Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500M vs Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500M
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The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M (GMA 4500M) (sometimes also called GMA X4500 M) is a DirectX 10 capable integrated shared memory graphic card for laptops. The mGPU is integrated in the Intel GM40 and GL40 chipsets and designed for cheap laptops. The graphics card is also called Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family in the Intel drivers.
Compared to the GMA 4500M HD, the 4500M features a slower core clock (400 MHz versus 533MHz) and is thus a bit slower in games.
The chip itself is capable of supporting the CPU to decode HD videos, but because of the slower clock rate, the 4500M has troubles decoding 1080p videos fluently and therefore has no full Blu-Ray logo support.
The gaming performance of the 4500M is not really good. Only less demanding 3D games and very old games may run fluently in low detail settings. Sims 3 and F.E.A.R. for example achieved 30 fps (with stutters) in low deatails and low resolustions (combined with a fast CPU). 2D applications, games and Windows Vista / Windows 7 Aero are supported without any performance problems.
Compared to other modern integrated chipsets like the GeForce 9400M or the Radeon HD 3200, the 4500M is clearly the slowest especially for 3D games. Still the power consumption of the chip is quite competitive, so it may be the right choice for office tasks.
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
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The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (also known as Intel GMA 950) is an integrated (onboard) graphic chip on the Mobile Intel 945Gx chipset for Intel processors. It is a faster clocked version of the GMA 900 and does not support hardware T&L (Transform & Lightning) calculations (which is required for some games). Compared to the GMA 900 it now supports Shader Model 3.0 (instead of 2.0) and can decode 2 HD Streams simultaneously.
It supports DirectX 9.0 with Shader Model 3.0 (Vertex Shader are calculated in Software - by the CPU) and OpenGL 1.4. Furthermore, the chip is able to accelerate the decoding of MPEG2 videos and supports Motion Compensation (2 HD Streams simultaneously). Modern HD videos in MPEG 4 or VC-1 can not be decoded with the graphics card.
The GMA 950 is integrated in the following chipsets with different rendering clock rates (that affect the 3D performance):
- 945GU: 133 MHz (Lakeport for Intel A100 and A110)
- 945GSE: 166 MHz (for Atom)
- 945GMS: 166 MHz / 250 MHz (1.05V)
- 940GML 166 MHz / 200 MHz (1.05V) - Celeron M (ULV)
- 943GML: 200 MHz
- 945GM: 250 MHz (Calistoga)
- 945G, 945GC, 945GZ: 400 MHz (Lakeport)
Using the GMABooster tool, slower variants can be clocked to 400 MHz to increase the 3D performance (use at your own risk, not supported by Intel!).
The GMA 950 can not be described as a graphics card that is sufficient for gamers. Still Intel published a list of games that will run (not needingly beautiful) on the notebook (list is for the GMA 900). Some old 3D games and especially 2D games should run without problems. The advantage of integrated graphics cards, is that they have a low power consumtion and therefore save battery life. Furthermore, the laptop may stay cooler and more silent than laptops with dedicated graphics cards. For office programs and surfing the performance is more than sufficient.
The newest drivers support Windows Vista with Aero Glass effects and according to some of our readers it should run fluently.
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500M | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GMA Series |
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Codename | GL40 | GMA 950 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | Gen. 4.5 | Gen. 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pipelines | 10 - unified | 4 / 0 Pixel- / Vertexshader | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Core Speed | 400 MHz | 250 MHz | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shared Memory | yes | no | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
API | DirectX 10, Shader 4.0 | DirectX 9c, Shader 2.0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
technology | 65 nm | 130 nm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | Enhanced Intel Clear Video Technology, HD Video Decoder (VC/VC2/MPEG2), HDMI mit HDCP Support, Display Refresh Rate Switching Technology, Render Standby | No Hardware Transform & Lightning (T&L), Hardware Motion Compensation, Hardware MPEG2 acceleration | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of Announcement | 01.10.2008 | 01.03.2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Link to Manufacturer Page | www.intel.com | www.intel.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power Consumption | 7 Watt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Information | Windows Vista Premium Ready |
Benchmarks
Average Benchmarks Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500M → 100% n=8
Average Benchmarks Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 → 49% n=8

* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation
Game Benchmarks
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
Average Gaming Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500M → 100%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%
Average Gaming Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 → 67%
Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 112%
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500M | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K |
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Sims 3 | 33.98 | 11.39 | ||||
Crysis - GPU Benchmark | 3.49 | |||||
F.E.A.R. | 34 | 14 | 5 | |||
World of Warcraft | 25 | 12 | 3 | |||
Counter-Strike Source | 23.6 | |||||
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo | 72 | |||||
< 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 1 2 | 3 | 4 1 | | | |
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 | low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Left 4 Dead | 2 | |||||
Half Life 2 - Lost Coast Benchmark | 2 | |||||
F.E.A.R. | 38 | 3 | 1 | |||
World of Warcraft | 15 | |||||
Doom 3 | 4 | |||||
Quake 3 Arena - Timedemo | 88 | |||||
< 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 3 1 | 1 | 2 1 | | | |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List