Intel 950 Graphics + DX10 + Vista(Aero)

Hey All!

Sorry if this has been mentioned before.

Im thinking of buying a laptop and currently only looking at dedicated graphics.

However im wondering whether the Intel Integrated 950 Graphics, could handle DX10 as well as the Aero interface for Windows Vista

Thanks Alot.

 

aero works wonderful if you have the ram to support it i suggest 2 gig because of shared memory on gma 950

 

GMA950 does not support DX10. Very few cards that are out right now support DX10 extensions.

 

Intel 950 is not DX-10 compliant, to use DX-10 you must have a DX-10 compatible card, like the X2600 or 8600 dedicated graphics cards, and those won't be available for a while.

 

GMA 950 (or ANY current laptop GPU) is not DX10 capable though - FYI. DX10 notebook GPU's won't be out for a few more months. Desktops just got the first DX10 capable GPU in time for Christmas Shoppers.

GMA 950 is the minimum you need to be considered Vistra Premium ready - I would highly recommend one the current ATI or NVIDIA graphics solutions instead of GMA 950 though. Even the intergraded ATI (1100 or 1150) or Nvidia (6150) GPU's will run Aero much better than GMA 950.

I realize most of the notebooks out there ship with GMA 950, its just unfortunate that Intel makes relatively lousy "GPU's".

*edit - sorry, slow to respond

 

Yea but thing is if you want core duos then you pretty much have to stick with the GMA 950s if you want to stick under $1000. Yes it will run Vista and you'll have to wait for GMA X3000 to get DX10 support.

 

DX10 will be available this quarter.

http://www.mikeshardware.co.uk/RoadmapQ107.htm

 

That's not really the case. You could certainly pick up a HP with a Core Duo and a geforce go 7200 if not a 7400 with good other spec for under $1000.

 

Fortunately for Intel thought that 99.9% of the market using the 945 aren't gamers though, right? Grow up - just because Intels offerings don't play games, it doesn't make them 'lousy'. It just means you shouldn't waste your time trying to exceed its means an whining when it doesn' work. It'd be akin to somebody posting whining that their Go6150 can't play Crysis - you get what you pay for, do your fuppin' research first, and don't go crying because you expected too much from too little. They are designed for a specific market, and within that market, again, of which the tiniest minority actually play games, they are totally fine. My mothers organisaton bought several hundred laptops equipped with the older gma900 lately, and found no problems whatsoever. Neither do any of the thousands of other business users using them all over the world. Intel, I think, are not too worried about the isolated gamer here, and there, who buy it and are disappointed with it, which incidentally, is their own fault.

It's fine for Vista and Aero, by the way.

 

Not quite sure why the tone here - did you mean to direct this at me? You did.

I never mentioned games at all in my post, or any discrete GPU card at all - let's not go there.

I was comparing GMA 950 to ATI 200M (or 1100/1150) or to NVIDIA 6100/6150. Intel's GMA 950 pales in comparison to either. I hope Intel can make the x3000 soon as a good alternative for us mobile users, but until they do intel graphics are a 3rd place finisher. (Just to be totaly fair, GMA 950 is better than integrated SIS or Mirage graphics, but I won't recommend any of them either.)

As I stated in my original post, GMA 950 is the minimum required to run aero glass. With a good amount of RAM (1 gig+) it does so decently. Still, if you have the option of integrated ATI or Nvidia graphics, go for it.

 

Interestingly enough, Intel understands that their graphics solutions are fairly 'lousy'. Furthermore, they also understand that even OS's are becoming more and more demanding of video hardware quite apart from games. They have observed AMD's acquisition of ATI and they understand that AMD now has a 'leg up' on them in the graphics space vis-a-vis Vista and Aero.

Intel's working on it. They're not going to rush out and acquire Nvidia but they're not going to sit back and keep pushing out sub-par integrated graphics solutions either. BTW I always found it vastly amusing that their offerings were labeled "extreme" seeing as they were pretty much the bottom of the barrel...

 

Yes, their naming schemes have been interesting. Like SiS' Mirage 2 graphics, the mirage was because you couldn't see 3D.

And, a Ludlum fan are you?

 

If you've been looking at mostly dedicated offerings, I'm going to assume that you anticipate doing something graphically intensive, in which case anything is better than the GMA950. But to answer your questions,

Yes, it will run Vista (including Aero Glass), just don't expect consistently smooth performance, especially with less than 1.5GB of RAM

No, it is not a DX10 card, so if this is a major concern, then plan on waiting a little longer until mobile DX10 cards come out.

But, if all you plan on doing is stuff like word processing, Internet, movies, etc, then the GMA950 should be fine. My parents' desktop has Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (hah, extreme, haha..) and they don't notice anything wrong with it. It's all they need.

 

extreme as in 'extremeley dissapointing'

 

Mmm. To be honest, I've only ever read the Bourne Series - and that was about seventeen years ago. But it did provide me with a suitable VAX Mail ID which morphed into an Internet Nom de Plum... But I always enjoy it when people recognize the reference...