Microsoft: The Intel GMA900 is not enough

The graphics driver built into the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 chipset is best advertised by the manufacturer as a necessity thanks to DirectX 9 capabilities, and will be perfectly sufficient to take full advantage of the new graphical interface in Microsoft Windows Vista. Isn't that so?

If we ask an average user which company dominates the graphics controller market, we can probably hear the word NVIDIA or ATI from eight out of ten people. All this despite the incredible popularity of the North Bridges with built-in graphics cores, Intel alone sells more than the other two companies combined. This, of course, makes perfect sense, as only a very small percentage of computer work is in areas where video controller speeds arise at all, and gamers are obviously numerically in the minority compared to large enterprise machines. So there’s nothing wrong with the fact that built-in graphics cores, considered by many to be quite useless in a rather unfounded way, live and thrive, but it could easily not be that way for long.

Now that the long-awaited first beta of Windows Vista is available online, and many have been able to admire the first wings of the new graphical interface (in this version we can see about a third of the final promised effects and technologies), many are looking forward to the end of 2006 more than ever. whenever, if all goes according to plan, the final release of that product can be made. Of course, we can say that 2006 is still a long way off, but the average replacement rate of computers even in the West is three years, which is obviously much longer in our country, so whoever is going to buy a general purpose system must take into account the needs of new operating systems. There is no doubt that even with the integrated graphics core used today, Windows Vista can be used without any problems, only then will we have to give up on the - we admit, quite attractive - chicks. Being a computer, the first is operation, efficiency, but no matter what we have to watch for several hours a day, the system I learned from Windows 95 may not be so enjoyable, even if it can be much faster.

In a word, a hundred, the new graphical interface also comes with higher hardware requirements, so that we can enjoy the new look of Aero Glass with all its splendor, without any hindrance, and despite previous promises, the DirectX 9 Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 will not be enough. The official recommendation is that at least 64 MB of graphics memory and DirectX 9 are required, but it’s also worth forgetting the lowest segment of today’s offering, so a Radeon X300 SE or a GeForce 64 embedded in 6200-bit bandwidth, for example, may not be the best choice. Therefore, Microsoft no longer recommends that you use Windows Vista with integrated graphics drivers that are now available or that provide similar levels of performance.

For the rest of the machine, let's look at the recommendations here: AMD or Intel processor capable of executing 64-bit instructions, at least 1 GB of memory, Serial ATA hard drive with 7200 rpm engine, 8 MB cache and Native Command Queuing support, DVD ± RW drive, a network controller capable of transmitting 54 or 100 Mbit / s data.

Before anyone misunderstands, the system described above means that if these requirements are met, we can certainly fully enjoy every part of Windows Vista exactly as the developers envisioned it. Not to mention that this would be a minimum requirement, with a much older video controller, a slower 32-bit processor and other weaker components, Vista will work without any further ado, only then will we have to be prepared for some compromise.