Intel Larrabee desktop GPU has been cancelled

Over a decade ago Intel promised the i740 graphics card would drive all small players out of the market, but the chip turned out to be a very poor performer and was quickly forgotten. It now turns out the Larrabee GPU project suffers from the same issues as the first discrete graphics card from the chip giant.

The Larrabee GPU has been under development for years and consumed quite a lot of money, but Intel spokesman Nick Knupffer revealed on Friday that the project has largely been cancelled. The first-generation Larrabee will not be launched as a desktop GPU, it will only be launched as a HPC software development platform for internal and external use sometime next year. One of the prime reasons why Larrabee is cancelled appears to be lackluster performance compared to the GPUs offered by ATI and NVIDIA.

The company is expected to reveal more details about its future Larrabee plans in 2010. Next-generation Larrabee GPUs may still be in development, but those are unlikely to see the light of day before 2011 or even later.

"Larrabee silicon and software development are behind where we hoped to be at this point in the project," Intel spokesman Nick Knupffer said Friday. "As a result, our first Larrabee product will not be launched as a standalone discrete graphics product," he said.

"Rather, it will be used as a software development platform for internal and external use," he added. Intel is not discussing what other versions may appear after the initial software development platform product, or "kit," is launched next year.