Intel Investors - here's the FIFTH article today on Intel's i740 Graphics chip.
This one is interesting for the fact that it names Lockheed/Real3D, Diamond, STB, Number 9, Austek (makers of Asus motherboards) and Leadtek (probably a spin-off of CyberSmash or Liguski Compouters) as board manufacturers lined up to use the i740 chip.
Paul
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infoworld.com
Intel graphics chip spawns accelerator
boards
By Andy Santoni
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 6:56 PM PT, Feb 11, 1998
Intel will unveil its long-awaited i740 graphics accelerator chip on Thursday, and graphics
card vendors are already announcing i740-based add-in cards that plug into Accelerated
Graphics Port or PCI slots.
The i740, developed under the code name Auburn, will offer high performance at a price
that is attractive to the high-volume PC market, said Andy Fischer, vice president at Jon
Peddie Associates, in Tiburon, Calif. Intel also has developed the software drivers required
to gain widespread acceptance for the chip, he said.
The 3-D core of the i740 was designed for Intel by Real3D, in which Intel recently purchased
a 20-percent stake. The chip's 2-D engine was designed by Chips and Technologies, which
Intel recently purchased.
Real3D, still 80-percent-owned by Lockheed Martin, on Thursday will unveil a family of
3-D/2-D/video graphics accelerator boards called StarFighter, named after the Lockheed
F-104 StarFighter, the first aircraft to fly at twice the speed of sound.
StarFighter AGP is available in configurations from entry-level, with 4MB of local memory; to
high-performance, with 8MB of memory, full video, TV I/O, and hardware DVD. Suggested
retail price of the StarFighter AGP board starts at $189.
StarFighter PCI is available in configurations ranging from mid-range boards with 4MB
frame buffer and 8MB local texture memory to performance boards with 8MB frame buffer
and 16MB local texture memory, full video, TV I/O, and hardware DVD. The price of the
StarFighter PCI board starts at $229.
Both the StarFighter AGP and StarFighter PCI will be available at the end of the first
quarter.
Other suppliers will announce i740-based products Thursday and display them at the Intel
Developers Forum, in San Jose, Calif., next week, said Brian Ekiss, graphics marketing
manager at Intel. Graphics boards should come from Asustek, Diamond Multimedia,
Leadtek, Number Nine, and STB. Third-party video vendors include C-Cube Microsystems
and Zoran with their DVD offerings, Rockwell's Brooktree with video and TV products, and
Hauppauge with a TV tuner.
Desktop system OEMs will begin rolling out products, and Intel will integrate the i740 onto
motherboards later this year, Ekiss said.
Ekiss expects to see products in end-user channels by the end of March, although
evaluation kits are already available from independent hardware vendors and third parties.
The chip is priced at $34.75 each in 10,000-unit quantities. It is in limited production now
but will be in full production in March, Ekiss said.
Intel Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at (800) 628-8686 or
intel.com. Real3D, in Orlando, Fla., can be reached at (800) 393-7730 or
real3d.com.
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