Intel IGP Chipset Showdown - GeForce 9300 mGPU vs. Intel G45
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Another False Dawn?
Another False Dawn?
When one mentions integrated graphics, it's usually associated with mainstream PCs that are more than capable of the usual office productivity tasks but which falls short when it comes to applications that require more graphics horsepower. Subsequently, each new generation of chipsets with integrated graphics (IGP) have brought new hopes of ending this dismal record but for all the advances that we have seen from chipset manufacturers, applications have continued to increase their graphical demands and stay ahead of hardware developments.
Given this track record, we did not have our hopes up when we learnt that NVIIDA had a new integrated graphics chipset solution up its sleeves, the GeForce 9300/9400 motherboard GPU (mGPU). That is, until we found that Apple has wholeheartedly embraced the new chipset by choosing the 9400 mobile derivative as the platform for its entire range of notebooks, from its entry level MacBooks to the higher end MacBook Pro.
Despite its still modest market share (albeit growing rapidly in the notebook segment), Apple has an envious brand recognition and loyalty among consumers and this switch from Intel to the relatively unknown (to mainstream consumers that is) NVIDIA is a significant move. There really must be something here about this new NVIDIA IGP chipset. Whether it is the improved GPU performance or the potential use of those NVIDIA stream processors in the upcoming Mac OS X and its general purpose computing technology, OpenCL, only Apple knows.
What we do know is that Intel's own integrated graphics chipset, the G45, has promised full 1080p HD video playback with hardware acceleration, along with support for DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0. The integrated GPU inside, GMA X4500HD is also expected to have a significant performance increase over its previous generation. These are all features that NVIDIA too has listed for its own IGP. Hence, let's see how each of these two IGP solutions fares head to head.
To help us in this task, we have two implementations of the competing chipsets, an ASUS P5N7A-VM motherboard using NVIDIA's GeForce 9300 mGPU and the reference G45 board from Intel, the DG45ID. Here are their technical specifications:-
ASUS P5N7A-VM | Intel DG45ID | |
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CPU Support |
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Chipset |
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Memory |
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Storage |
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Audio |
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Networking |
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IEEE 1394 (FireWire) |
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I/O Interface |
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Expansion Slots |
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Special Features |
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PCB |
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