The chip has 32 x86 cores with corresponding 512-bit vector processing units. The cores operate at a clock speed of 1.2GHz, and the chip supports OpenCL and Microsoft's DirectX, which are frameworks that include tools for parallel programming.

Knights Ferry also implements elements of the now defunct Larrabee chip, which was to be Intel's first graphics processor. The chip maker showed Larrabee's ray-tracing capabilities on-stage at the Intel Developer Forum in 2009 in a game titled "Enemy Territory: Quake Wars," but many audience members were underwhelmed by the limited scope of the demonstration.

The first commercial product based on MIC architecture will be a chip called Knights Corner, which the company said will include more than 50 cores. Intel will , an Intel executive said on a podcast in late February. Use of ray tracing for mobile gaming hinges on that chip's release.