performance generally seems to be higher than the already-speedy GeForce 9800 GTX, but as the new card is available from just £135, it’s currently a lot cheaper. Performance has also been greatly improved in games such as Crysis where nVIDIA previously had a stranglehold.