Intel GMA X4500 HD Tested ~ Not Impressive

It's no secret that we're not big fans of integrated graphics solutions. You know, the graphics built into a lot of the low-cost motherboards (and even some of the high-end models), where you plug your monitor right into the back plane and don't need a graphics card. Intel's GMA 3100 and 3500 were not too impressive at the time, but the company promises big improvements in the GMA X4500 HD, debuting in the G45 Express chipset. Today we're taking a look at one of the first shipping Intel-brand motherboards to use this chipset, the DG45ID. We'll focus on graphics performance and features, including video, with the aim of answering one simple question: Did Intel get it right this time?


The only game that starts to approach a playable frame rate is Company of Heroes, though it certainly doesn't look good with the low settings we chose. For the other games, there's really not much we can do—on some of them, the settings just don't go any lower. Nevertheless, we could play at 800x600 and pretend it's 1996.