We knew Intel was developing an advanced graphics chip for mainstream consumers. Dubbed as Larrabee, the chip was to be unveiled in 2009-2010, but till date we have not heard anything from Intel regarding the Larrabee chip. Now if reports on the internet has to be believed then the chip giant is planning to scrap Larrabee project. According to Intel's spokesperson Nick Knupffer, Intel has decided to scrap plans for the graphics card because Larrabee's silicon and software development plan are well behind schedule, making it uncompetitive.

The Larrabee is based on the x86 instruction set found in CPU architecture and is not just a GPU, but a multi-core die capable of any stream processing task. Back in 2006 when the development was started, the Larrabee was made up of 16 cores (each core capable of operating in excess of 2GHz), but in future could scale up to several thousand cores.

As far as I can see Intel will never discontinue such as ambitious project. So may be the Larrabee is just behind schedule and will take some more time to develop.

I am keeping my fingers crossed for such an interesting product. Hope you do the same.

[via CDR Info]