Nvidia will integrate its graphics chips with
Intel chips, the company said Friday.
The “multi-year patent cross-license agreement” between the two Santa
Clara, Calif.-based companies covers multiple product lines and product
generations. Specific details were light, but Nvidia president and CEO
Jen-Hsun Huang said his company would bring Nvidia’s nForce platform and
PCI Express-based SLI graphics technology to the table.
The companies also signed a multi-year chipset
agreement that lets Nvidia license Intel’s front-side bus technology.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Today’s agreements are significant for both companies and, more
importantly, represent a win for our mutual customers who now have more
choices for enhancing the PC experience,” Louis Burns, Intel vice
president and general manager for desktop products, said in a statement.
The Intel contract is particularly beneficial for Nvidia, considering
the agreement lets the graphics chipmaker easily transfer the
technology over to AMD-based systems.
Nvidia has had a contract since
2001 to build graphics processing units or GPUs
Opteron processors. Nvidia also has similar relationships with IBM
and Transmeta
.
Earlier this week, Nvidia and ASUSTeK Computer International
announced the availability of the ASUS A8N-SLI motherboard for AMD64
gaming systems. The contract is the first to feature the nForce4 SLI
chipset with support for dual GeForce 6800 graphics cards.
Nvidia also revealed that ASUSTeK and other partners — ranging from
AOpen, PNY Technologies, and Gigabyte to Leadtek Research, BFG
Technologies, and Gainward — will offer AGP graphics cards using the
Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT graphics processor.
Formerly available only in
PCI Express products, the 6600 GT offers high-performance 3D
acceleration including DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 support for cards at
the $199 price point.
Editor’s note: Jupiterweb editor Eric Grevstad contributed to
this report.
