Intel GMA

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Intel Graphics Media Accelerator ( GMA for short , "Accelerator for graphic media") refers to a range of integrated graphics processors (IGP) from Intel which, in addition to the mandatory 2D graphics functions, also offer 3D acceleration and, depending on the model, other multimedia capabilities . The GMA processors are part of the Northbridges various motherboard - chipsets and thus always to be understood as part of such a chip set; there are no separate graphics cards that use these graphics processors.

GMA X3000 on a motherboard

Models

GMA 500

In November 2008, Intel launched the GMA 500. The graphics core is based on the licensed PowerVR-SGX technology. OpenGL 2.0 and DirectX 10.1 are supported. The chip has a core clock of 200 MHz and operates at a maximum of 128 MB shared memory ( shared memory ). There is currently no official driver for Linux. The official Windows driver for the Intel GMA 500 prevents the use of OpenGL 2.0, but there are unofficial drivers that are supposed to remove this blockage. To get the graphics card to work at least reasonably under Linux (in this case especially Ubuntu), you can install the poulsbo drivers. You can find out more about how this works at ubuntu.com.

GMA 900

In 2004, Intel launched the first version of the GMA, the GMA 900. It supports DirectX 9.0 with Shader Model 2.0 and OpenGL 1.4, whereby the vertex shaders are calculated by software (ie on the CPU ). It also offers MPEG-2 decoding acceleration and motion compensation when playing video files .

The chip clock differs depending on the chipset in which the graphics core is used: While the i910GML mostly uses moderate frequencies of around 160 MHz, the IGP of the i910GL is clocked at 333 MHz.

GMA 950

The GMA 950 released in 2005 is a slightly improved version of the GMA 900 that has been accelerated to 400 MHz (exceptions are the 945GM with 250 MHz and the 940GML with 166 MHz). However, the 945GM in the A3 revision is also clocked at 400 MHz. The equipment largely corresponds to the predecessor, but the driver of the GMA 950 now supports Vertex Shader 3.0. In addition, two HD video streams can now be decoded at the same time.

It is likely that the Intel 945GT chipset also contains the GMA 950, but Intel labels the graphics solution integrated there as “Gen 3.5 Integrated Graphics”.

GMA 3000

In mid-2006, Intel launched a series of chipsets that use the GMA 3000 graphics core. At 667 MHz, it is clocked significantly higher than its predecessor GMA 950, but is based on the same architecture and still only supports Pixel Shader 2.0.

GMA 3100

With the introduction of the G3x / Q3x chipset series, Intel released the GMA 3100, which, despite its name, is more of a descendant of the GMA 950. It only offers support for the Pixel Shader 2.0 and has a maximum clock frequency of 400 MHz. However, it can fall back on a larger memory bandwidth if it is used with chipsets with a more powerful memory controller.

GMA 4500MHD

The Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics card supports DirectX 10 and can use up to 384 MB of main memory (as shared memory or so-called shared memory ). The chipset has an integrated HD video decoder for the formats AVC, VC-2 and MPEG-2, hence the suffix "HD".

GMA X3000

Also in mid-2006, Intel released the G965 chipset, which contains a significant further development of the previous GMAs, the GMA X3000. The internal architecture has been adapted to the innovations of DirectX 10, so instead of classic graphics pipelines , the processor now contains unified shader processors, which nevertheless only support Shader Model 3.0. The vertex shader calculations can now be calculated in hardware with the current drivers . The graphics core now also supports HDR rendering and can come up with improved deinterlacing , WMV9 decoding and an HDMI connection. As with the GMA 3000, the clock is 667 MHz.

GMA X3100

On May 9, 2007, Intel presented the GMA X3100 with the fourth generation of the Centrino platform. In contrast to the X3000, the core now offers full support for the Shader Model 4.0, which means that it can be classified as DirectX 10 capable. However, until now DirectX 10 is only made possible by the beta drivers provided by Intel.

GMA X3500

The G35 chipset contains the X3500 graphics core, which differs from its predecessor X3100 only in details. It supports improved MPEG-2 video acceleration and has a higher clock rate.

GMA X4500

In the G45 chipset, Intel has equipped the X4500 graphics core with a hardware decoder for H.264 / AVC, DirectX 10 and Shader 4.0 support. In addition, this graphics unit should be up to three times faster than its predecessor.

GMA HD

With the appearance of the Core i series , the graphics core was integrated into the chip housing of the CPU. This means that the CPU chip package yet another, extranet The included. The former northbridge functions are also housed on this die . However, the graphics unit can only be used with certain mainboard chipsets (H55, H57, H61, H67, B65, Q57, Q67, Z68).

Starting with the Sandy Bridge CPU generation , the CPU, GPU and Northbridge functions are combined on one die and are marketed under HD Graphics and, depending on the expansion level, under different model numbers.

Technical specifications

Graphics core Chipset integration Pipelines or shader processors DirectX OpenGL Pixel shader Vertex shader Clock rate ( MHz ) Max. Memory ( MB )
GMA 900 910GL, 915G, 915GL, 915GM, 915GMS, 915GV 4x1 9.0 1.4 2.0 2.0 200-333 224
GMA 950 945G, 945GC, 945GM, 945GMS, 945GSE, 945GT, 945GZ 4x1 9.0 1.4 2.0 3.0 133-400 192/256
GMA 3000 946GZ, Q963, Q965 4x1 9.0c 1.4 2.0 3.0 400-667 256
GMA 3100 G31, G33, Q33, Q35 4x1 9.0 1.4 2.0 3.0 400 256
GMA X3000 G965 8th 9.0c 2.0 3.0 3.0 667 384
GMA X3100 GL960, GM965 8th 10 2.1 4.0 4.0 500 384
GMA X3500 G35 8th 10 2.1 4.0 4.0 667 384
GMA X4500 GL40, G41, G43, G45, GS45, GM45, GM47, Q45 10 10 2.1 4.0 4.0 320-800 1700
GMA HD Westmere- based CPUs (in CPU chip housing) 12 10 3.0 4.0 4.0 350-900 1700

successor

The successor to the Intel GMA series is the Intel HD Graphics series .

criticism

The Intel GMA graphics units have often been slower than comparable products from AMD and Nvidia . In contrast to comparable competing products, the GMA series up to and including the X3500 does not have a functioning acceleration for Blu-ray films, so the CPU has to do the decoding itself, which leads to jerky playback with weaker CPUs. In addition, video acceleration is currently not fully available on Linux.

See also

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ wiki.ubuntu.com
  2. ↑ Laptop Chipsets Comparison Chart ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Intel @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / compare.intel.com
  3. ↑ Whitepaper on GMA 3000 and X3000 (PDF; 194 kB)
  4. ↑ Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500MHD - Notebookcheck on January 16, 2013
  5. ↑ Intel: Document regarding OpenGL compatibility of the HD series
  6. ↑ ComputerBase: Preview: ATis Radeon XPress 200 series. S. 8. 3D performance comparison between GMA 900 and Radeon XPress 200, dated November 8, 2004.
  7. ↑ AnandTech: µATX Part 2: Intel G33 Performance Review. S. 18. 3D performance comparison between GMA 3100 and Radeon X1250, from September 27, 2007 (English)
  8. ↑ AnandTech: The IGP Chronicles Part 2: AMD 780G vs. Intel G45 vs. NVIDIA GeForce 8200. p. 4. 3D performance comparison between GMA X3500, GMA X4500, Radeon HD 3200 and GeForce 8200, from October 14, 2008 (English)
  9. ↑ AnandTech: The IGP Chronicles Part 2: AMD 780G vs. Intel G45 vs. NVIDIA GeForce 8200. p. 7. Comparison of the Blu-ray playback acceleration between GMA X3500, GMA X4500, Radeon HD 3200 and GeForce 8200, from October 14, 2008 (English)
  10. ↑ Phoronix: Review Intel GMA X4500HD (G45)