Intel740

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An Intel740 PCI card

The Intel740 (i740) was a graphics accelerator using an AGP interface made by Real3D (a division of Intel) though PCI versions also exist. The technology was the first major entry of Intel into the field of 3D graphics accelerators. Intel was seeking to become a major player in the performance 3D graphics field, but competition from 3dfx, ATI, Matrox, and NVIDIA pushed Intel to focus on budget-minded integrated graphics solutions instead.

Since the original launch of the i740 in the late 1990's, ATI and NVIDIA have since dominated the performance 3D graphics industry. Today, Intel GMA graphics parts are sold as integrated motherboard solutions. They are typically low-budget products designed to give users an engine that performs 3D capably, but not necessarily sufficient for heavy gaming purposes. The current Intel GMA technology is based on the original i740 design; however, the current lineup features considerably improved performance and graphics features.

Intel has reportedly hired a number of graphics hardware designers to work on a new series of discrete graphics cards, with the codename Larrabee.