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By Jim Forbes
The Microsoft/Intel partnership has driven the PC industry for years. But now the two may be on their way to a healthy rivalry as they simultaneously-and separately-promote new multimedia systems designed to deliver workstation-quality 3-D applications. As a result, consumers looking to buy a PC in late 1997 could face some interesting choices.
Intel has in its arsenal a new architecture for Pentium and Pentium Pro processors called Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), designed specifically for high-performance graphics. AGP, Intel's first-ever silicon-based 3-D graphics engine, was developed in conjunction with Lockheed Martin. The company's allies include several motherboard and card makers, most of whom are now experimenting with a graphics-adapter line. These will initially be sold to hard-core game players.
To power all those graphics, your standard PC might have an MMX processor, 16MB memory, Universal Serial Bus, at least 2MB video memory and cards designed to use the AGP specification. The new 3-D graphics technology could appear in mid- or late 1997. And while benchmark results are hard to come by, Intel sources hint that the controller-which will be socketed on add-in cards or on Intel-produced motherboards-could deliver 3-D performance in excess of 40Mpixels per second. The price tag for this sort of system would be in the $2,500 range.
Microsoft seems to be on a different route. It's promoting Talisman, a software architecture designed for a new generation of PCs costing as little as $1,700. Talisman, which emphasizes Microsoft's DirectX APIs, calls for multimedia signals to be decoupled from instructions sent to the CPU and sent instead to a media processor.
This processor is designed to incorporate numerous multimedia functions, from accelerated graphics to telephony (Newstrends, December 1995). Consequently, PC makers can use inexpensive CPUs in systems rivaling machines with state-of-the-art Intel technology-and a higher bill. Three alternative chip makers-Chromatic, Samsung and Philips TriMedia-are already pitching their wares to OEMs.
Analysts have been surprised by Talisman, since it creates an apparent conflict of interest between two veteran partners. It also asks users to put their trust in Microsoft with regard to numerous hardware issues. And despite Microsoft's success with keyboards and mice, that just might be a stretch.
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