Intergraph adds to line despite suit

Although locked in a bitter legal battle with Intel, workstation vendor Intergraph will add to its product lines Monday by announcing a new workstation and a PC based around Pentium II processors.

In the workstation arena, Intergraph will introduce the TDZ 2000, a 400-MHz Pentium II workstation that comes with a choice of four different graphics subsystems. The base configuration comes with 32MB of memory, a 4.3GB hard drive, and the Matrox 2D Millennium II AGP graphics accelerator for $3,250.

Further up the food chain, the TDZ 2000 comes with two processors, the RealiZm II 3D graphics subsystem from Intergraph, and 1GB of memory. The TDZ 2000 will also come with the 440BX chipset, which gives the processor a 100-MHz system bus.

For desktops, the company will announce the TD-250, a Pentium II PC optimized for CAD (computer automated design). The system features a single 266-MHz, 300-MHz, or 333-MHz Pentium II processor, between 32MB and 384MB of memory, a CD-ROM drive, and six expansion slots. Prices start at $1,499.

While the systems will be announced next week, Intergraph said that the computers won't be available for shipping until May 30.

Among the allegations of its lawsuit against Intel, Intergraph claims that the chipmaker has refused to ship processors to Intergraph prior to their public release. As a result, Intergraph claims that it cannot deliver new products the same time as other vendors.

During a recent motion for a preliminary injunction against Intel, Wade Patterson, the CEO of Intergraph's computer division, alleged that Intel's delay in shipping 333-MHz Pentium II chips to the Alabama company forced Intergraph to postpone an earlier version of the TDZ 2000 workstation.

Intergraph did not state whether the release date of these new products was affected by conduct on Intel's part, but the product announcements come later than other 400-MHz Pentium II rollouts. A number of rival vendors announced computers based on the chip when it was released April 15.