The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) is a series of

integrated graphics processor A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, ...

s introduced in 2004 by

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 ser ...

, replacing the earlier

Intel Extreme Graphics This article contains information about Intel's GPUs (see Intel Graphics Technology) and motherboard graphics chipsets in table form. In 1982, Intel licensed the NEC μPD7220 and announced it as the Intel 82720 Graphics Display Controller. Fir ...

series and being succeeded by the

Intel HD and Iris Graphics Intel Graphics Technology (GT) is the collective name for a series of integrated graphics processors (IGPs) produced by Intel that are manufactured on the same package or die as the central processing unit (CPU). It was first introduced in 201 ...

series. This series targets the market of low-cost graphics solutions. The products in this series are integrated onto the motherboard, have limited graphics processing power, and use the computer's

main memory Computer data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The central processing unit (CPU) of a comput ...

for storage instead of a dedicated

video memory Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...

. They are commonly found on

netbook Netbook was a commonly used term that identified a product class of small and inexpensive laptops which were sold from 2007 to around 2013. These machines were designed primarily as cost-effective tools for consumers to access the Inte ...

s, low-priced

laptop A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

s and

desktop computers A desktop computer (often abbreviated desktop) is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply, ...

, as well as business computers which do not need high levels of graphics capability. In early 2007, about 90% of all PC

motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

s sold had an integrated

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...

History

The GMA line of GPUs replaces the earlier

, and the

Intel740 The Intel740, or i740 (codenamed ''Auburn''), is a 350 nm graphics processing unit using an AGP interface released by Intel on February 12, 1998. Intel was hoping to use the i740 to popularize the Accelerated Graphics Port, while most graph ...

line, the latter of which was a discrete unit in the form of AGP and PCI cards with technology that evolved from companies

Real3D Real3D, Inc. was a maker of arcade graphics boards, a spin-off from Lockheed Martin. The company made several 3D hardware designs that were used by Sega, the most widely used being the graphics hardware in the Sega Model 2 and Model 3 arcade sy ...

and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

. Later, Intel integrated the i740 core into the

Intel 810 The Intel 810 chipset was released by Intel in early 1999 with the code-name "Whitney" as a platform for the P6-based Socket 370 CPU series, including the Pentium III and Celeron processors. Some motherboard designs include Slot 1 for older I ...

northbridge. The original architecture of GMA systems supported only a few functions in hardware, and relied on the host CPU to handle at least some of the graphics pipeline, further decreasing performance. However, with the introduction of Intel's 4th generation of GMA architecture ( GMA X3000) in 2006, many of the functions are now built into the hardware, providing an increase in performance. The 4th generation of GMA combines fixed function capabilities with a threaded array of programmable executions units, providing advantages to both graphics and video performance. Many of the advantages of the new GMA architecture come from the ability to flexibly switch as needed between executing graphics-related tasks or video-related tasks. While GMA performance has been widely criticized in the past as being too slow for

computer games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...

, sometimes being derogatorily nicknamed Intel 'GMD' (Graphics Media Decelerator) and being essentially referred to as the world's first "graphics decelerator" since the low-performing S3 ViRGE, the latest GMA generation should ease many of those concerns for the casual gamer. Despite similarities, Intel's main series of GMA Integrated Graphics Processors (IGPs) is not based on the

PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accel ...

technology Intel licensed from Imagination Technologies. Intel used the low-power PowerVR MBX designs in chipsets supporting their

XScale XScale is a microarchitecture for central processing units initially designed by Intel implementing the ARM architecture (version 5) instruction set. XScale comprises several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE (see more below), with some ...

platform, and since the sale of XScale in 2006 has licensed the

PowerVR SGX PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and OpenCL accelera ...

and used it in the GMA 500 IGP for use with their

Atom Every atom is composed of a nucleus and one or more electrons bound to the nucleus. The nucleus is made of one or more protons and a number of neutrons. Only the most common variety of hydrogen has no neutrons. Every solid, liquid, gas, a ...

platform. With the introduction of the

Platform Controller Hub The Platform Controller Hub (PCH) is a family of Intel's single-chip chipsets, first introduced in 2009. It is the successor to the Intel Hub Architecture, which used two chips - a northbridge and southbridge, and first appeared in the Intel 5 ...

, the Graphics Media Accelerator series ceased, and the CPU-based

series was created.

Graphics cores

Intel GPU based

Generation three based

= GMA 900

= The GMA 900 was the first graphics core produced under Intel's ''Graphics Media Accelerator'' product name, and was incorporated in the Intel 910G, 915G, and 915Gx chipsets. The 3D architecture of the GMA 900 was a significant upgrade from the previous ''Extreme 3D'' graphics processors. It is a 4 pixel per clock cycle design supporting DirectX 9 pixel

shader model The High-Level Shader Language or High-Level Shading Language (HLSL) is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for the Direct3D 9 API to augment the shader assembly language, and went on to become the required shading language ...

2.0. It operates at a clock rate ranging from 160 to 333 MHz, depending on the particular chipset. At 333 MHz, it has a peak pixel fill-rate of 1332 megapixels per second. However, the architecture still lacks support for hardware transform and lighting and the similar

vertex shader In computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that calculates the appropriate levels of light, darkness, and color during the rendering of a 3D scene - a process known as ''shading''. Shaders have evolved to perform a variety of speci ...

technologies. Like previous Intel integrated graphics parts, the GMA 900 has hardware support for

MPEG-2 MPEG-2 (a.k.a. H.222/H.262 as was defined by the ITU) is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods, ...

motion compensation Motion compensation in computing, is an algorithmic technique used to predict a frame in a video, given the previous and/or future frames by accounting for motion of the camera and/or objects in the video. It is employed in the encoding of video d ...

, color-space conversion and

DirectDraw DirectDraw (ddraw.dll) is an API that used to be a part of Microsoft's DirectX API. DirectDraw is used to accelerate rendering of 2D graphics in applications. DirectDraw also allows applications to run fullscreen or embedded in a window such as m ...

overlay. The processor uses different separate clock generators for display and render cores. The display unit includes a 400 MHz

RAMDAC A random-access memory digital-to-analog converter (RAMDAC) is a combination of three fast digital-to-analog converters (DACs) with a small static random-access memory (SRAM) used in computer graphics display controllers or video cards to store th ...

, two 25–200 Mpixel/s serial DVO ports, and two display controllers. In mobile chipsets, up to two 18-bit 25–112 MHz LVDS transmitters are included.

= GMA 950

= The GMA 950 was the second graphics core produced under Intel's ''Graphics Media Accelerator'' product name, and was incorporated in the Intel 945G chipsets. The processor includes an up to 400 MHz 256-bit core, supporting up to 10.6 GB/s memory bandwidth with DDR2-667 system RAM, up to 224 MB max. video memory through

DVMT Dynamic video memory technology (DVMT) is an Intel technology allowing dynamic allocation of system memory for use as video memory, giving more resources for 2D/3D graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, ...

scheme, 1.6 GPixels/s and 1.6 GTexels/s fill rate, a max. resolution of 2048x1536 for both analog and digital displays, 2 SDVO ports for flat-panels and/or TV-Out via ADD2 cards or media expansion cards. 3D-wise, GMA 950 supports up to four pixels per clock rendering, Microsoft DirectX 9.0 hardware acceleration & Vertex shader 3.0 and OpenGL 1.4 with ARB extensions on Windows.

= GMA 3100

= Integrated graphics found on Q33, Q35, G31 and G33 chipsets. It supports Pixel Shader 2.0 with OpenGL 1.4, but Hardware Vertex Shader isn't supported.

= GMA 3150

= Found in Intel Atom D4xx, D5xx, N4xx and N5xx (codenamed '' Pineview'') processors. Like GMA 3100 and GMA 3000, this is a very close relative of the GMA900/950, completely different from the GMA X3000 series. Supports up to 384 MB video memory(windows xp driver), DirectX 9.0c, Shader Model 2.0, OpenGL 1.4 with Microsoft Windows and OpenGL 2.1 with Linux.

Generation four based

= GMA 3000

= The 946GZ, Q963 and Q965 chipsets use the GMA 3000 graphics core. The GMA 3000 3D core is very different from the X3000, despite their similar names. It is based more directly on the previous generation GMA 900 and GMA 950 graphics, and belonging to the same "i915" family with them. It has pixel and vertex shaders which only support Shader Model 2.0b features, and the vertex shaders are still software-emulated. In addition, hardware video acceleration such as hardware-based iDCT computation, ProcAmp (video stream independent

color correction Color correction is a process used in stage lighting, photography, television, cinematography, and other disciplines, which uses color gels, or filters, to alter the overall color of the light. Typically the light color is measured on a scale kno ...

), and VC-1 decoding are not implemented in hardware. Of the GMA 3000-equipped chipsets, only the Q965 retains dual independent display support. The core speed is rated at 400 MHz with 1.6 Gpixel/s fill rate in datasheets, but was listed as 667 MHz core in the white paper. The memory controller can now address a maximum of 256 MB of system memory, and the integrated serial DVO ports have increased top speed to 270 Mpixel/s.

= GMA X3000

= The GMA X3000 for desktop was "substantially redesigned" when compared to previous GMA iterations and it is used in the Intel G965 north bridge controller. The GMA X3000 was launched in July 2006. The GMA X3000's underlying 3D rendering hardware is organized as a unified shader processor consisting of 8 scalar execution units. Each pipeline can process video, vertex, or texture operations. A central scheduler dynamically dispatches threads to pipeline resources, to maximize rendering throughput (and decrease the impact of individual pipeline stalls.) However, due to the scalar nature of the execution units, they can only process data on a single pixel component at a time.Gasior, Geoff
Intel's G965 Express chipset
, Tech Report, April 5, 2007. The GMA X3000 supports DirectX 9.0 with vertex and pixel Shader Model 3.0 features. The processor consists of different clock domains, meaning that the entire chip does not operate the same clock speed. This causes some difficulty when measuring peak throughput of its various functions. Further adding to the confusion, it is listed as 667 MHz in Intel G965 white paper, but listed as 400 MHz in Intel G965 datasheet. There are various rules that define the IGP's processing capabilities. Memory controller can now address maximum 384 MB memory according to white paper, but only 256 MB in datasheet.

= GMA X3500

= GMA X3500 is an upgrade of the GMA X3000 and used in the desktop G35. The shaders support shader model 4.0 features. Architecturally, the GMA X3500 is very similar to the GMA X3000, with both graphics cores running at 667 MHz. The major difference between them is that the GMA X3500 supports

Shader Model The High-Level Shader Language or High-Level Shading Language (HLSL) is a proprietary shading language developed by Microsoft for the Direct3D 9 API to augment the shader assembly language, and went on to become the required shading language ...

4.0 and

DirectX 10 Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct", ...

, whereas the earlier X3000 supports

3.0 and

DirectX 9 Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct", ...

. The X3500 also adds hardware-assistance for playback of VC-1 video.

= GMA X3100

= The GMA X3100 is the mobile version of the GMA X3500 used in the Intel GL960/GM965 chipsets and also in the GS965 chipset. The X3100 supports hardware transform and lighting, up to eight programmable shader units, and up to 384 MB video memory. Its display cores can run up to 333 MHz on GM965 and 320 MHz on GL960. Its render cores can run up to 500 MHz on GM965 and 400 MHz on GL960. The X3100 display unit includes a 300 MHz RAMDAC, two 25–112 MHz LVDS transmitters, 2 DVO encoders, and a TV encoder. Under Windows, the driver supports DirectX 10.0, Intel, X3100 supports DirectX 10.0 and Shader Model 4.0, retrieved February 10, 2013 Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL 1.5.Intel
Intel 82GM965 OpenGL compatibility
retrieved January 16, 2010 Under Linux, OpenGL 2.1 is supported.

= GMA 4500

= Integrated graphics found on B43, Q43 and Q45 chipsets.

= GMA X4500

= The GMA X4500 and the GMA X4500HD for desktop platforms were launched in June 2008. The GMA X4500 is used in G43 chipset and the GMA X4500HD is used in the G45 chipset. The GMA X4500 is also used in the G41 chipset, which was released in September 2008. The difference between the GMA X4500 and the GMA X4500HD is that the GMA X4500HD is capable of ''"full

1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen ve ...

high-definition video playback, including

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

disc movies"''. Like the X3500, X4500 supports DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 features. Intel designed the GMA X4500 to be 200% faster than the GMA 3100 ( G33 chipset) in 3DMark06 performance and 70% faster than the GMA X3500 ( G35 chipset).

= GMA 4500MHD

= The GMA 4500MHD for laptops was launched on July 16, 2008. Featurewise, the 4500MHD is identical to its desktop cousin, the X4500HD. The GMA 4500MHD is used in the GL40, GS40, GM45 and GS45 chipsets.

= GMA X4700MHD

= The GMA X4700MHD for laptops was launched in October 2008. It is the last product of Intel GMA. In a way, it belongs to the 4500MHD series, and it is used in the GM47 chipsets, Montevina. It features 80 shading units, 10 texture mapping units, and 1 ROPs. Compared to the 4500MHD, the frequency is increased to 640 MHz.

PowerVR GPU based

Intel developed a new set of low power graphics architecture based on

. The available Linux drivers do not support much of this.

PowerVR SGX 535 based

= GMA 500

= The Intel SCH (System Controller Hub; codenamed '' Poulsbo'') for the Atom processor Z5xx series features a GMA 500 graphic system. Rather than being developed in-house, this core is a

SGX 535 core licensed from Imagination Technologies. Intel describes this as "a flexible, programmable architecture that supports shader-based technology, 2D, 3D and advanced 3D graphics, high-definition video decode, and image processing. Features include screen tiling, internal true color processing, zero overhead anti-aliasing, programmable shader 3D accelerator, and 32-bit floating-point operations."

= GMA

= Intel launched the Atom Z24xx ( Medfield) platform as a series of ultra-low power processors for smartphones. While Intel indicates that this chip contains an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator, they do not specify a GPU model number. This GPU is known to be a PowerVR SGX540.

= GMA 600

= A revised version of the previous Intel SCH (System Controller Hub) for the Atom Z6xx series CPU codenamed '' Lincroft''. Essentially, this is the same graphic system as the GMA 500, but clocked at double the speed. (From 200 MHz to 400 MHz).

PowerVR SGX 545 based

= GMA 3600

= This integrated graphics system was released in Intel Atom (Cedar Trail, 32 nm) and based on PowerVR SGX545. Unlike the original PowerVR solution, this model is clocked at 400 MHz instead of 200 MHz. It is specifically found in the Intel Atom N2600 processor and Atom D2500 models. It supports DirectX version 9.0c.

= GMA 3650

= Similar to the GMA 3600, but this version is clocked at 640 MHz. It is found in Atom N2800, Atom D2550, Atom D2500, Atom D2600 and Atom D2700 models. It supports DirectX version 9.0c.

Specifications

Protected Audio Video Path

Protected Audio Video Path (PAVP) restricts the data path within a computer during video playback (e.g., Blu-ray discs). It is supported by newer

chipsets In a computer system, a chipset is a set of electronic components in one or more integrated circuits known as a "Data Flow Management System" that manages the data flow between the processor, memory and peripherals. It is usually found on the mo ...

(e.g. Intel G45) and operating systems (since

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...

). PAVP can be configured in the

BIOS In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the b ...

. Different modes are supported: # Disabled. # PAVP Lite: Reserves buffer memory for encryption of compressed video data. # Paranoid PAVP: Reserve memory during boot which isn't seen by the Operating System. This disables

Windows Aero Windows Aero (a backronym for ''Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, and Open'') is a design language introduced in the Windows Vista operating system. The changes made in the Aero interface affected many elements of the Windows interface, includi ...

. The default setting in most BIOS is PAVP Lite. Within

Intel HD Graphics Intel Graphics Technology (GT) is the collective name for a series of integrated graphics processors (IGPs) produced by Intel that are manufactured on the same package or die as the central processing unit (CPU). It was first introduced in 20 ...

, the successor of Intel GMA, a similar technology called

Intel Insider Intel Graphics Technology (GT) is the collective name for a series of integrated graphics processors (IGPs) produced by Intel that are manufactured on the same package or die as the central processing unit (CPU). It was first introduced in 201 ...

exists.

Software support

Mac OS X

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger supports the GMA 950, since it was used in previous revisions of the MacBook,

Mac mini Mac Mini (stylized as Mac mini) is a small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. , it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro as one of four current Mac deskto ...

, and 17-inch

iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...

. It had been used in all Intel-based Mac minis until the Mac mini released on March 3, 2009). Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard contains drivers for the GMA X3100, which were used in a recent revision of the MacBook range. Late-release versions of Mac OS X 10.4 also supported the GMA 900 due to its use in Apple's Developer Transition Kit (2005), which was used in the PowerPC-to-Intel transition. However, special modifications to the

kext In computing, a loadable kernel module (LKM) is an object file that contains code to extend the running kernel, or so-called ''base kernel'', of an operating system. LKMs are typically used to add support for new hardware (as device drivers) and/o ...

file must be made to enable Core Image and Quartz Extreme. Although the new MacBook line no longer uses the X3100, Mac OS X 10.5 shipped with drivers supporting it that require no modifications to the

file. Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), which includes a new

64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit CPUs and ALUs are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A ...

kernel in addition to the

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculati ...

one, does not include 64-bit X3100 drivers. This means that although the MacBooks with the X3100 have 64-bit capable processors and EFI, Mac OS X must load the 32-bit kernel to support the 32-bit X3100 drivers. November 9's 10.6.2 update ships with 64-bit X3100 drivers. Apple removed the 64-bit GMA X3100 drivers later, and thus affected Macs were forced back to the 32-bit kernel despite being 64-bit clean in terms of hardware and firmware. No 64-bit drivers were offered in OS X Lion. Subsequently, OS X Mountain Lion dropped 32-bit kernel booting. The combination of these two changes in graphics driver code resulted in many Mac revisions being unable to upgrade to Mountain Lion, as their GPUs cannot be replaced. For a while MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks instead shipped with a far more powerful NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, and the 15" and 17" MacBook Pro notebooks shipped with an additional GeForce 9600GT supporting hybrid power to switch between GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M chipset implemented in Apple MacBooks did not support composite or S-video output.

FreeBSD

FreeBSD 8.0 supports the following Intel graphic chipsets: i810, i810-DC100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 852GM, 855GM, 865G, 915G, 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 965G, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM,945GME, G33, Q33, Q35, G35, GM45, G45, Q45, G43 and G41 chipsets. In practice, chipsets through 4500MHD are supported with DRM and 3D using FreeBSD 9. Work to integrate GEM and KMS is currently adding support for i-series integrated graphics and improving support for earlier chipsets.

Linux

In August 2006, Intel added support to the open-source X.Org/

XFree86 XFree86 is an implementation of the X Window System. It was originally written for Unix-like operating systems on IBM PC compatibles and was available for many other operating systems and platforms. It is free and open source software under the X ...

drivers for the latest 965 series that include the GMA (X)3000 core. These drivers were developed for Intel by Tungsten Graphics. In May 2007, version 2.0 of the driver (xorg-video-intel) was released, which added support for the 965GM chipset. In addition, the 2.0 driver added native video mode programming support for all chipsets from i830 forward. This version added support for automatic video mode detection and selection, monitor hot plug, dynamic extended and merged desktops and per-monitor screen rotation. These features are built into the X.Org 7.3 X server release and will eventually be supported across most of the open source X.Org video drivers. Version 2.1, released in July 2007, added support for the G33, Q33 and Q35 chipsets. G35 is also supported by the Linux driver. As is common for X.Org drivers on Linux, the license is a combination of GPL (for the Linux kernel parts) and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

(for all other parts). The drivers were mainly developed by Intel and Tungsten Graphics (under contract) since the chipsets' documentation were not publicly available for a long time. In January 2008, Intel released the complete developer documentation for their, at the time, latest chipsets (965 and G35 chipset), allowing for further external developers' involvement. In April 2009, Intel released documentation for their newer G45 graphics (including X4500) chipsets. In May 2009, Intel employee Emma Anholt stated Intel was "still working on getting docs for xxchipsets out."

H.264 acceleration via VA-API

Linux support for hardware accelerated H.264 playback is available and working for X4500HD and X4500MHD using VAAPI and the g45-h264 branch.

PowerVR based chips on Linux

GMA 500, GMA 600, GMA 3600, GMA 3650 are PowerVR based chips incompatible with Intel GenX GPU architecture family. There are no Intel supported

FOSS Fos or FOSS may refer to: Companies * Foss A/S, a Danish analytical instrument company *Foss Brewery, a former brewery in Oslo, Norway * Foss Maritime, a tugboat and shipping company Historic houses * Foss House (New Brighton, Minnesota), Unite ...

drivers. The current available FOSS drivers (included in Linux 3.3 onwards) only support 2D acceleration (not 3D acceleration). Ubuntu supports GMA500 (Poulsbo) through the ubuntu-mobile and gma500 repositories on

Launchpad A launch pad is an above-ground platform from which rocket- missiles or space launch vehicles take off vertically. Launch pad may also refer to: Computing * Launchpad (macOS), an application launcher introduced in Mac OS X Lion * Launch Pad (sof ...

. Support is present in an experimental way for 11.10 and 12.04, but the installation procedure is not as simple as other drivers and can lead to many bugs. Ubuntu 12.10 has 2D support included.

Joli OS Joli OS was an Ubuntu-based Linux distribution created by Tariq Krim and Romain Huet co-founders of the French company Jolicloud (also the name of the operating system until version 1.2). Joli OS is now an open source project, with source code ...

, a Linux-based OS optimized for netbooks, has a driver for the GMA500 built in. PixieLive, a Linux live distribution optimized for GMA500 netbooks, it can boot from USB Pendrive, SD Card or HardDisk. Intel releases official Linux drivers through the IEGD (Intel Embedded Graphic Driver) supporting some Linux distributions dedicated to the embedded market. In November 2009, the

Linux Foundation The Linux Foundation (LF) is a non-profit technology consortium founded in 2000 as a merger between Open Source Development Labs and the Free Standards Group to standardize Linux, support its growth, and promote its commercial adoption. Addi ...

released the details of a new, rewritten Linux driver that would support this chipset and Intel's other upcoming chipsets. The

Direct Rendering Manager The Direct Rendering Manager (DRM) is a subsystem of the Linux kernel responsible for interfacing with GPUs of modern video cards. DRM exposes an API that user-space programs can use to send commands and data to the GPU and perform operations ...

and X.org parts would be free software, but the 3D component (using

Gallium3D Mesa, also called Mesa3D and The Mesa 3D Graphics Library, is an open source implementation of OpenGL, Vulkan, and other graphics API specifications. Mesa translates these specifications to vendor-specific graphics hardware drivers. Its most im ...

) will still be proprietary.

Solaris

Oracle Solaris 11 provides 64-bit video driver support for the following Intel graphic chipsets: i810, i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 852GM/855GM, 865G, 915G, E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM, Pineview G, 965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, Q33, GM45, 4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43, Clarkdale, Arrandale, Sandybridge Desktop (GT1), Sandybridge Desktop (GT2), Sandybridge Desktop (GT2+), Sandybridge Mobile (GT1), Sandybridge Mobile (GT2), Sandybridge Mobile (GT2+), Ivybridge Mobile (GT1), Ivybridge Mobile (GT2), Ivybridge Desktop (GT1), Ivybridge Desktop (GT2), Ivybridge Server (GT1), and Ivybridge Server (GT2). The Solaris open-source community developers provide additional driver support for

4000/2500 graphic-based chipsets (aka Ivy Bridge), OpenGL 3.0/GLSL 1.30, and the new libva/

va-api Video Acceleration API (VA-API) is an open source application programming interface that allows applications such as VLC media player or GStreamer to use hardware video acceleration capabilities, usually provided by the graphics processing unit ...

library enabling hardware accelerated video decode for the prevailing coding standards today (MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP/H.263, MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, and VC-1/WMV3).

Microsoft Windows

GMA 900 on Windows

The GMA 900 is theoretically capable of running Windows Vista's (and 7's)

Aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero ( ...

interface and is certified as DirectX 9 compliant. However, no WHQL certified WDDM driver has been made available. Presumably this is due to the lack of a "hardware scheduler" in the GPU. The Intel GMA 900 is also the first Intel integrated GPU not to have support or drivers for

Windows 9x Windows 9x is a generic term referring to a series of Microsoft Windows computer operating systems produced from 1995 to 2000, which were based on the Windows 95 kernel and its underlying foundation of MS-DOS, both of which were updated in sub ...

operating systems (including 98 and ME). Many owners of GMA900 hardware believed they would be able to run Aero on their systems as early release candidates of Vista permitted XDDM drivers to run Aero. Intel, however, contends that Microsoft's final specs for Aero/WDDM certification did not permit releasing a WDDM driver for GMA900 (due to issues with the hardware scheduler, as mentioned above), so when the final version of Vista was released, no WDDM driver was released. The last minute pulling of OpenGL capabilities from the GMA drivers for Windows Vista left a large number of GMA based workstations unable to perform basic 3D hardware acceleration with OpenGL and unable to run many Vista Premium applications such as

Windows DVD Maker Windows DVD Maker is a discontinued DVD authoring application developed by Microsoft introduced in Windows Vista, available in the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista for users to create slideshows and videos for playback on media ...

. In Windows 8, Aero effects are enabled with VGA compatibility driver via software rendering. There are no native GMA900 drivers available for Windows 8 since XDDM support is removed from this operating system. On GMA900 based laptops with Windows 7, users may experience a serious bug related to the chipset's native backlight control method failing to change brightness, resulting in the brightness becoming stuck on a particular value after driver installation. The bug did not occur when Windows 7 was initially released to the public and is commonly observed after running Windows Update. This bug also occurs in GMA3150 based laptops.

GMA 950 on Windows

This IGP is capable of displaying the

interface for

. Drivers are shipped with Windows Vista since beta versions became available in mid-2006. It can also run

Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, ...

's Aero interface since Intel released drivers for Windows 7 in mid-June 2009. The GMA 950 is integrated into many

s built on Intel 945GSE Express chipset, and is able to display a resolution up to 2048×1536 at 75 Hz utilizing up to 224 MB of shared memory. Most of the reviews about this IGP were negative, since many games (such as '' Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory'' or '' Oblivion'') need Pixel Shader 2.0 or higher, that is supported in hardware, and Vertex Shader 2.0, that is software-emulated. Other games such as ''

Crysis ''Crysis'' is a first-person shooter video game series created by Crytek. The series revolves around a group of military protagonists with " nanosuits", technologically advanced suits of armor that give them enhanced physical strength, speed, ...

'' will start, but with frame rates below acceptable.

GMA X3000/X3100 on Windows

T&L and Vertex Shaders 3.0 are supported by Intel's newest 15.6 drivers for Windows Vista as of September 2, 2007. XP support for VS3 and T&L was introduced on August 10, 2007. Intel announced in March 2007 that beta drivers would be available in June 2007. On June 1, 2007 "pre-beta" (or Early Beta) drivers were released for Windows XP (but not for Vista). Beta drivers for Vista and XP were released on June 19. Since hardware T&L and vertex shading has been enabled in drivers individual applications can be forced to fall back to software rendering, which raises performance and compatibility in certain cases. Selection is based on testing by Intel and preselected in the driver .inf file. Intel has released production version drivers fo
32-bit
an
64-bit

that enable the

graphics. Intel introduced

DirectX Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direct" ...

10 for the X3100 and X3500 GPUs in the Vista 15.9 drivers in 2008, though any release of DX10 drivers for the X3000 is uncertain. WDDM 1.1 is supported by X3100 but DXVA-HD is not. OpenGL 2.0 support is available since Vista 15.11 drivers and XP 14.36 drivers.

Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for download via MSDN and TechNet on August 15, 2012, and later to ...

ships with a driver for the X3100.

GMA 500 on Windows

As of September 2010, the latest available driver revisions from the Intel website for Windows XP, Vista and 7 are: * IEGD Version 5.1 for Windows NT,2000 and XP (OpenGL only) * Version 3.3.0 for Windows XP. (D3D only) * Version 4.0.2 for Windows Vista. * Version 5.0.0.2030 for Windows 7.

Modern gaming

The performance and functionality of GMA processors are limited, attaining the performance of only low-cost discrete GPUs at best and very old

DirectX 6 Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with "Direc ...

GPUs (Such as the

RIVA TNT2 The RIVA TNT2 is a graphics processing unit manufactured by Nvidia starting in early 1999. The chip is codenamed "NV5" because it is the 5th graphics chip design by Nvidia, succeeding the RIVA TNT (NV4). RIVA is an acronym for ''Real-time Intera ...

) at the worst. Thus, they're sometimes even dubbed "Graphics Media Decelerators" though the actual performance depended on the CPU as well as RAM amount and speed. For example, an

Atom N450 Intel Atom is the brand name for a line of IA-32 and x86-64 instruction set ultra-low-voltage processors by Intel Corporation designed to reduce electric consumption and power dissipation in comparison with ordinary processors of the Intel Cor ...

CPU and GMA 3150 will perform comparably to a RIVA TNT2 PC with a Tualatin Pentium 3, even worse, the GPU was sometimes even underclocked, hindering the already poor performance even further. Some features of games and other 3D applications may be unsupported by GMAs, particularly older ones. The GMA X3x00's unified shader design allows for more complete hardware functionality, but the line still has issues with some games and has significantly limited performance. Intel has put up a page with 'Known Issues & Solutions' for each version. For Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Software Development concerns, there is the Integrated Graphics Software Development Forum.

Microsoft Windows performance reviews

GMA X3000 review

A review conducted in April 2007 by

The Tech Report The Tech Report is a web site which used to be dedicated to covering personal computing technology and culture.
TechReport's "Abo ...

determined that the GMA X3000 had performance comparable to the Comparison of Nvidia graphics processing units#GeForce 6 series, Nvidia GeForce 6150. During that review the GMA X3000 was unable to run the

PC games A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-dete ...

Battlefield 2 ''Battlefield 2'' is a first-person shooter video game, developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows in June 2005 as the third game in the ''Battlefield'' franchise. Players fight in a modern battlefield, using mode ...

'' and '' Oblivion''. However, the

ExtremeTech ExtremeTech is a technology weblog, launched in June 2001, which focuses on hardware, computer software, science and other technologies. Between 2003 and 2005, ExtremeTech was also a print magazine and the publisher of a popular series of how- ...

review found that games which aren't as graphically demanding, such as ''

The Sims 2 ''The Sims 2'' is a 2004 strategy game, strategic life simulation game, life simulation video game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the second major title in ''The Sims'' series, and is the sequel to ''The Sims (video ...

'' and ''

Civilization IV ''Civilization IV'' (also known as ''Sid Meier's Civilization IV'') is a 4X turn-based strategy computer game and the fourth installment of the ''Civilization'' series, and designed by Soren Johnson under the direction of Sid Meier and his vide ...

'', "look good" when the GMA X3000 is used to run them. Reviews performed by The Tech Report, by ExtremeTech and by

Anandtech ''AnandTech'' is an online computer hardware magazine owned by Future plc. It was founded in 1997 by then-14-year-old Anand Lal Shimpi, who served as CEO and editor-in-chief until August 30, 2014, with Ryan Smith replacing him as editor-in-chief ...

all concluded that the AMD's Radeon X1250 integrated graphics solutions based on the

AMD 690G The AMD 690 chipset series is an integrated graphics chipset family which was developed and manufactured by AMD subsidiary ATI for both AMD and Intel platforms focusing on both desktop and mobile computing markets. The corresponding chipset for ...

chipset was a better choice than the GMA X3000 based on the G965 chipset, especially when considering 3D gaming performance and price.

GMA X3500 review

In a review performed by Register Hardware in December 2007, author Leo Waldock argued that because the GMA X3500 is not capable of running any PC game that requires

, the addition of DirectX 10 support to the GMA X3500 was "irrelevant". During that same review, the GMA X3500 was used to run ''

'' and ''

F.E.A.R. Extraction Point ''F.E.A.R. Extraction Point'' is the first standalone expansion pack for the first-person shooter psychological horror video game '' F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon''. Developed by TimeGate Studios and originally published by Vivendi Game ...

'', where it was able to render only 4 and 14

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...

respectively for each game. In the end the review concluded that overall the X3500 made "minimal advances" over the GMA X3000.

GMA X4500 review

In a review published in May 2008, the GMA X4500 showed a superior game performance to the lowest-end 1-year-older GeForce 8400M

graphics card A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer mo ...

in some CPU-bound tests, while losing to the still low-end GeForce 8400M GS with a slower CPU.

References

External links

Intel Graphics: Homepage

Intel
Linux Graphics Drivers from Intel

X-bit labs
The Register: ''Intel vs AMD - integrated graphics shoot-out''

Blu-Ray Performance - Intel X4500HD Versus Radeon HD 4830
{{DEFAULTSORT:Intel Gma Gma Graphics processing units Graphics hardware Graphics cards Graphics microarchitectures Intel microarchitectures Intel graphics

History

Graphics cores

Intel GPU based

Generation three based

= GMA 900

= GMA 950

= GMA 3100

= GMA 3150

Generation four based

= GMA 3000

= GMA X3000

= GMA X3500

= GMA X3100

= GMA 4500

= GMA X4500

= GMA 4500MHD

= GMA X4700MHD

PowerVR GPU based

PowerVR SGX 535 based

= GMA 500

= GMA

= GMA 600

PowerVR SGX 545 based

= GMA 3600

= GMA 3650

Specifications

Protected Audio Video Path

Software support

Mac OS X

FreeBSD

Linux

H.264 acceleration via VA-API

PowerVR based chips on Linux

Solaris

Microsoft Windows

GMA 900 on Windows

GMA 950 on Windows

GMA X3000/X3100 on Windows

GMA 500 on Windows

Modern gaming

Microsoft Windows performance reviews

GMA X3000 review

GMA X3500 review

GMA X4500 review

See also

References

External links