Intel is obviously trying to become a major player on the gaming graphics market. But, until that happens, it still needs to come out with the Larrabee graphics chip, which is expected to be released sometime in the second half of 2009. As part of Intel's commitment to create a graphics chip that will fit its soon-to-come graphics cards, Intel has recently launched a Web site to help game and visual content developers create software for its silicon graphics and processors.

"Supporting the new Intel 4 Series chipset family introduced at Computex, Intel has launched the Intel Visual Computing Developer Community, a technical resource to enable developers... to create innovative graphics and video applications," Intel said in a statement.

Currently, the best offer coming from Intel on matters of graphics is the Intel 4 series, which includes the G45 Express chipset and the GMA X4500HD graphics media accelerator. Intel's chipset is said to provide built-in support for full 1080p high-definition video playback and to enable desktop computers to become the center of home computing and entertainment. Besides that, Intel's G45 Express Chipset is also the first to come with support for Microsoft's DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL 2.0. This means that Intel G45-enabled systems will be ready for gaming, in a way that Intel's chipsets have not been able to accomplish so far.

The newly launched web site contains white papers on high definition audio and video, discussion forums, blogs and wikis, according to Intel. The site also features a downloads section, where developers can download a number of Intel's tools that are meant to provide them with support for creating "innovative graphics and video applications."

Another thing that this web site brings into the spotlight is the Larrabee graphics platform. Described by the company as a "many core" Intel Architecture graphics chip, the Larrabee is expected to debut in the second half of 2009.