X-bit labs

Roundup of 7 Contemporary Integrated Graphics Chipsets for Socket 478 and Socket A Platforms (page 5)

Category: Chipsets

by Tim Tscheblockov

[ 07/05/2004 | 11:09 AM ]

Intel 865G

The Intel 865G is a variation of the i865PE, a high-performance chipset with a dual-channel memory controller for Pentium 4/Celeron CPUs, equipped with an integrated graphics core.

The highest characteristics of the i865 as a chipset proper are beyond doubt as its non-integrated prototype, the i865PE, proved its abilities long ago (see our review called Albatron PX865PE Pro Mainboard Review: the First i865PE Based Mainboard in Our Lab). The performance and functionality of the integrated graphics core, however, give fewer reasons for optimism: the i740 discrete graphics chip was the progenitor of Intel’s integrated graphics and it looks like all the subsequent advances of Intel in the graphics field were nothing more but a methodical and slow development of the old architecture. It means – no shaders or T&L, no efficient full-screen antialiasing or fast anisotropic filtering.

On the other hand, just a few days ago, the company announced a bunch of new products, also a new integrated chipset. Among the capabilities of the new graphics core they claim hardware support of DirectX 9 pixel shaders. It is a big leap in the evolution of integrated graphics from Intel. I hope that the performance of the new graphics core is going to match its functionality.

But let’s get back to the i865G and its main characteristics:

• 1 pixel pipeline with two texture-mapping units;
• Support of bi-linear, tri-linear and anisotropic (up to 2x) texture filtering;
• Rendering of up to four textures per pass;
• Motion compensation for DVD playback;
• 350MHz RAMDAC.

The characteristics look very weak, but only compared to modern standalone graphics processors. Our tests will show how well the i865G behaves in contrast to other integrated chipsets. We took an i865G-based D865GLC mainboard from Intel for our tests:

The mainboard is realized in the MicroATX form-factor, in Intel’s natural “laconic” style:

• Socket 478 for Pentium 4 and Celeron CPUs with 400/533/800MHz FSB;
• 4 slots (2x2 channels) for PC2100/2700/3200 DDR SDRAM;
• 1 AGP 4x/8x slot, 3 PCI slots;
• 2 ATA 66/100 slots;
• 2 SerialATA slots;
• 1 RJ-45 connector;
• 3 audio connectors: Line-out, Line-in and Mic-in (AD1985);
• 1 VGA connector;
• 1 parallel and 1 serial port, 4+4 USB connectors.

The D865GLC is the last mainboard for Intel processors I took for my tests. Next follow mainboards for AMD’s CPUs.