ArtX
ArtX designed the Flipper chip for Nintendo's GameCube.
ArtX was a semiconductor design firm that got its start in 1997 when 20 engineers left Silicon Graphics, with Wei Yen and David Orton at the helm. The company’s original goal was to create a graphics chip for IBM-compatible PCs that balanced high performance with low cost, going up against established players like 3dfx and upstarts such as Nvidia. However, ArtX is most remembered for engineering the Flipper graphics processor inside Nintendo’s GameCube. In 2000, ATI Technologies bought ArtX for $400 million in stock, and the team’s work later became the core of ATI’s Radeon GPU line—which continued after AMD acquired ATI in 2006.
Silicon Graphics sued ArtX in late 1997, claiming the new company would misuse trade secrets, but the case was quietly dropped the following year. In May 1998, Nintendo hired ArtX to build both the system logic and the graphics chip—codenamed Flipper—for its next console, then called “Dolphin” and later released as the GameCube in 2001. Howard Lincoln, then chairman of Nintendo of America, called Wei Yen “the man who was primarily responsible for the N64 graphics chip” and described ArtX as “one of the best teams of 3D graphics engineers on the planet.” At COMDEX in fall 1999, ArtX showed off its first integrated graphics chipset, which had a built-in geometry engine; this chipset ended up in the Aladdin 7 northbridge sold by Taiwan’s ALi. After the acquisition, an ATI spokesperson noted that the deal made ATI “a major supplier to the game console market via Nintendo” and that the GameCube’s 128-bit architecture was “king of the hill in terms of graphics and video performance.” ArtX’s designs also underpinned ATI’s R300 processor (released in 2002 as the Radeon 9700), which served as the foundation for ATI’s consumer and professional GPUs for years to come.
Quick Facts
- Industry
- Semiconductors
- Founders
- Wei Yen / David Orton
- Defunct
- 2000 · 02
- Fate
- Acquired by ATI Technologies
- Hq Location City
- Palo Alto, California
- Hq Location Country
- United States
- Num Employees
- 20
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
In late 1997, Silicon Graphics filed a non-compete lawsuit against ArtX, alleging that the company's staff would make use of proprietary trade secrets. The lawsuit was quietly dropped in 1998. In May 1998, ArtX was contracted by Nintendo to develop the system logic and graphics processor, named Flipper, for its next-generation game console, then known by the codename 'Dolphin', and later renamed the GameCube ahead of its release in 2001. At the time, Nintendo of America chairman Howard Lincoln described ArtX as being led by 'Dr. Wei Yen, the man who was primarily responsible for the N64 graphics chip', and praised the team as 'one of the best teams of 3D graphics engineers on the planet.'
ArtX publicly demonstrated its first integrated graphics chipset, which included a built-in geometry engine, at COMDEX in the fall of 1999. The chipset was incorporated into the Aladdin 7 northbridge sold by Taiwan-based ALi. In February 2000, ArtX was acquired by ATI Technologies for $400 million in stock. An ATI spokesperson stated, 'ATI now becomes a major supplier to the game console market via Nintendo. The [GameCube] platform is reputed to be king of the hill in terms of graphics and video performance with 128-bit architecture.'
Reader's Guide
ArtX's significance lies primarily in its design of the Flipper graphics chip for Nintendo's GameCube, which positioned ATI as a major supplier to the game console market after the acquisition. The article notes that ArtX's work laid the foundation for ATI's R300 graphics processor, released in 2002 as the Radeon 9700, which became the basis for ATI's consumer and professional GPUs over the following years. This lineage continued under AMD after its acquisition of ATI in 2006. The company's initial goal was to compete with established firms like 3dfx and emerging competitors like Nvidia in the IBM PC compatible market, but its legacy is most strongly tied to console graphics and the subsequent Radeon architecture. The non-compete lawsuit from Silicon Graphics, though dropped, highlights the competitive tensions in the graphics industry at the time.
Did You Know?
- ArtX was founded in 1997 by 20 former Silicon Graphics employees, led by Wei Yen and David Orton.
- Silicon Graphics filed a non-compete lawsuit against ArtX in late 1997, which was dropped in 1998.
- ArtX's Flipper chip was used in Nintendo's GameCube, released in 2001.
- ArtX was acquired by ATI Technologies in February 2000 for $400 million in stock.
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