Stefan Mileschin

Larabee may half not bee, but Intel still wants something to be

Intel has been talking about its cunning plan to enter the discrete GPU market, after deciding its much hyped and quickly forgotten Larabee project should not include bee after it was stung by a hive of bee puns.

HotHardware spoke to Ari Rauch, Vice President of the Core And Visual Computing Group at Intel, to discuss what makes this most recent endeavour different from the company's previous and now discontinued attempts in the discrete GPU space.

Rauch made it clear that this isn't Larabee 2.0 which must bee gone from all thinking. Intel wants a traditional GPU architecture design, coupled with some of the company's strategic IP that it can bring to the table, to help differentiate its products.

Rauch noted Intel "will bring discrete GPUs to both client and data centre segments aiming at delivering the best quality and experiences across the board including gaming, content creation, and enterprise. These products will see first availability over some time, beginning in 2020".

Sadly the codename was not mentioned, as we would welcome the opportunity to sink another brand name under a sea of puns — particularly one which fits into a Monty Python song.

When questioned on its current silicon fabrication hiccups and delays and how it might affect Intel's ability to execute in this highly competitive space, Rauch noted' "we feel very confident about our product roadmap across software, architecture, and manufacturing."

Based on some of the responses to product positioning questions, it also appears Intel is gearing up to address all performance envelopes as well, from entry-level to midrange and high-end graphics cards.

https://fudzilla.com/news/graphics/4...-its-gpu-plans