X-bit Labs writes that Matrox Graphics doesn't intend to be left behind Nvidia and ATI in graphics development, as they are likely planning a PCI Express GPU of their own.  Their assumption is based on this press release released late last week announcing that Matrox had licensed PCI Express verification tools from solution provider Netsys Software for use in chip design.

"Matrox engineers are now using PCI Express nVS product to verify the correct operation of the PCI Express interface in its chip designs. The tool helps Matrox engineers catch potential bugs during pre-silicon verification.

To address the market of Windows Longhorn computers, Matrox Graphics will not only have to add PCI Express x16 into its products just in order to create solutions compliant with tomorrow’s personal computers, but will also have to incorporate hardware Pixel Shader 2.0 to be fully compliant with the upcoming operating system."

As written several times both here and all across the net in the past, PCI Express has long been anticipated as the successor to the current AGP standard.  Graphics cards that feature PCI Express architecture are expected to enjoy the benefits of higher bandwidth between the GPU and CPU, as well as optimized performance.