GMA 950 on Intel DG945GCPE motherboard (only visible) The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator, or GMA, is a series of introduced in 2004 by, replacing the earlier series and being succeeded by the 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 for storage instead of a dedicated.

They are commonly found on, low-priced and, as well as business computers which do not need high levels of graphics capability. In early 2007, about 90% of all PC sold had an integrated. This section needs additional citations for. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) The GMA line of GPUs replaces the earlier, and the line, the latter of which was a discrete unit in the form of and cards with technology that evolved from companies. Later, Intel integrated the i740 core into the chipset. 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 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, sometimes being nicknamed Intel GMD (Graphics Media Decelerator) and being essentially referred to as the world's first 'graphics decelerator' since the, 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 technology Intel licensed from Imagination Technologies. Intel used the low-power designs in chipsets supporting their platform, and since the sale of XScale in 2006 has licensed the and used it in the IGP for use with their platform. With the introduction of the, 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. 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 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 and the similar technologies. Like previous Intel integrated graphics parts, the GMA 900 has hardware support for, conversion and overlay. The processor uses different separate clock generators for display and render cores.

The display unit includes a 400 MHz, two 25–200 Mpixel/s serial DVO ports, and two display controllers. In mobile chipsets, up to two 18-bit 25–112 MHz 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. 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 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 ) 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. Ex: HP Mini 110 or 210, 1 Slot Ram, Max Ram 4GB.(JWD525M-GT supports 8 GB dual-channel) 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 featuresand the vertex shaders are still software-emulated.

In addition, hardware video acceleration such as hardware-based iDCT computation, ProcAmp (video stream independent ), 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 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 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. 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. 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.

The major difference between them is that the GMA X3500 supports 4.0 and, whereas the earlier X3000 supports 3.0. 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, Shader Model 4.0 and OpenGL 1.5.

Under Linux, OpenGL 2.1 is supported. GMA 4500 Integrated graphics found on B43,. GMA X4500 The GMA X4500 and the GMA X4500HD for desktop platforms were launched in June 2008. The GMA X4500 is used in and the GMA X4500HD is used in the. The GMA X4500 is also used in the, 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 high-definition video playback, including 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 in 3DMark06 performance and 70% faster than the GMA X3500.

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. Compare with 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 ) 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 operations.' GMA 600 A revised version of the previous Intel SCH (System Controller Hub) for the Atom Z6xx series CPU codenamed. 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. 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.

Intel 4 Series Internal Chipset

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. Main article: 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 (e.g. ) and operating systems (since ). PAVP can be configured in the. 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 in. The default setting in most BIOS is PAVP Lite. Within, the successor of Intel GMA, a similar technology called exists. Software support Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.4 supports the GMA 950, since it was used in previous revisions of the, MacMini, and 17-inch.

It has 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 support the GMA 900 due to its use in the Apple Developer Transition Kit, which was used in the PowerPC-to-Intel transition.

However, special modifications to the 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 (Leopard) ships with drivers supporting it that require no modifications to the file. Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), which includes a new kernel in addition to the 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. See also: In August 2006, Intel added support to the open-source / 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 (for the Linux kernel parts) and (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 Eric Anholt stated Intel was 'still working on getting docs for 8xx chipsets out.' H.264 acceleration via VA-API. Main article: 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 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. 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., a Linux-based OS optimized for netbooks, has a driver for the GMA500 built in. PixieLive, a GNU/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 released the details of a new, rewritten Linux driver that would support this chipset and Intel's other upcoming chipsets. The and parts would be free software, but the 3D component (using ) will still be proprietary.

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