Integrated Graphics: Xpress 200 vs. GMA 950
by Derek Wilson on May 26, 2005 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Final Words
These numbers serve to show that spending 50 to 75 USD on an add-in card can actually make the difference between a good gaming experience and a mediocre one. We chose not to highlight the fact that disabling advanced features, shaders, and effects do serve to boost performance to playable levels on today’s integrated platforms because the gap between lowest and highest quality on modern games continues to widen. The major advantage of current generation budget cards is not that they can deliver incredible performance, but that they can deliver something playable without sacrificing image quality to do so.For those who truly do not need or care about 3D, integrated graphics are fine. People who are nostalgic about Quake III and earlier 3D games will also be satisfied. If just running something with 3D is important, these solutions will get the job done. But integrated performance has still not reached a level where we can recommend it to anyone who wants to play the current generation titles.
We see the difficulty from a business standpoint of integrating products that compete with discrete budget parts, but we still feel that offering the option of slightly higher quality 3D onboard would be a welcome move. Intel has no motivation to do anything, but the minimum required by Microsoft for Longhorn as their loyalty lies with business customers. However, it seems that ATI and NVIDIA have an opportunity to compete with Intel by simply offering better 3D support along side their outstanding 2D functionality.
Out of the integrated cards that we tested, the ATI part came out on top in the performance tests. We can also expect ATI to put more effort into supporting (at least on some level) the latest games than Intel. On the other hand, Intel ships more graphics components than any other manufacturer in the world. We can expect their home and business graphics support to be of the same quality of which they provide for all their other components.
It is still a great thing that Intel and ATI have moved beyond the Extreme Graphics era where 3D applications would run very poorly (if at all). Compatibility is the first step, and performance of this generation of integrated components is indeed a step up from what we’ve seen in the past. Let us hope that the progression continues.
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Houdani - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
Whoah. Deja vu.akozak - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
Once again you are benchmarking entry level systems with 1GB of RAMThis review is useless for someone looking to purchase an entry level system. Guess I'll check out the other sites.
gibhunter - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
#13 you get headaches from the 75HZ refresh rate. Change it to 85Hz and the headaches will go away. 85Hz is the bare minimum in my opinion, unless you're on an LCD which runs on a different technology and thus can be run at 60Hz with no headaches.ET - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
> Also throw in games that people with such dated hardware are more likely to playI disagree that people who have older hardware stick only to older games. I tend to use older hardware until performance is unacceptable. My brother in law is playing Half Life 2 on a GeForce3. In fact, Valve specifically put a GeForce2 rendering path into the game. My brother in law would not touch Warcraft 3 or Sims2 with a ten foot pole. Seems to me that HL2 runs well enough on the Xpress 200 -- better than the GeForce3 (and certainly with higher quality).
Calin - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
flloyd, I can testify that going from an old PCI Matrox video card (4MB) to an GeForce2 MX400 (built by Palit-Daytona), the difference in quality is like day and night. Not to mention the G200 I used some time ago :(This is not a problem only for integrated graphics
ksherman - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
still amazes me that Intel wases the fab on their video cores... seems like a waste of silicon. they should have just gone to the experts to get their integrated videocryptonomicon - Thursday, May 26, 2005 - link
damn. on board chips just beat my ti4200. guess i'll have to upgrade now im so ashamed.flloyd - Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - link
I think these integrated graphics chips makers should stop trying to be weak 3D chips and instead work on having top-notch 2D graphics, a la Matrox. Most computer users who use integrated graphics are most interested in a clear, bright, high resolution image rather than playing 3D games at 15 fps. I personally got a GMA 900 as I only use my computer for text, photo editing, video editing and movie watching but am going to have to get a separate graphics card because the image quality is so bad. Even at 1024x768 and 75Hz the image is fuzzy and gives me a headache. I regret the day I upgraded my mobo and can no longer use my Matrox G450, the difference in qulaity is like night and day.yacoub - Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - link
Totally agree - compare these integrated solutions to past generation GPUs like Ti4200 and Radeon 8500, etc. Also throw in games that people with such dated hardware are more likely to play. Sims2, CounterStrike (not Source), WarCraft3, online MMORPGs, etc.iwodo - Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - link
May be Anantech can do a more details Review on Intergrated GFx? Becoz so far i find none on the web and are currently very disapointed with the current reviews.Why would anyone want to play Doom3/HalfLife2/FarCry with IGFX? I suppose include one or 2 of these bechmark is ok. But Most people who buy IGFX are cacsal gamers. They play may be games like Sims2. How about online games like WOW?
And Since most of use have been following computer for at least 3 - 5 years. It would be good to known what GMA950 is equal to. Radeon 9000? Geforce2MX? Of coz they are not Dx9 HW but it will still be interesting to know.
And did they intentionaly saved the GMA915 vs GMA950 fight?
And i think Intergated GFX serve another purpose like now. You don't want to buy a GFX becox you may want to wait for ATI next update of GFX, which the lowest gfx will be at least 8 pipline.....