Intel Investors - Intel and 3DLABS are Jointly Developing an advanced 3D Graphics accelerator for MERCED.
Now, we all know that SERVERS don't need fancy graphics - or any graphics at all, for that matter.
So, Intel's ultimate plans for Merced do not appear to be "limited" to the server market. That leaves workstations as the next target market - most likely followed by Desktops.
I can't wait - a sub $1000 Merced PC!
Oh - note that February 17 seems to be the Launch Date for the i740 Graphics chip/AGP board from Intel. I hope it works!
Paul
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news.com
Intel, 3DLabs collaborate
on graphics chip
By Michael Kanellos
February 4, 1998, 5:35 p.m. PT
On the eve of announcing its first graphics
chip, Intel is already moving further into
graphics territory, as the microprocessor
behemoth collaborates with 3DLabs in
developing a graphics processor to
complement its upcoming 64-bit "Merced"
chip.
The development effort with 3DLabs
constitutes another prong in Intel's relatively
recent campaign to aggressively boost its
presence in the graphics arena.
On February 17, Intel will introduce the i740,
a 3D graphics processor for mainstream
desktops, representing the first prong of its
grand strategy. The second push will likely
manifest itself as a graphics chip for
notebook PCs.
Both of these chips draw on technology from
Chips and Technologies, a company Intel
recently purchased, and Real3D.
Following these two efforts, the 3DLabs/Intel
chip will be released roughly within the same
time frame as Merced, according to Raj
Singh, vice president of sales at 3DLabs.
Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer
Network.
Analysts estimate the chip will appear in
sample batches toward the end of the year
and become available generally in 1999.
"They'll start to see revenue in 1999," said
Arun Veerappan, semiconductor analyst with
Robertson Stephens.
While Intel is cooperating on the project,
Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury
Research, believes that it 3DLabs is
performing most of the development work.
Intel's participation likely concentrates on
ensuring that the new chip works with
Merced. Intel, he pointed out, is also an
investor in 3DLabs.
Although tight-lipped about the project, Singh
indicated that 3DLabs is controlling most of
it. At the moment, for instance, it is uncertain
whether Intel will act as the manufacturer of
the chip or whether 3DLabs will have its main
manufacturing partner, IBM, will do the job.
Still, the collaborative effort means an
increased role for Intel in a market that
already has too many competitors, according
to most. The end result is likely to be
companies dropping out of the market or
trying to shift their product lines into more
protected niche markets.
"There are some several dozen graphics
chip makers out there right now and with Intel
getting in there as a significant player will
make it that much harder," said Michael
Slater, editorial director of the The
Microprocessor Report. "Intel is not going to
take away the entire market, but they will be a
significant player. For the others, it is a
question of how long they can last and how
much market share they can hold onto."
Separately, 3DLabs this week said it has
started to sample its Glint GMX chipset, a
pricey graphics-processor chipset for
NT-based workstations.
3DLabs' new Glint GMX family marks a new
high watermark for Windows-Intel-based
graphics computing, said Singh. Unlike most
graphics processors, the GMX comes as a
two-chip set, rather than a single chip. The
new addition to the solution is the Gamma
geometry chip, which performs the geometry
calculations typically performed by the CPU.
Adding this chip improves overall system
performance.
The rendering part of the chipset is
essentially the same high-end graphics chip
3Dlabs currently has on the market, said a
3DLabs spokesman.
Although more efficient, the GMX chipset is
not cheap. The chipset will sell to computer
manufacturers for between $638 and $734 in
quantities of 10,000. A completed board will
cost around $2,000. The solution will likely
come to market by the end of the first quarter.
'Typically, you'd expect to see it in some of
the sub-$10,000 systems. Certain
aggressive [manufacturers] could even
incorporate it at the $7,000 level," Singh
said, adding that price at this level of the
market is less of an issue. |
