Intel announces new processor with built-in graphics capabilities

For far too long, the CAD industry has played second fiddle to the gaming industry in terms of graphics and computers.  Though there are many overlapping needs between the two industries, there are significant differences as well.  With their announcement of the Xeon processor E3-1200 product family, Intel seems to now put more focus on the CAD industry.

They are attempting to create a workstation category with optimized performance for CAD by combining the CPU and GPU into one chip.  Intel states that this new processor (combined with the Intel C206 chipset) will be optimized for professional and practical performance on workstations designed for CAD, digital animation and 3D imaging.  The graphics technology employed on this new chip is called Intel HD Graphics P3000.  The “P” in “P3000” simultaneously means “performance”, “practical”, and “professional”.

The first product release in this new family of processors should have graphic abilities that are equivalent with entry-level graphic cards currently on the market.  There are several advantages to this new product over traditional graphics cards.  Though pricing is not available yet, there is a suggestion that customers will save because they are no longer required to buy and maintain separate graphics cards.  There will also be power savings that will lower the cost of the workstation by allowing for a smaller power supply (or at least, more efficient use of the power supply).

Monitors will connect to this new type of workstation directly to the motherboard (or presumably offset connections at the back of the workstation that lead directly to the motherboard).

Pricing, availability and other information about this new product will be released by Intel within the next month or so.

Author: fcsuper

As a drafter, mechanical designer and CAD engineer, I've been in the mechanical design field since 1991. For the first 8 years of my career, I was an AutoCAD professional. I utilized AutoLISP and many other AutoCAD customization features to streamline drafting activities for 6+ drafters and designers. I authored several custom functions, one of which was published in the March 1997 issue of Cadalyst Magazine. Since 1998, I've been used SolidWorks non-stop. I've worked to utilize the SolidWorks' user environment to simplify drafting and design activities for 20+ engineers. I've created this website to provide current information about SolidWorks from a variety of contributors. More recently, I am now employed by Dassault Systemes as SOLIDWORKS Sr. Product Definition Manager to improve drawing, annotation and MBD related areas. View all posts by fcsuper