Intel supporting DirectX 10? No surprise there!

The Intel GMA965 will support SM 4.0! Logan Booker explains why this was totally expected.

Recently The Inquirer reported that Intel plans to release a souped-up version of its integrated graphics chip, the GMA965. According to the story, The Inquirer was quick to contact several game developers to get their opinion on how the chip would perform, likely compared to NVIDIA and ATI's latest offerings. It was also quick to trash the chip for its predicted poor performance ('Intel's integrated DX10 part will be slow as a dog').

However, we have to ask: Why bother? We know that Intel will never release a product to beat the big names, let alone one that can match the performance of their budget offerings. What caused the noise was the fact the GMA965 would incorporate support for Shader Models 3.0 and 4.0, a move that has apparently been considered unusual by much of the tech press.

Is Intel finally taking on the two largest high-performance graphics chip supplies in the world? Will there be a new competitor in the 3D hardware market?

Hardly.

Back in Atomic 59 in our feature on DirectX 10, we stated that Shader Model 2.0 will be baseline for using Vista, thanks to the graphics-accelerated desktop and the added functionality it provides. Microsoft has also removed capability checking from DirectX in Vista, which means no ham-fisted compatible handling for different cards - if your hardware doesn't support what Microsoft needs, then forget about running it on Vista.

So, instead of just whacking in support for SM 2.0, Intel has looked ahead and planned for the inevitable refreshes of DX that will hit once Vista is released. In fact, there's no guarantee SM 2.0 will be baseline in 2007 - it’s quite possible Microsoft will demand IHVs support SM 3.0 or even 4.0.

All Intel is doing is future-proofing its hardware for Vista - a wise move on its part. Prepare now, deal with the bugs and problems and have everything sorted for the second half of 2007 when Microsoft's new OS hits.

Although it'd be nice for Intel to make a decent-performing integrated graphics chip, to have a go at it for just providing baseline support for what will almost certainly be the most widely used OS in the next five years is hardly justified. Hey, someone has to do it.