GeForce GPU Will be Inside 200 Sandy Bridge PCs

By Marcus Yam
published

Even with integrated graphics, there are still lots of discrete graphics!

There’s soon going to be a new Intel kid on the block, and her name is Sandy Bridge. She’s the next generation of Intel’s flagship Core architecture, she’ll be the star on stage at Intel’s CES 2011 showing.

One of the big things about Sandy Bridge is its integration of a GPU directly in the same die as the CPU. While the graphics prowess of is Intel’s best yet, it’s not enough to elbow out discrete graphics makers like Nvidia. In fact, Nvidia is boasting that it has scored 200 design wins that will pair its GeForce GPUs with next generation Core systems.

Part of that is due to the integrated Intel graphics not being a DirectX 11 part. For full DX11 support, OEMs have to turn to graphics solutions from Nvidia (or AMD).

"With the explosion in digital content and entertainment, it's no wonder that consumers love GeForce notebooks," said Jeff Fisher, vice president of the GeForce business unit at Nvidia. "Our momentum reflects the overwhelming need for a better PC experience."

The designs are expected to span a variety of notebook and desktop systems from leading OEMs including Acer, Alienware, ASUS, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba and more.

We expect CES next month to be packed with Sandy Bridge computers.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
40 Comments Comment from the forums
  • joytech22
    About time, the 360 has been doing this for years and it's about time it hit PC's too.

    But you can bet your ass these solutions will probably cost *something stupid here*
    Reply
  • aznshinobi
    ^ They already have, they were just testing it out. Intel's i5s and i think i3s already have an iGPU. AMD also proved they could do it, they just don't have it on a desktop CPU. Their laptop processors do have an iGPU however.

    Reply
  • warfart1
    They already have, they were just testing it out. Intel's i5s and i think i3s already have an iGPU. AMD also proved they could do it, they just don't have it on a desktop CPU. Their laptop processors do have an iGPU however.
    The previous generation of Intel processors with integrated graphics had them on package, not on die. I believe that the CPU cores were 32nm while the graphics cores were 45nm.
    Reply
  • Blessedman
    I can understand this design for a business type of drone, but doesn't their entire new lineup have this? I bet Nvidia is laughing at this decision. I can see putting a larrabee type of designed gpu on die, so you can have decent graphics but an amazing co-processor, but why waste the space on ... junk?
    Reply
  • toxxel
    I personally won't even think of buying a cpu with an integrated graphics, or even use it. I could personally only see something like this being popular in mobile systems, not desktops. I build a desktop to have the customization to pick and upgrade what I want, integrated graphics disallows that option. More of a casual user if you would find it in a desktop, or someone who could care less.
    Reply
  • mtyermom
    toxxelMore of a casual user if you would find it in a desktop, or someone who could care less.
    And there are a LOT more of those desktops than ones like ours.
    Reply
  • phatboe
    I agree with toxxel, while I like the idea of an APU/Fusion/integrated GFX core for laptops but I will prob never use it on a desktop computer as I will always have a dedicated card. It sucks that it seems that both AMD and Intel will make it so that all their CPUs will have a GFX core when that die space could be used for an extra CPU core or more L3 and etc. And seeing as to how I mostly stick to Nvidia cards I doubt either AMD or Intel will make it so that I can pair the GFX abilities on the APU with the dedicated card (like some kind of hybrid SLI\CrossFireX)
    Reply
  • Nintendork
    If you read Fusion articles(other websites) there's the possibility that the APU can be used to offload physics calculation in games.

    As for now AMD will provide regular desktops without IGP on die (Zambesi 8-6-4 cores) and Fusion Llano(based on Deneb improved cores) updated later Fusion Trinity (Bulldozer Cores). So if you don't like to have a "useless" IGP then wait for Zambesi.
    Reply
  • juliom
    Is this news or just free publicity?
    Reply
  • scrumworks
    Nvidia GPU inside 200 Sandy Bridge PCs? Well that's not much. I bet AMD GPU will be inside hundreds of thousands of Sandy Bridge PCs.
    Reply