Most netbooks available today use the GMA950 IGP along with the Intel Atom N270 and 945GSE Chipset. Togther this is the standard Atom platform and provides modest performance at a considerably low price.
We are however, starting to see the emergence of the Intel Atom Z series of CPUs combined with the GMA500 series of Integrated Graphics Processors (IGP).
So what is the difference between the Intel GMA 950 and GMA 500?
The N270+945GSE+GMA950 platform was made specifically for Netbooks. That being a low cost, portable laptop, capable of basic computing functions such as Internet and Email.
The alternative platform is the Intel Atom Z CPU, US15W or 'Poulsbo' Chipset, and the GMA 500 IGP. Poulsbo has integrated the Graphics Processor onto the chipset itself, making the entire unit smaller, less power hungry, and capable of fitting into smaller devices such as MIDs.
This was Intel's intention from the start, to have one platform for Netbooks and another for even smaller computers. What we are starting to see however, is the Atom Z + Poulsbo platform showing up in Netbooks such as the Dell Mini 10.
The reasons for this are not entirely known but one theory suggests that the license for 945GSE platform means that any devices using it cannot exceed certain specifications such as a 10.2" screen and a 1024 x 600 resolution. To get around this limitation manufacturers are choosing the alternative Poulsbo platform which is free of this restriction.
Which platform then, is the better of the two?
The following table from Yertech shows the differences in hardware:
| GMA500 | GMA950 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Intel US15W | Intel 945GSE |
| Clockspeed | 200 Mhz | 250 Mhz |
| Max Memory Band (GB/s) | 4.2GB/s | 10.7GB/s |
| Max Shared Memory | 256MB | 8-224MB |
| Vertex Shader Model | 4.1 | 2 |
| Pixel Shade Model | 4.1 | 2 |
| Pixel Pipelines | 2 | 4 |
| Unified Shader Procs | 4 | N/A |
| Hardware Vertex Shaders | Yes | No |
| OpenGL | 2 | 1.4 |
| Dirext X | 10.1 | 9.0c |
| MPEG-2 Acceleration | VLD+iDCT+MC | MC |
| VC-1 Acceleration | VLD+iMDCT+MC+LF | N/A |
| AVC Acceleration | VLD+iMDCT+MC+LF | N/A |
* One of our readers has pointed out that the GMA950 Memory bandwidth is only 10.7Gb/s in dual channel mode with two RAM sticks installed. Netbooks only come with one so they don't take advantage of this.
** The GMA950 core clock is underclocked to 133 or 166Mhz in most netbooks.
While the GMA 500 GPU does in fact have support for newer technologies such as Direct X 10 and better high definition audio and video acceleration, it is suffering from rather poor driver support. The current drivers have left the GPU crippled and performing worse than the GMA950, despite its hardware advantage.
These drivers should improve with the release of the Pinetrail platform towards the end of the year, but the GMA950 is currently the faster GPU.
The following table from Notebookcheck shows the 3DMark05 results for both GPUs:
| GPU | 3DMark 05 Score |
|---|---|
| Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 500 | 135 |
| SIS Mirage 3+ 672MX | 315 |
| SIS Mirage 3 671MX | 333 |
| ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 | 367 |
| Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950 | 440 |
| NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 5700 | 500 |
| ATI Mobility FireGL V3100 | 580 |
| ATI Mobility FireGL T2e | 580 |
| NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M SLI | 19268 |
As you can see the GMA 950 scores significantly better in this benchmark.
* We have recently run our own 3DMark05 benchmark on an EEE PC 1005HA-P and that scored 268, this is significantly lower than Notebookcheck's number but still higher than their GMA500 result.
As always, which platform you decide to go with will decide on your personal preference. The N280+GMA950 is definitely the faster option right now but this could change when the GMA500 drivers mature.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Thanks, just what I needed to know
August 21st, 2009 at 8:55 am
So many thanks, this article decided me to buy the Acer Aspire One 751h!!
September 4th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Another difference is Linux support. All intel graphics cards other than the GMA500 are well support in all recent versions of Linux. the GMA500 needs a different driver which intel only make for a few versions of Linux, if you stray from the sanctioned versions then you will have no 3D accelleration.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
There is one more thing to point out.
At current date GMA 500 doesn’t have any windows driver that support opengl. Thus, currently you couldn’t use windows’ opengl application at all on GMA 500.
September 28th, 2009 at 12:08 am
A few notes:
The mem bandwidth of the 950 is 10.7GB/s ONLY with 2 RAM modules operating in dual-channel mode. Netbooks only have 1 slot, therefore single channel. If the netbook uses DDR2-533, mem bandwidth is the same as the GMA 500. If it uses DDR2-667, max mem bandwidth is 5.3GB/s. Both are low by any modern standard.
The clock speed of the 950 in the 945GSE chipset is only 166MHz, not 250MHz. Check Intel’s datasheet. The 950 in other chipsets runs as high as 400MHz, but not in netbooks.
As for the GMA 500’s performance, newer drivers have been released for Vista and 7. Since Pine Trail will use the GMA 500, expect better drivers – but NOT full HD video decode support, according to Intel. According to Intel’s own GMA 500 datasheets, it DOES indeed support full 1080 decoding. It’s just that Intel doesn’t want to make the driver support it because they want you to buy a more expensive lappy with a CULV proc.
Not to worry. You can get HD vids chugging like mad with the right player software/codecs that take advantage of the 500’s features:
http://mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-10-hardware-issues-problems/8376-new-mini-10-but-hd-video-problem-3.html
As for the Z-series performance, either wait for Pine Trail or get an EeePC 1101HA (new revision coming soon with 2GB according to the rumor mill). The 1101HA overclocks the Z520 to run at 1.73GHz, which actually bests the N270.
September 29th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Thanks for the comments everyone.
I have been doing some more reading and it seems that the 950 is actually clocked at 133Mhz, not 166 or 400. Scottie can you confirm?
The 400Mhz GMA950 is only found in larger notebooks and that would explain the vastly different 3DMark05 scores in the benchmark above.
I am going to run 3Dmark05 on my 1005HA tonight and get some more numbers.
As for the GMA500, if this is all correct then it should be the faster IGP given some more mature drivers.
Of course most netbooks have it paired with the slower Z520 so an N280+GMA950 system is still the fastest. Notebook Review have benchmarked the overclocked 1101HA against the 1005HA and the 1005HA still beats it:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5269&p=2
October 4th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Well, I recently got an Dell Mini 10 that came with atom Z530 and GMA 500. IT’s like 400 bux system. It is supposedly better performing system for netbook while doesn’t overheat the system. This will change once I get an windows 7 into this system but I need at up to 2GB to get this done. Why can’t Mircosoft should make an driver for win XP to support this feature making an GMA500 to outperform GMA950. Smile.
October 17th, 2009 at 6:54 am
I have benchmarked both boards in the COM express design using the same baseboard and hard drive. The N270 (GMA950) out performs the GMA500 by a lot when it comes to 3D– day and night difference. I used both 3DMark2003 and 3DMark2001 for testing. In most cases the GMA950 had about 10 FPS more on the game tests. The other major difference with the GMA950 is that it truly supports Sata and has more PCI Express lanes. The Z530 (GMA500) has only two PCI Express lanes. Normally Sata takes one lane (SATA to PCIE) and the wireless or wired Ethernet takes the other. So the manufacture is required to add basically a PCIE hub, like a USB port that plugs into one port but provides five ports for external devices. Finally the N270 version (GMA950) has modularized RAM on it and not embedded like the Z530. This allows the user to have either 1 GB or 2 GB of removable RAM.
I did some testing between the GMA500 driver and the US15W driver (IGED) for the Z530 board. I have surprisingly seen a good size improvement using the US15W driver.
November 5th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
http://en.expreview.com/2009/07/14/intel-reportedly-enables-resolution-of-1366×768-pixels.html
November 5th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Hi!
It is funny how much WRONG information is spreading about the Intel GMA 500 all over Internet!!! It seems sometimes the authors of reviews do not understand the basics of the topic they write about! E.g. they mention that the GMA 500 can decode HD video … and then at the end of the article state that this machine can not play HD! FUNNY!!!
))
It is a FACT that the GMA 500 plays all kinds of HD video flawlessly, just you have to use the video decoding capability of the graphics chipset (which is the MAIN advantage of the GMA 500). I routinely watch 1080p H.264 encoded videos on an external monitor (attached to my Asus 1101Ha using the Z520 processor and the GMA 500 video) and I can still do some light web browsing on the built-in display under Windows 7, because the CPU is running with 20-30% utilization.
So, it is funny to see that many reviews state that this machine is not a mobile entertainment center … when it can play FullHD videos perfectly even in “power saver” mode, with 600Mhz (!!!) CPU core clock (because the CPU has hardly anything to do during playback, speedstep reduces the multiplier from 10x to 6x and the bus frequency is 100Mhz in power saving mode activated, so, 6×100 = 600Mhz core clock), so, it will play for a loooooong time even using batteries.
I really love my 1101Ha … but for its REAL capabilities … which has nothing to do with some “well written” reviews…
((
Pal
November 16th, 2009 at 6:36 am
very nice article, I’m going to link to this on my site,
November 27th, 2009 at 8:51 am
hi guys have just orderedb a acer atom z520 with the gma 500 graphics, i am a little thick when t comes to computers and was wondering what the gaming possibilities was like with this graphic card
December 18th, 2009 at 5:31 am
“It is a FACT that the GMA 500 plays all kinds of HD video flawlessly, just you have to use the video decoding capability of the graphics chipset (which is the MAIN advantage of the GMA 500).”
Hey Pal Gyulai can you please explain how to “use the video decoding capability of the graphics chipset”
Choppy 720p playback is really making me crazy.
December 23rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
Hey, Pal – are you using Windows XP? My Dell Mini 10 has WinXP and driver version 6.14.11.1012 (the most current driver for XP on both Dell and Asus’ websites). It will not under any circumstances play HD video fluidly. Dell, in its infinite wisdom decided to give the unit 1GB of RAM soldered onto a daughterboard (i.e. non-upgradable), so running Vista or Win7 is not an option. Exactly how do we WinXP users use the video decoding capability of the chipset? I’ve tried playing HD through 6 different media players, to no success. If you have any ideas for us, I’d certainly appreciate them – thanks.
December 24th, 2009 at 3:24 am
Hi Guys, I have a Dell Mini 12 running Windows 7 and I can confirm that it makes use of hardware acceleration and plays 1080p movies flawlessly under the Aero theme with all the eye candy enabled. And Matt, it does this quite comfortably with just 1gb of RAM. I am using the Intel GMA 500 driver version 5.0.0 just released Dec 18 2009. Before this last update, HD video would work but only if I disabled the aero theme. Matt, I seriously recommend you look into a Windows 7 upgrade as I find it runs faster than XP on the Atom.
January 5th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Hey, I have an Acer ao751h 11.6 in. computer with Z520 and GMA 500. My brother has the 10.1 in. with GMA 950 and N250. His computer can play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 quite smoothly (maybe around 20-25 fps???) while mine at most does 8 or so, even with 16 bit color and 1024×768 screen rez. If you’re looking for a netbook that can play basic games well, I’d go for the Acer Aspire One 10.1 in. It seems to have better graphics capabilities overall. (no fair!)
January 21st, 2010 at 10:31 am
Full HD work 100% – Z530 + GMA500 + 1gb Wseven Dell mini 10. CPU work 40% Im happy!!!! All good. Drivers 8. etc
February 8th, 2010 at 3:54 am
Pal Gyulai, I have an Asus 1201HA running XP with latest Intel Drivers but am still gettting choppy HD playback with every player..WMP,GOM,MPC. Please post what OS/Driver/Player you are using to obtain your superior HD playback.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Hi Guys, I’ve got a Aigo P8861H which I’ve installed Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 3 and I can report that it won’t play any Games, I’ve tried The Settlers 2 and 4, Age of Empires and Alpha Centauri, none work due to the Intel GMA500 drivers for Windows XP, so any UMPC with the GMA500 at the moment for playing games is a big no no.
February 25th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
xp’s driver????????
March 11th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
I would like to buy a netbook with gma 500 but would like to know the current status of the gma 500 drivers
1. Can the GMA500 hard deco (1080P) under Window 7 media Center?
2. Also can the GMA500 now hard deco (flash support?) 1080p when streaming videos online?’
3. Any light games or online games the GMA500 can handle?
Thank you in advance for your answers