Intel's good enough graphics
Intel has been working to convince computer buyers that the graphics capabilities present inside its latest PC chipset, the 965G, are good enough. That is good enough for all the tasks that most people would possibly throw at them, even including some level of gaming. The chipmaker has said much the same about each of its graphics-equipped chipsets when they arrived on the scene over the past several years.
However, it seems to be putting additional effort into improving the Graphics Media Accelerator or graphics processing engine inside its 965G. For example, it used this week’s Game Developer Conference in San Francisco to demonstrate a forthcoming driver update for the chipset, which it says will improve the performance of first-person shooter style games and enhance video playback, TG Daily reports. (Link: Here.)
It’s really up to the individual to decide exactly what is good enough. No integrated graphics chipset available today will even come close to matching the performance of a the top-of-the-line discrete graphics chips manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices’ ATI or Nvidia. That isn’t going to change any time soon. For its part, the Intel freely admits that its GMA integrated graphics are not powerful enough to support the needs of heavy-duty gaming.
The chipmaker even admits what doesn't work in a published list of games, including titles such as Doom and Quake, on which it has tested its GMAs. Its list for the 965G’s GMA is fairly blunt in that it lists some games, including Company of Heros, as not being playable. For others, it lists issues end users may discover when playing, including reduced frame rates. Some observers might see this providing a list of reasons to upgrade to a discrete graphics chip for gaming. (Indeed, Intel is still very likely to win some portion of that person’s business, given its renewed reputation among gamers of late.) Others—those on a smaller budget, perhaps—may see it as providing insight on what to expect. If nothing else, the chipmaker certainly appears to working to show that it can keep up with the needs of the casual gamer.