Info History of Intel Graphics cards

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yjfy

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History of Intel Graphics cards
yjfy

This article is about the history of Intel's graphics and display chips based on hardware collections. In order to reflect the authority of this article, the intel graphics cards in the text are mostly representative engineering samples from myself and Tibetan friends. Thanks to the computer hardware collection, such rare computer hardware can get rid of destruction.
This article introduces the history of Intel graphics cards into four periods.
1. 12 years of drifting ( 1977-1988 )
Intel's original graphics card is for VIDEO/GRAPHICS MODULE on Intel Single Board Computers, a display module with display capabilities. Although it is only the prototype of the graphics card, it has an important position in the history of Intel graphics. After Intel released several display chips, it was used by many manufacturers to make graphics cards, but Intel still disdain to enter the PC graphics market, because Intel's business focus at this time is memory and processor.
1.1 8275 Chip
C8275 Engineering sample


C8275_ES.jpg
Pictured above is Intel's first display-related chip C8275 CRT Controller, which is an engineering sample chip with a date of 7735, indicating that the C8275 chip first appeared in the 35th week of 77 (late mid-August). Used in Intel's iSBX270 VIDEO DISPLAY CONTROLLER MULTIMODULE Board. The iSBX 270 VDC contains 4K bytes of high speed static RAM.

iSBX270
iSBX270.jpg


Processor II 2217605132
iSBX270_2_small.jpg

The iSBX270 was well-known in the past and was also used on the Processor II 2217605132 Multibus card from non-intel Machine Technology Inc.

iSBX270_0_small.jpg


 
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3.1.2 Purchase graphics card
 In the era of ISA graphics, Intel has used VIDEO 7 INC graphics cards. Intel, Intel also directly purchased graphics cards from PCI cards, such as ATi graphics cards.

ATi Mach32

mach32_1_small.jpg
mach32_small.jpg




3.1.3 ODM graphics card
 In the era of PCI graphics, Intel has a partnership with VIDEO 7 INC. SPEA Software AG acquired VIDEO 7 INC. SPEA Software AG gives Intel ODM PCI graphics cards.

Intel 928PCI
intel_928.jpg



3.1.4 Acquisition of graphics card company
 In order to acquire the relevant technology, in July 1997, Intel acquired Chips & Technologies, which was the leader in 2D display design and R&D. Intel's move is not only to avoid the embarrassing situation that no graphics chip is available in the era of PCI graphics, but also a sign of vigorously entering the graphics card market.

   Chips & Technologies/Intel DKHIQV-PCI BOARD

DKHIQV-PCI_BOARD.jpg


This DKHIQV-PCI Development board has an "INTEL" label.

3.1.5 Clone graphics card
Intel has cloned MATROX's Ultima graphics card. This card has lntel's PBA 620439-003 and Matrox's FCCID: ID7G0050001, which is only used inside Intel.
lntel/MATROX Ultima​
PBA_620439-003.jpg
 
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3.2 i740 chip series graphics card
 Intel's second-generation discrete graphics card began in the second half of 1997 with the AGP interface graphics card developed by Intel and Real3D, codenamed "Auburn", and was released in January 1998.
 The i740 chip is manufactured in a 0.35 micron process and is a 64Bit graphics core with a core operating speed synchronized to the AGP bus at 66MHz. The i740 chip is the first true AGP 2X graphics card. Supports up to 8MB of SGRAM/SDRAM memory. The pixel fill rate is 55M Pixels/s, the triangle generation speed is 0.5-1M Trianglws/s triangle generation speed is 5-10 million per second, and the 203MHz RAMDAC is built in. Although the i740's 2D speed is average, its 3D performance is not bad, and it can fully support hardware DVD playback.
  
3.2.1 INTEL740 Evaluation board
 The following picture shows the intel i740 chip evaluation board. The right side of the front side of the PCB on the graphics card is marked with the "INTEL740 Evaluation board". The PCB date was 3497 and it appeared before August 1997.

INTEL740 Evaluation board
INTEL740_E_1.jpg



Although the i740 chip was developed by Real3d, the chip is marked with Intel's logo. It can be seen that intel pays attention to the i740 chip.

3.2.2 Real3D StarFighter-ISV Evaluation board
 This is the chip evaluation board of the i740 chip SDRAM memory version. It seems that Real3D and Intel are responsible for chip evaluation of SDRAM and SGRAM versions respectively.

StarFighter-ISV Evaluation board
StarFighter-ISV.jpg
 
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3.2.3 Intel740 Reference board
 The front right side of the PCB on the Intel i740 graphics card is labeled "INTEL740 reference board". Intel had planned to let other manufacturers make graphics cards according to this reference design. In fact, based on cost considerations, no one vendor used this luxurious design, and even Intel itself launched Express 3D graphics cards to be streamlined and streamlined.

 INTEL740 reference board
intel740_reference_board_1.jpg


3.2.4 Gainward Intel740 APAC Reference design
In order to promote the i740 chip graphics card, Intel regards Gainward as the most important partner and commissions Gainward to design the Intel740 APAC REFERENCE DESIGN in the Asia-Pacific region. So it seems that Intel's own reference design is for the European and American version. In fact, this Asia-Pacific version of Gainward has never been used, nor is it used by other manufacturers. Why? Because in this design, not only the PCB board size is the same as the European and American version, it is very large, and the heat sink is also the largest of the i740 chip graphics cards, none of them.

Gainward Intel740 APAC Reference design
Intel740_APAC_Reference_board_2.jpg
 
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3.2.5 Express 3D
On April 15, 1998, Intel officially released the express 3D graphics card, which is the first generation of Intel independent graphics card commonly used on the Internet. After reading the previous information, I think you will only agree that it is the first generation of Intel 3D graphics card.
3.2.5.1 Express 3D Evaluation board
 Product evaluation board for Express 3D, date of manufacture 9804.

 Express 3D Evaluation board
Express_3D_SGRAM_ES_2.jpg



3.2.5.2 Express 3D Test board
 This Express 3D graphics card is a Test board that intel completes the design and is in trial production, which is no different from the official retail product. Compared with the Express 3D graphics Evaluation board, you can see obvious changes from the picture: the core version of the graphics card is upgraded, the BIOS version is updated from the 002 version to the 003 version that is consistent with the official product, and the failed certification is reduced from four to two. The two vertical rows of resistors under the fan interface change from full to full soldering. Also, the date of this card PCB is 98 years and 09 weeks, and the official release date of Express 3D graphics card is April 15, 1998, which is equivalent to 15 weeks in 1998. The test for the media evaluation agency is mainly the Test board before the release date.

  Express 3D Test board

express_3d_4m_sgram_es.jpg
 
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3.2.5.3 Express 3D SGRAM
The first civilian-grade graphics card with fan cooling.

     Express 3D Qualified Product

Express_3D_sgram_small.jpg



The shrink film of the Express 3D graphics card has an intel logo, as if opening the box would destroy its integrity. Take a look at the rabbit brother's collection.

i740_small.jpg


(Source: t-cpu)


Compared to the ACTIONMEDIA 750, the box of the Express 3D graphics card is really too small.
intel_box_small.jpg



3.2.5.4 Express 3D SDRAM
 The Express 3D SDRAM version appeared a little later, and the video memory was increased from 2/4MB to 8MB of the SGRAM version, which can be cooled without a fan.

  Express 3D SDRAM Qualified Product

Express_3D_sdram_2198_small.jpg
 
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3.3 i752 chip series graphics card
On April 27, 1999, Intel released i752 (codename: Portola) and i754 (codename: Coloma). The i752 uses a 128Bit graphics core with a core frequency of 100MHz and a maximum memory support of 133MHz and a maximum of 16MB. The pixel fill rate is 100M Pixels/s, the triangle generation speed is 3.3M Trianglws/s, and the built-in 250MHz RAMDAC. It adopts dual pixel pipeline to support environmental atomization, single-cycle texture synthesis, 16-bit Z-buffer, bump map, texture compression and other technologies. In addition, it has improved graphics acceleration performance that can be accelerated for various graphics streaming formats at the time. The difference between the two chips is that one supports AGP2× and one supports AGP4×.
I752 and i754, this is just an improved product of the i740 with limited performance. The i752 chip shipments are limited, and only a small number of graphics cards have been produced by Gainward. The i754 chip project was withdrawn.
3.3.1 Intel752 Reference board
The display chip date of this i752 reference board is 9917.

Intel752 Reference board
intel752_reference_Board.jpg
 
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3.3.2 Gainward i752 commemorative card
 At Computex 99, intel sent the i752 graphics card to 50 lucky viewers, which is the Gainward i752. The only symbolic sale of the i752 chip graphics card. After reading the following pictures, you will understand why intel does not sell i752 chips.

  Gainward i752 commemorative card

i752_small.jpg


i752 Chip
i752_1_small.jpg



The i752 chip above is a formal chip with a date of 9919.

  i752 chip engineering sample

i752_9920_small.jpg


The above picture is a sample version of the i752 chip project submitted by friend NEST, dated at 9920, later than the official version of the Gengyu i752 commemorative card, 9919. It shows that the official version of the chip is not perfect, there are many problems, just intel in order not to jump the ticket, only to sell a very small number of i752 official chips. Because Intel has no energy to solve the problem after it becomes a graphics card, why? And listen to the next decomposition.
 

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4. 20 years of growing(1999-present)
 The I740 chip graphics card is undoubtedly more successful, but it is at the low end in the graphics card market. At this time, the 3D graphics card market is full of smoke, INTEL enters the 3D graphics card market by buying and buying, Intel technology deposition is limited, technology integration, innovation takes time, can only find another way.
 On February 20, 1997, Cyrix launched the Media GX chip of the IT industry's first chip integration solution (All in One). This epoch-making concept, "Integration," was later understood by Intel and introduced an "Integrated Graphics" solution in early 1999. On April 26, the i810 chipset with integrated i740 display core was released. The i810 has achieved unprecedented success in the market and has contributed greatly to the popularity of integrated chipsets.

4.1 Integrated Graphics
 The i740 and i752 display cores are integrated into the north bridge chip of the i810/815 motherboard chipset, which shows that the core occupies part of the main memory of the computer during operation, which reduces the performance of the computer, but the cost and power consumption of the entire platform is lower.

4.1.1 i810 Series
 The question about whether the i810 integrates the i740 or the i752 display core has been debated. The display chip date of the i752 reference board in this paper is 9817, and the date of the i810 North Bridge chip integrated with the display core on the CA810 motherboard is 9816. It is impossible for the i810 chip to integrate the i752 display core, which is also in the engineering sample stage, and should be the i740 display core.
 The i810 series has i810, i810E and i810E2.

4.1.1.1 i810Chip
 The i810 chip was released on April 26, 1998, and the first cluster display board CA810 was released on June 25.

  i810 chip engineering sample
CA810_2_small.jpg



CA810 Mainboard Engineering Sample

CA810_3.jpg

4.1.1.2 i810EChip
 Released on September 27, 1998. The difference between the i810E chip and the i810 chip is to support the 133MHZ FSB.
 his unknown brand-name motherboard uses a rare i810E engineering sample chip.

  i810E chip engineering sample
810E_small.jpg


810E_1_small.jpg
 
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4.1.2 i815 Series
The i815 chip has built-in i752 display chip and adds digital video signal output port (DVOP). There are four kinds of i815, i815E, i815G and i815EG.
4.1.2.1 i815 Chip
Released on June 19, 2000, the display core is the final result of the i752 graphics card project.

  i815 chip engineering sample
D815BN_2_small.jpg


D815BN Mainboard Engineering Sample

D815BN.jpg


4.1.2.2 i815 B-STEP Chip
i815 B-STEP is an upgraded version of i815 and supports Pentium III Tualatin CPU.
i815 B-STEP chip engineering sample
i815_B-STEP.jpg


INTEL 815 B-STEP Reference board
INTEL_815_B-STEP_reference_board.jpg
 
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4.1.3 Extreme Graphics Series
 In 2002, Intel introduced the i845G/E chipset with integrated "Extreme Graphics", which has significantly improved performance compared to the previous generation. The core frequency is 200MHz in the i845G, and the core frequency is 266MHz in the i845GE. The performance is close to that of Nvidia. Geforece2 MX 200, Extreme Graphics supports DVMT technology, which can dynamically call memory from the system, from the initial call 8MB to call 48MB.Products are i845G, i845GL, i845GV, i845GE.
4.1.3.1 i845G

  i845GE Chip
D845GERG2_2_small.jpg



The heat sink on the chip of this motherboard is soldered and cannot be removed. Only retail i845G chip pictures can be displayed.

i845G Mainboard Engineering Sample
i845G.jpg



4.1.3.2 ADD expansion card (Advanced digital display)
 The ADD expansion card is not a stand-alone device. It must work in conjunction with the Intel Graphics Memory Controller Hub (GMCH) to provide high quality digital signal output. It provides an external graphics processing engine via a 1.5v AGP interface that provides digital signal output.
 Intel's PB C58792-002 ADD card adopts full-height design and supports DVI/video input and output. It is used in 845G series chipset motherboard. This card can output integrated graphics to the LCD through the AGP interface of the motherboard, and add extra Video input and output functions.

  PB C58792-002 Engineering Sample
PB_C58792-002.jpg
 
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4.1.4 Extreme Graphics II Series
 Intel has improved on Extreme Graphics and released Extreme Graphics II. Products are i865G, i865GV.

  i865GV Chip

MS-7101_2_small.jpg


MSI MS-7101 Mainboard Engineering Sample

MS-7101_1_small.jpg




4.1.5 Graphics Media AcceleratorSeries
 On June 21, 2004, GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator) Intel graphics chip was born. GMA is Intel's built-in graphics core product line from 2004 to 2008. Products are i910, i915, i945 series and so on.

  i945 Chip Engineering Sample
MS-7161_2_small.jpg



MSI MS-7161 Mainboard Engineering Sample

MS-7161_small.jpg
 

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4.2 CPU with integrated graphics
 On the afternoon of January 8, 2010, Intel held a new Intel Core Launch Conference in Beijing. Intel officially released the latest revolutionary products worldwide, based on the new 32nm process Core i7, i5, i3 processor products. The Core i5/i3, which uses the Westmere architecture and is code-named Clarkdale, pioneered the integration of processors. It is the first CPU integrated with a GPU graphics core. The CPU is integrated with the GPU chip for the first time.
 Here are a few representative Core processors.
4.2.1 Core 1st generation
The new generation Core i3/i5 processor, code-named Clarkdale, is packaged on the same substrate as the CPU. Although the CPU/GPU is packaged on the same substrate for the first time, the CPU part and the GPU part are independent. The CPU part adopts the 32nm process, and the GPU part adopts the 45nm process. The name is changed from GMA to HD Graphic's GPU core frequency. At 733MHz, performance is up to 50% higher than the previous generation GMA X4500HD. Although Clarkdale has not yet fully integrated the two cores of CPU and GPU, it is already a big breakthrough.
broken_small.jpg

i5_small.jpg



(Image courtesy of expreview)

Core i3 Desktop version engineering sample

i3_i5_ES_small.jpg


  Core i3 mobile version Engineering sample
i3_M_ES_small.jpg
 

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4.2.2 Core 2nd generation
 In January 2011, Intel released a new Sandy Bridge architecture, which first merged the GPU chip with the CPU, and the built-in graphics core was upgraded to HD Graphics 2000/3000. There are 6 and 12 EU programmable shaders respectively.

  Opened Core i3 2100
i3-2100_small.jpg



4.2.3 Core 4th generation
 Core 4th generation enhances display performance. Added eDRAM memory, supports 4K x 2K resolution, and upgraded high-speed video synchronization technology to make graphics images decode faster. The Intel HD Graphics 5200, codenamed GT3e, is called Iris Pro and has an eDRAM module that represents the strongest display performance of this generation.
 On the fourth generation of Core processor CPU board, there are two cores, the small core is eDRAM memory. From this Core CPU board, the CPU core is no longer monotonous, and there will always be other cores.

i3_4_ES_small.jpg


i3_4_B_1_small.jpg
 

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4.3 Larrabee
 Intel's third-generation discrete graphics Larrabee was first announced at SIGGRAPH in 2008. Larrabee intends to build a stand-alone GPU and GPGPU using the x86 instruction set. It was originally expected that “Larrabee” will be launched in the third quarter of 2008 and officially released in 2009, but in fact there were engineering samples in 2009.

 In June 2009, Intel claimed that the prototype of Larrabee was comparable to the NVIDIA Geforce GTX 285. On November 4, 2009, Intel officially announced that Larrabee will not be released as a consumer GPU product. Instead, it will compete with Nvidia Tesla as a development platform for graphics and high-performance computing.On May 31, 2010, Intel completely canceled the Larrabee graphics card project.

4.3.1 Larrabee Chip evaluation board

The PCB date of this black PCB version is 0910 weeks.

Larrabee.jpg

Larrabee_1.jpg

Larrabee_2.jpg
 
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4.3.2 Larrabee Product evaluation board

The PCB date is 1022 weeks and the GPU date is 1017 weeks.

LRB_Slaventus86_1.jpg

LRB_Slaventus86.jpg

LRB_Slaventus86_2.jpg

(From Slaventus86)
4.3.3 Knights Ferry

The version is neither marked with "Rev ?" nor "LARRABEE GPU" on the PCB. It is already Knights Ferry. It can still be called a Larrabee graphics card because it has a video signal output interface.
Knights_Ferry_leodanmarjod.jpg

Knights_Ferry_leodanmarjod_1.jpg
 
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Knights Ferry, which has no video signal output interface, has transformed from a LARRABEE GPU to a Xeon Phi Coprocessor.

intel_larrabee_engineering_sample.jpg

intel_larrabee_engineering_sample_2.jpg

(From PCANG.com)​
4.3.4 Larrabee2
Knights Corner is an optimization and upgrade of Knights Ferry. It is only natural that the Larrabee2 graphics card appears, but Intel did not announce it to the public, and Intel has done such things.
The PCB date is 3611 weeks and the GPU date is 1147 weeks.
Larrabee2.jpg

Larrabee2_1.jpg

Larrabee2_2.jpg

4.4 Unknown
 At the beginning of 2018, Intel first revealed the prototype of the fourth-generation discrete graphics card at the ISSCC 2018 International Solid-State Circuits Conference. The prototype graphics card was manufactured using the Intel 14nm process and integrated 1.524 billion transistors.
 Where is Intel going, will it open a new era? Wait and see!
 
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IntelUser2000

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Nice overview of everything! I have closely followed the more recent generations so I think you can add a bit.

The Extreme Graphics did in no way compare to the Geforce 2 MX of any kind. Nvidia's own Nforce was pretty close. I think the GMA 900 could in theory perform like the Geforce 2 MX.

Also, there's the GMA 3000/X3000 and GMA 4500/X4500 in between the 1st Gen Core's 5th Gen GPU and the GMA 950.

Gen 3, GMA 3000/X3000 - 8 EUs, programmable shaders
Gen 4, GMA 4500/X4500 - 10 EUs, was actually a substantial improvement because unlike the 3xxx generation the hardware T&L wasn't slower than the CPU.

1st Gen Core, Gen 5 graphics - Another substantial improvement with Hi-Z and Fast clear and further improvements to hardware vertex shaders.

Between the 2nd and 4th Gen core, the 3rd Gen core adds significant graphics enhancements. The 4th generation is actually an iterative improvement rather than a architectural change. Let me summarize them.

2nd Gen Core, Gen 6 integrated graphics: Doubles FP throughput per EU. LLC cache sharing, more instruction support

3rd Gen Core, Gen 7 integrated graphics: Doubles FP throughput per EU yet again

The one in 4th Gen is internally called Gen 7.5, since the fundamental architecture is same as the one in 3rd gen Ivy Bridge but with more EUs and configurations.

Gen 8 GPU - Broadwell 5th Gen Core, 24 and 48 EU configurations
Gen 9 GPU - Skylake 6th Gen Core, improved architecture with lossless compression, and better pixel throughput for a 20% per clock/per core improvement
Gen 10 GPU - defunct Cannonlake
Gen 11 GPU - Icelake 10th Gen core
Gen 12/Xe GPU - Tigerlake/Rocketlake
 

Leeea

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May 2022... Intel finally releases the Xe HGE GPU product line, which actually has decent performance and finally saves the industry from a six-month-long graphics card shortage.

...We hope :)

More details are apparently coming soon, though:

https://xehpg.intel.com/

In April 2021 2022 Ethereum reaches record lows, crashing the GPU market. The new Intel GPU line launches directly into a bear market filled with cheap GPUs being given away by miners who are looking to avoid disposal fees.

. . .

Or, come on Intel, get some product out!
 
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ultimatebob

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In April 2021 Ethereum reaches record lows, crashing the GPU market. The new Intel GPU line launches directly into a bear market filled with cheap GPUs being given away by miners who are looking to avoid disposal fees.

. . .

Or, come on Intel, get some product out!

That would be April 2022, no?

Man... we've been waiting an eternity for this GPU to be released, no?