Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
separate die within the processor package or directly in the processor die. This form of
integrated video also shares the system RAM and requires a motherboard with specific chipsets
and video interface connectors on-board. Because chipset or processor-based integrated video
shares the system RAM and other components, it has the lowest cost of any video solution.
Performance is generally lower than that of a separate card-based adapter, especially for 3D
gaming or other graphics-intensive applications. Resolution and color-depth options are also
more limited than those available with add-on video cards. Because it is economical on power,
integrated video is used in many laptops for improved battery life. Many desktop systems with
integrated video also allow the installation of a discrete video plug-in card as an upgrade.
AMD processors with integrated video are collectively referred to as APUs (advanced
processing units). Intel refers to its processors with integrated video as EPGs (Embedded
Processor Graphics).
The term
video adapter
applies to either discrete or integrated video circuitry. The term
graphics
adapter
is essentially interchangeable with
video adapter
because all video cards developed, except
the original IBM monochrome display adapter (MDA), can display graphics and text.
Note
AMD uses the RADEON brand name for consumer-level video products, and FirePro for
professional-level workstation video products.
Integrated Video/Motherboard Chipsets
Although built-in video has been a staple of low-cost computing for a number of years, until the late
1990s, most motherboard-based video simply mounted discrete video components on the
motherboard. The performance and features of discrete video are essentially the same whether it is
soldered into the motherboard or plugged in via an expansion card. In most cases the built-in discrete
video can be upgraded by adding a video card. Some older motherboard-based discrete video
implementations also had provisions for memory upgrades.
However, in recent years, the move toward increasing integration on the motherboard has led to the
development of motherboard chipsets that include video support as part of the chipset design. In
effect, the motherboard chipset takes the place of most of the discrete video card components and
uses a portion of main system memory as video memory. The use of main system memory for video
memory is often referred to as
unified memory architecture
(UMA), and although this memory-
sharing method was also used by some built-in video that used its own chipset, it has become much
more common with the rise of integrated motherboard chipsets.
Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) pioneered chipsets with integrated video in 1996 and 1997 with its
SiS5510 and SiS5596 chipsets for laptop and desktop systems, respectively. In 1997, Cyrix
Semiconductor (now owned by VIA Technologies) introduced the MediaGX, which was the first to
build both graphics and chipset functions into a PC-compatible CPU. National Semiconductor and
later AMD developed improved versions of the MediaGX known as the Geode GX series.
Intel introduced motherboard chipsets with integrated graphics in 1999, starting with its 810 chipset
for the Pentium III and Celeron processors. The 810 (code-named Whitney) heralded the beginning of
widespread industry support for this design and the beginning of Intel's dominance in the graphics
market. Intel later followed the release of the 810 series (810 and 810E) with the 815 series for the
