Intel will announce today a new graphics acceleration chip that the company says will make high-end 3-D images a more common component of mainstream PC applications.
Meant for PCs based on the Pentium II chip, the so-called Intel740 takes advantage of the existing Accelerated Graphics Port architecture, another integral part of the company's plan to make the PC experience more "visual."
A "HyperPipelined" 3-D architecture and acceleration of 2-D graphics and video will result in more realism in games, as well as everyday consumer and business applications, Intel said.
As the company explains it, the Accelerated Graphics Port supports high performance graphics capabilities at a better price.
To boost graphics acceleration, the port uses dedicated high-bandwidth access to main memory and faster transfer rates, or the passing of data between computer channels. The result is an elimination of the bottleneck on the PCI bus, and the need for less local graphics memory on the motherboard, Intel said.
The company's statement cites game industry's enthusiasm. "The Intel740 3-D accelerator provides no-compromise performance for Quake II players," said John Carmack, technical director and president of id software.
The new chip will be available in volume production for third-party graphics vendors and original equipment manufacturers this month.
