IBM's Graphics Card Based on Intel i860 Chip Makes Official Debut
 
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
LAS VEGAS (Microbytes Daily News Service) --- When Intel
introduced its i860 graphics coprocessor chip back in February,
James Cannavino of IBM's personal computer division showed off an
i860-based graphics card IBM had developed. The demonstration
featured a PS/2 Model 70 calculating fractals and outperforming
Sun and Hewlett-Packard workstations. But the performance came
with a warning: "This is not a product announcement," Cannavino
said.
 
Nearly nine months later, the graphics card finally became an
announced product at Comdex. The IBM PS/2 Wizard Adapter
is a Micro Channel bus master coprocessor card with an Intel
i860 processor and 2 megabytes of static RAM (expandable to
8 megabytes). The card takes up two full expansion slots in a
PS/2 70 or 80 (though IBM says plans call for it eventually to
take a single slot). The company announced no prices for the
board but said it's scheduled to be available to developers by
the end of 1989 and to end users by mid-1990.
 
Although it has just become an official product, the Wizard
looks like it could become a de facto standard for i860
software. Olivetti's new CP486 computer, which includes a
socket for an i860 coprocessor, will be compatible with all
Wizard software, and other manufacturers have said they
expect to follow IBM's lead as well.
 
Contact: IBM, 1133 Westchester Ave., White Plains, NY 10604;
(914) 642-5363.
 
                              --- Frank Hayes
 
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