What happened to Canopus?

Canopus Spectra 5400 PE

What about Canopus?

The story of Canopus is an interesting one. After grossly misjudging the demand for their TNT based Spectra 2500 (production fell far short of the public's ravenous demand for the card), Canopus decided to up and take off, leaving the graphics market behind. However, it appears Canopus of Japan will indeed create a Spectra-based TNT2 product for the Japanese market, which should readily find its way overseas, much like the SGRAM version of their TNT1 has.

Give me details!

The Spctra 5400 is the vanilla part, and will feature the standard clock of 125/150MHz, although it will use 32MB of 5.5ns 183MHz SDRAM. The Spectra 5400 Premium Edition is the TNT2 Ultra version, and will feature a modest clock of 150/183MHz, but will do so with 32MB of 5ns SDRAM, which should make it a cinch for overclocking.

Where can I find it?

Unfortunately, the Spectra 5400 series will only be available in Japan. There were rumors that Alienware was working with Canopus to strike up a deal to offer the 5400 in the states, but so far we haven't heard any more about that. However, if the demand for the 5400 is great in the states, I'm sure we'll see it imported one way or another.