Clarkdale i3 vs Athlon II X3

[zsdersw]

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2008/08/14/welcome-to-g45-better-but-still-imperfect/

That's from an Intel engineer. Now from me:

• 2560x1600? Doesn't work (G35/G45)
• 1920x1200? As soon as you start playing a HD video clip, Windows Aero becomes jerky and laggy. (G35)
• Output to a few year old Sony 1080i via HDMI? No display at all (G35/G45)
• Output to a brand new Samsung 1080p through a few year old Panasonic receiver, via HDMI? No display at all (G35/G45)
• Output to the above Samsung 1080p via direct HDMI? Fuzzy mess. (G35) Plays some Blu-Ray titles but not others (G45)
• 1080p/24 (a.k.a. 3:2 Pull-down)? Doesn't work (G35), Works on and off w/ audio sync issue depending on titles, drivers, and software (G45). Forget rewinding or fast-fowarding.
• WarCraft 3 @1280x1020? Below 10FPS. Equivalent offerings from AMD/NV handle it flawlessly (60FPS) with medium details.

Equivalent offerings from AMD/NV = 780G and 8500GT (which has almost the same spec as 9400m). While I didn't do side-by-side tests, I don't recall any of the above using 780G and 8500GT.

So IMO G35 is basically a glorified RAMDAC, and while G45 improved on it you're still at the mercy of Intel's drivers for your display to be recognized and your titles to be watchable. Are you really not aware of shortcomings of Intel IGPs? Or do you think 'majority of users' would/should be happy with Winodows XP-like desktop and 480p video in 2009? Add to that ever-increasing popularity of Flash video, G35/G45 is completely useless, IMO. I sincerely hope Intel will have fixed all these issues on the new platform.

I'm well aware of the shortcomings of Intel IGPs, but to say it doesn't work for the majority of users is simply not true. The majority of users who buy computers with Intel IGPs don't hook up their computers to TVs, much less run the display at those resolutions, or play WarCraft 3. Computers typically equipped with Intel IGPs play Flash video and handle Aero just fine at the resolutions of the LCD monitors usually bundled at that price point. I should know because I happen to have built Ghost images for a lot of them, and Flash video and Win7 Aero are among the things I test. Sometimes the BIOS doesn't allocate, by default, a reasonable amount of RAM for the IGP, either. I've seen some motherboards default to 32MB. I usually set it to 128MB.

So I'm really not very surprised that gamers and power users aren't satisfied with Intel IGPs. I don't use one in my HTPC, either, but I've also seen them work just fine in the segment of the computing market for which they're intended and are typically purchased.