JAYDEEJOHN :
I hope so. Intel needs to trash their old IGPs and go Larrabee team. We need it, they need it, and whats with the G45? Ive been hearing theyve been having problems with it? Is it still on track for delivery date?
Why do we need it? IMHO, we don't need it. Intel's only reason for IGP is the business market. The sad thing is too many people buy Dell's, Gateways, HP's etc. based on specs that never mention the graphics. How often do you see an ad that mentions graphics? They'll mention the CPU, RAM, monitor and hard drive space, but leave out the IGP.
They buy based on the CPU and get Intel IGP. That doesn't disappoint business, which largely hasn't migrated to Vista, but it does disappoint people who want a good family PC for applications, DVD playback and light gaming.
The future of IGP is what AMD and Nvidia's basically doing, putting a full overclockable low end GPU on the board useable alongside another low end discrete GPU for hybrid multi-GPU. Intel simply cannot compete:
G35 just can't cut it:
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/08/intel-g35-failure-needs-fix
G45 has H264 decoding problems:
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/16/g45-hd-decode-problems
What will Larrabee bring? A change in how game graphics are coded that developers might not embrace? That Microsoft might not support fully? Analysts are doubtful that Intel can pull it off, and I am too.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/nvidia-intel-amd,news-1064.html
IGP's are useful. Intel needs to provide decent IGP's that work at least as well as the 690G's, if not the 780G's. Besides business and HTPC, kids computers generally don't need anything as powerful as our gaming GPU's. My 7 year old has a 780G and I'll add a 3470 next month for hybrid Crossfire. He uses it for home schooling educational software as well as for Fate and HOMM III, IV and V.
So, no one should dismiss IGP just because they don't use it. IGP power saving features are coming that make IGP useful for enthusiasts beyond simply showing a new motherboard's post before setting up a discrete card (which is how I do it). AMD's Swift might even make for a triple GPU hybrid CrossfireX and both AMD and Nvidia are working towards power savings for more capable discrete GPU's that are too robust for hybrid Crossfire. So, some light gaming for the masses can be had that far surpasses Intel's offerings.
Too bad Nvidia doesn't have a CPU, and AMD's CPU's are falling behind. If both had mainstream CPU's even almost as good as Intel's, I'm sure they'd gain such a market share with good platforms that include chipsets, IGP's and hybrid Crossfire and SLI that leaves Intel out in the cold.
I remember Intel execs saying before they first put IGP's on motherboards that discrete graphics cards wouldn't be needed in the future. Well, Intel's IGP's didn't kill a need for SIS, Trident etc. 2D cards alongside Voodoo 3D cards, and I doubt that Larrabee will kill Nvidia and ATI GPU's.
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