I was inspired to write this because of the many "oldschool" hardware fanatics that belittle folks for using integrated video graphics. Since the Intel i915GL (GMA 900) graphics, Intel has finally been producing decent onboard video options. I personally own (well...I gave it to my Mom anyway) a Dell Dimension 4700 with the Intel 915 graphics. I must say I was impressed with it.
Anyway, to help persuade all of those Voodoo fanatics out there, I decided to post this detailed info about integrated graphics. Most of these specs are from Intel's website.
Intel 900 GMA specs:
333MHz core GPU (not RAMDAC)
Full DirectX 9.0(a) and Open GL 1.4 support
"Dynamic Video Memory Technology" (DVMT) 3.0 supports up to 128MB of video memory
Native support for 16x9 formats, widescreen, (HDTV), and DUAL DVI*
*915G(L) only. Most vendors decided not to include the two DVI ports so they stripped them off of the Intel "recommended" layout.
Chipsets that include GMA 900:
Intel® 915G(L) Express Chipset
Intel® 915GV Express Chipset
Intel® 910GL Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GM Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GMS Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 910GML Express Chipset
Intel 950 GMA specs:
400MHz core GPU (not RAMDAC)
Full DirectX 9.0(a) and Open GL 1.4 support
supports up to 224MB of video memory
Native support for 16x9 formats, widescreen, (HDTV), and DUAL DVI
Additional specs, exact from Intel's website:
Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory
1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate
Up to 4 pixels per clock rendering
Microsoft DirectX 9 Hardware Acceleration Features:
Pixel Shader 2.0
Volumetric Textures
Shadow Maps
Slope Scale Depth Bias
Two-Sided Stencil
Microsoft DirectX 9 Vertex Shader 3.0 and Transform and Lighting supported in software through highly optimized Processor Specific Geometry Pipeline (PSGP)
Texture Decompression for DirectX and OpenGL
OpenGL 1.4 support plus ARB_vertex_buffer and EXT_shadow_funcs extensions and TexEnv shader caching
In short, the GMA 950 is pretty decent, even for the more modern games. Now, with these specs, why do people still bash Integrated graphics? Let me show you the specs for some older integrated graphics to show you why:
Intel 810 Graphics:
"Integrated Intel® 3D with Direct AGP" (exact specs not given, but below are 'unofficial' specs)
Up to 4MB video memory
Full DirectX 6.3 support
NO GPU, uses the CPU for graphics processing (uckk!!!)
Intel 815 Graphics:
Same as above except it has "133/100 MHz 4MB display cache" onboard.
Intel 820/840 Graphics: N/A (I can't find any valid info, please inform me if you know--I think this was the one with up to 11MB shared memory though)
Intel 845G/GL Graphics: Full AGP 4X bandwidth (capable), up to 48MB shared video memory. Still only DirectX 6.3 compliant!
Intel 860/865G/GL/GV/PE Graphics: same as 845 series except memory bus allows it to utilize more bandwidth.
Intel 7XX graphics: LOL, don't ask!
The 845 and 865 series are still being produced by Intel for "Basic" PCs. With only 48MB shared and only DirectX 6.3 compliance--avoid these at all costs.
Please note that the 845 and 865 supposedly support DirectX 7 and DirectX 8.0b respectively, they do not technically support "a single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines that is capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second" --the definition of hardware T&L support which is required for DX 7 compliance.
This is a work in progress, feedback is needed.
Anyway, to help persuade all of those Voodoo fanatics out there, I decided to post this detailed info about integrated graphics. Most of these specs are from Intel's website.
Intel 900 GMA specs:
333MHz core GPU (not RAMDAC)
Full DirectX 9.0(a) and Open GL 1.4 support
"Dynamic Video Memory Technology" (DVMT) 3.0 supports up to 128MB of video memory
Native support for 16x9 formats, widescreen, (HDTV), and DUAL DVI*
*915G(L) only. Most vendors decided not to include the two DVI ports so they stripped them off of the Intel "recommended" layout.
Chipsets that include GMA 900:
Intel® 915G(L) Express Chipset
Intel® 915GV Express Chipset
Intel® 910GL Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GM Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 915GMS Express Chipset
Mobile Intel® 910GML Express Chipset
Intel 950 GMA specs:
400MHz core GPU (not RAMDAC)
Full DirectX 9.0(a) and Open GL 1.4 support
supports up to 224MB of video memory
Native support for 16x9 formats, widescreen, (HDTV), and DUAL DVI
Additional specs, exact from Intel's website:
Up to 10.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth with DDR2 667 system memory
1.6 GPixels/sec and 1.6 GTexels/sec fill rate
Up to 4 pixels per clock rendering
Microsoft DirectX 9 Hardware Acceleration Features:
Pixel Shader 2.0
Volumetric Textures
Shadow Maps
Slope Scale Depth Bias
Two-Sided Stencil
Microsoft DirectX 9 Vertex Shader 3.0 and Transform and Lighting supported in software through highly optimized Processor Specific Geometry Pipeline (PSGP)
Texture Decompression for DirectX and OpenGL
OpenGL 1.4 support plus ARB_vertex_buffer and EXT_shadow_funcs extensions and TexEnv shader caching
In short, the GMA 950 is pretty decent, even for the more modern games. Now, with these specs, why do people still bash Integrated graphics? Let me show you the specs for some older integrated graphics to show you why:
Intel 810 Graphics:
"Integrated Intel® 3D with Direct AGP" (exact specs not given, but below are 'unofficial' specs)
Up to 4MB video memory
Full DirectX 6.3 support
NO GPU, uses the CPU for graphics processing (uckk!!!)
Intel 815 Graphics:
Same as above except it has "133/100 MHz 4MB display cache" onboard.
Intel 820/840 Graphics: N/A (I can't find any valid info, please inform me if you know--I think this was the one with up to 11MB shared memory though)
Intel 845G/GL Graphics: Full AGP 4X bandwidth (capable), up to 48MB shared video memory. Still only DirectX 6.3 compliant!
Intel 860/865G/GL/GV/PE Graphics: same as 845 series except memory bus allows it to utilize more bandwidth.
Intel 7XX graphics: LOL, don't ask!
The 845 and 865 series are still being produced by Intel for "Basic" PCs. With only 48MB shared and only DirectX 6.3 compliance--avoid these at all costs.
Please note that the 845 and 865 supposedly support DirectX 7 and DirectX 8.0b respectively, they do not technically support "a single-chip processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping, and rendering engines that is capable of processing a minimum of 10 million polygons per second" --the definition of hardware T&L support which is required for DX 7 compliance.
This is a work in progress, feedback is needed.