Intel has clarified that its new Sandy Bridge processors do not include DirectX 11 technology, and that Intel Insider is not digital rights management. Users who want DirectX 11 will need a separate GPU, or they can wait for Intel’s Ivy Bridge chips. AMD’s new Fusion chips do have DirectX 11. Intel Insider protects streaming video.
 Users will have to wait for Ivy Bridge if they want DirectX 11 technology in an Intel processor, and Intel Insider is not digital rights management (DRM). That’s the word from Intel about two areas concerning its just-released Sandy Bridge processors.DirectX 11 offers higher image realism for game playing and other uses on machines running Microsoft’s Windows 7, but Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors offer only version 10.1. Meanwhile, competitor Advanced Micro Devices is including DirectX 11 on its new Fusion chips. Both Sandy Bridge and Fusion processors integrate a graphics processor with a CPU, and both companies are pushing expectations for the resulting visual experience.
Ivy Bridge Not Too Far Intel executives said they decided not to include DirectX 11 in Sandy Bridge because few applications or games are ready to take advantage of the newer technology. AMD’s advantage on this front could be a matter of months, as Intel is expected to ship the 22nm Ivy Bridge chips later this year.If gamers don’t want to wait but do want an Intel processor, they can buy a machine that uses a discrete — rather than Sandy Bridge’s integrated — graphics-processing unit. More than 200 systems from Acer, Alienware, ASUS, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo and others employing a Sandy Bridge processor and a DirectX 11-enabled Nvidia GeForce GPU are expected to be offered in the first half of this year.Intel’s decision to forego the newest Direct X in its newest processor lineup isn’t the only decision that has raised eyebrows. DRM or Not? The company has been noting that its Sandy Bridge processors employ Intel Insider technology, which protects video content, such as streaming high-definition movies. In the absence of details about the kinds of protection offered, reports have been describing it as a DRM technology, which would control the ability to copy media, regulate the rental period of a movie, and so on.Earlier this week, Intel specifically noted that Intel Insider is not DRM. Posting on an official company blog, Intel’s Nick Knupffer wrote that Insider “is a service that enables consumers to enjoy premium Hollywood feature films streamed to their PC in high-quality 1080p high definition.” He added that such a service does not exist because the studios are concerned about protecting their content.”Think of it as an armored truck carrying the movie from the Internet to your display,” he wrote, keeping “the data safe from pirates.” He said it becomes even more important for wireless streaming, to prevent “stealing movies remotely just by snooping the airwaves.” In other words, Intel appears to be saying, the technology is designed to protect the transmission of the content rather than managing the content once it has arrived. |
