Intel gives us the hard sell on the PC, shows off a 12K gaming monitor

As the champion of the PC along with Microsoft, Intel pounded its chest today. At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, the world’s biggest chip maker made its case for why you want to keep buying personal computers in an age of tablets and smartphones.

At the same time, Intel is also pivoting to provide more and more chips and support for Android-based tablets and wearable devices. Still, the company gets most of its revenue from the PC, and so that’s where its marketing message is concentrated.

“Why would you go buy a tablet if you can get this,” said Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager at Intel’s PC Client Group, holding up a hybrid laptop that runs Windows and can be converted into a tablet.

He added, “We have seen more innovation in the PC in the last year than in the last 10 years.”

One concrete idea that Skaugen promoted was the idea of the completely wireless PC. Next year, Intel will start promoting “no wires” machines that use wireless internet (through both Wi-Fi and LTE networks), and wireless charging, which allows you to get rid of your electrical cable.

Above: Intel shows off Tomb Raider on a 12K system

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

Skaugen showed off a game machine running Tomb Raider on a three-monitor setup with 12K graphics resolution, which has far more detail than high-definition screens. The demo ran at 60 frames per second, or as fast as most high-speed action games.

Skaugen said a bunch of Core-M systems will hit the market in October. And Intel’s next generation of chips will use a 14-nanometer manufacturing process, where the width between circuits is just 14 nanometers wide (a nanometer is a billionth of a meter). That process makes chips faster, better, cheaper, and use less power. The 14-nanometer chips will begin arriving next year in new systems.

“This is the most advanced advanced manufacturing process in the world,” Skaugen said.

He also showed off a $249 Toshiba Chromebook 2, with Skull Candy audio and high-end video.

Skaugen estimates there are 600 million PCs around the world that are four years old or more, and that this represents a big opportunity for Intel to upsell those PC owners on new systems.

He also showed off a 20-inch tabletop computer that was razor thin and could be used as a board game table for family game night.