As semiconductor circuits shrink, more and more gets loaded on the CPU, or central processor in a computer. This is increasingly including a graphics chip.
The abrupt change in design is remaking the graphics chip business, and will steadily do away with the graphics chipset, the mainstay of the industry.
Graphics chipsets are going away, but not stand-alone chips, says Jon Peddie Research
In 2008, 67 percent of graphics chips were shipping in integrated chipsets, says Jon Peddie Research. By 2011, only 20 percent will be, the research firm said Wednesday.
This will fall to less than 1 percent by 2013.
The change of direction can be glimpsed already in the product developments at major manufacturers. Advanced Micro Devices is embedding a graphics chip on its computer processors in a development effort called Fusion. Nvidia has strengthened its high-end offerings with its CUDA software and has introduced Tegra combining an ARM processor and Nvidia graphics.
Intel’s first chip with an embedded graphics processor is dubbed Westmere and is expected in the fourth quarter.
Despite the change, stand-alone graphics processors installed separately on the motherboard or another add-in board won’t go away, says Jon Peddie Research. Hybrid PC configurations that use a separate graphics chip could expand the sales of stand-alone chips, says the research firm.
