AnandTech has taken a look at the latest integrated graphics cores from ATI Technologies and Intel Corp., particularly the new Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 as well as ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 for Intel processors.

?For those who truly do not need or care about 3D, integrated graphics are fine. People who are nostalgic about Quake III and earlier 3D games will also be satisfied. If just running something with 3D is important, these solutions will get the job done. But integrated performance has still not reached a level where we can recommend it to anyone who wants to play the current generation titles,?believes AnandTech.

General specifications of the graphics cores are pretty similar. Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which is featured in Intel 945G core-logic, has 4 pixel pipelines is clocked at 400MHz and sports DirectX 9 and HDTV capabilities. ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 for Intel processors builds-in RADEON X300-like graphics core that offers similar specs.

?Out of the integrated cards that we tested, the ATI part came out on top in the performance tests. We can also expect ATI to put more effort into supporting (at least on some level) the latest games than Intel. On the other hand, Intel ships more graphics components than any other manufacturer in the world. We can expect their home and business graphics support to be of the same quality of which they provide for all their other components,?AnandTech concludes.

• AnandTech: Integrated Graphics: XPRESS 200 vs. GMA 950.
• Intel: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Overview.