X3100 Gamers Guide v1.0

Well well well. Hordes of people(literally), have been saying that the integrated graphics card, GMA X3100 is useless for gaming. I think not. Here, i will list games that I've tested on this GPU, and for some i will go more in depth with tips on how to make them run even better.

Before I even begin, make sure that your graphics drivers are up to date. If they are not visit this link(it's long) and update them:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Sea...Intel®+965+Express+Chipset+Family&ProdId=2800

After that is done, make sure you get this:
http://www.mediafire.com/?mgy2zj5mzgq
That tool is your best friend if you have the GMA X3100, every game you get, change the .exe to software vertex mode for a great increase in performance.

Now you are ready to begin.

In the first part of this guide(which i will update continually), i will go over some of the games that were not expected to run on this card.

Left 4 Dead:
2 years ago, when the latest driver updates for the X3100 were released, this games ran dreadfully, so i had lost hope. But on one faithful day, when new drivers were released, behold, Left 4 Dead ran pretty much smoothly on the X3100.
First off, all the settings have to be as low as they can go, in fact go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmd-wEJdlw
and follow all the tips( I take no credit for the video), and you will have left 4 dead running well in no time.
I ran it on an average of 25+ FPS through the first campaign, am yet to play the rest, an the only level that had noticeable lag was the Rooftop Finale in the No Mercy campaign.

For now, I am done, i will test a few more games and update this either today or tomorrow. Remember the Intel Management Tool is your best friend, so use it on every new game you get.

 

I have the X4500 and it IS useless for gaming. It dumb to think a X3100 is OK if you are going to do ANY kind of gaming.

 

Sigh, well you can't run the Graphically intense games, but not all good games are that graphically intense. In fact here you go:
F.E.A.R.
Half Life 2
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead 2
Killing Floor
Quake 4
Counter Strike Source
Bioshock
Resident Evil 4
Halo
Max Payne 1+2
Unreal Tournament 2004
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Command and Conquer Red Alert 1+2+3
Company of Heroes
Call of Duty 1+2+4
Far Cry
Manhunt 2
Sniper Elite
World of Warcraft
Warcraft
Age of Empires Series
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
SWAT 4
Need for Speed ProStreet
Fifa 2010
Medal of Honor Allied Assault

Tell me that's not gaming, and I'll be surprised. ALL of those games are playable on the X3100 and more.

 

Just because it runs, doesn't mean it runs well enough so that you can actually enjoy the game.

 

I clearly mentioned them being PLAYABLE in the end didn't I?

 

Playable is relative. You say 25 frames per second is playable, I say it's a useless stuttery mess. Any less than 40 frames per second for me is just way too laggy for the fast motions required for most games.

 

I never understood why when movies run at 24-30 fps and are fine, why do games need 40 fps to run smooth, if anybody could explain.

 

Playable and enjoyable are two different things. Also your description of playable probably isn't always. How far can you go and how much can you actually do with a usable framerate in games like WoW and others on your list? If you have to play with the lowest res and lowest settings and still lag I would not call it "running well". For not recent 3d games, yeah you're fine and many are well worth playing, but a sense of realism would go well with offering good advice concerning more demanding titles.

Anyway OP, you should have a look at this:

http://www.gmabooster.com/download.htm

 

WIYF m8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate