Originally scheduled for 2008, and then delayed several times, Intel has cancelled the public release of all Larrabee chips and cards. However, the project is not dead, and Intel is continuing development on its first dedicated GPU. The chip is enjoying a continued presence in research and development as a platform for software development and testing.The question everyone now asks is this: why the cancellation? The official reason from Intel is the accumulated delay in hardware and software developments. Other details are left to speculation, but it is known that the first chips very poor performance compared to alternative and cheaper hardware. The initial performance ratings gave the first Larrabee chip 1 teraflop... while the last-generation cards from ATI and nVidia are already on the market, and offer far superior performance. 1 teraflop is round abouts the theoretical power of the GT200 from nVidia and the RV770 from ATI... and the latest RV870 already achieves no less than 3 teraflops in their dual GPU incarnation (Radeon HD 5970).
Intel has taken a prudent decision to refine its concept. The current chips are used as development platforms in order to optimize the software. We can therefore expect that when the Larrabee chips are ready, the software will be fairly mature and accessible.
Intel promises a new announcement about the Larrabee project in 2010, so we will know more at that time. If this announcement is about a new chip, we can expect to see it available in 2011 or 2012.
This promises more good times to ATI and nVidia in the field of 3D and GPGPU.
Source: AnandTech
KaySL
On: 12/05/09
