Intel confirms: no discrete graphics plans

May 26, 2010 | 10:18

Tags: #discrete-graphics #high-performance-computing #larrabee

Companies: #amd #intel #nvidia

Intel has confirmed that it is not looking to bring a dedicated graphics card into the market, finally putting paid to hopes for Larrabee in the consumer market.

In a blog post - via The Wall Street Journal - Intel's Bill Kircos states categorically that "[Intel] will not bring a discrete graphics product to market, at least in the short-term" - meaning that there will be no Larrabee-powered dedicated graphics cards to offer consumers a third choice, away from the AMD and Nvidia duopoly.

Blaming the fact that the company "missed some key product milestones" in the run-up to a Larrabee consumer product, Kircos states that Intel is looking to concentrate on integrated graphics for the foreseeable future - in particular "media/HD video and mobile computing[, which] are the most important areas to focus on."

The news will come as a blow to those who had been looking forward to Intel's entry into the discrete graphics market - especially as it's been three years since Intel originally announced the product line. Following poor performance at public demonstrations, Intel made the decision to cancel its planned products and turn it into a software development platform - but there were still hopes that hardware would see the light of day, which now appear to have been finally put to rest.

Intel isn't completely abandoning its investment in the Larrabee line, however: Kircos claims that Intel is "executing on a business opportunity derived from the Larrabee program and Intel research in many-core chips," which will see a "server product line [...] optimised for a broader range of highly parallel workloads in segments such as high performance computing." Sadly, Kircos is keeping silent on precisely what this entails - leaving it to Intel's vice president Kirk Skaugen to unveil at ICS 2010 in Germany at the end of this month.

Are you disappointed to see Intel giving up on its discrete graphics dreams, or was Larrabee never going to be able to take on the might of AMD and Nvidia? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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