Intel Announces New Advanced Graphics Port Initiative To Boost Desktop, Workstation Graphics Performance

Top Graphics Vendors Support Initiative by Intel To Meet Industry Requirements

INTEL DEVELOPER FORUM CONFERENCE, SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug, 24, 2000 - Intel Corporation today announced an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) roadmap, starting with a new AGP8x specification designed to double the graphics processing speed of today's most popular PC desktop and workstation platforms. The AGP8x specification is the next step on Intel's development roadmap for new AGP technologies to satisfy the performance and scalability needs of future graphics applications.

AGP8x is the specification for the next-generation parallel AGP interface. Like AGP4x, it implements a 32-bit wide bus, but the new specification allows a doubling of speed to 533 MHz and supports a data rate of two gigabytes per second (2 GB/s).

A technical review of the AGP8x specification will be presented today by Raj K. Ramanujan, platform architecture manager, and Warren Morrow, senior architect, Technology & Research Labs, Intel Corporation, at the Intel Developer Forum Conference.

Better 3-D Visualization
"The forthcoming introduction of the Intel® Pentium® 4 processor means that the external graphics attach point must advance to take advantage of higher processor and bus speeds and meet the need for better 3-D visualization in games and on the Internet," said Pat Gelsinger, vice president and chief technology officer of the Intel Architecture Group. "We are focusing on a unified approach that embraces all high-end PC desktop and workstation market segments. The next part of that roadmap is AGP8x, an evolutionary step from AGP4x, to be followed by a future serial graphics bus."

Intel believes that the AGP8x specification will satisfy the greater bandwidth needs of Pentium 4 processor-based platforms. However, Intel is also looking beyond the parallel bus technology on which AGP8x is based to gather requirements and develop a new roadmap for emerging AGP technologies that promise to provide the increasing performance and scalability required for future applications.

Major Hardware Vendors Support AGP8x
As part of its broad effort to develop and implement AGP8x technology, Intel has engaged with graphics vendors ATI Technologies Inc., Matrox Graphics Inc. and NVIDIA Corporation to support the graphics initiative and to evaluate, comment on, and validate the AGP8x specification.

"ATI has been working closely with Intel to develop a robust AGP8x bus specification, and is pleased with the increased bandwidth enabled in this new graphics attach port. ATI will offer future members of the RADEON family that fully exploit AGP8x," said Henry Quan, vice president, Corporate Development, at ATI.

"Collaborating with Intel on the development of the AGP8x spec is particularly exciting since the extra AGP bandwidth will benefit the many innovative technologies being developed for future Matrox products," said Jean-Jacques Ostiguy, chief architect, Matrox Graphics Inc. "Because Matrox's graphics technologies invariably implement the most advanced industry standards, we can ensure that our customers are always two steps ahead.

"As a leader in worldwide graphics technology, NVIDIA relies on continuous platform innovation to progress the state of the PC," said Dan Vivoli, vice president of marketing at NVIDIA. "AGP8x is the kind of technology breakthrough we've come to expect from the key contributor, Intel."

About IDF
The Intel Developer Forum Conference is Intel's premier technical forum comprising nearly 250 sessions and hands-on labs and more than 100 demonstrations of cutting-edge products and technologies. IDF attracts thousands of hardware and software developers worldwide. Now in its third year, the semi-annual conference provides hardware OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), IHVs (independent hardware vendors), and ISVs (independent software vendors) with in-depth information on Intel technologies and initiatives. More information on the Intel Developer Forum can be found at http://developer.intel.com/idf. Updated information is available between Intel Developer Forums by subscribing to the Intel Developer Update Magazine at http://developer.intel.com/update/.

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