Integrated Video Chipset Roundup - January 2001

3D Gaming Performance using Integrated Video

As one may suspect, the Aladdin TNT2 begins to shine when in 3D gaming. Using NVIDIA's graphics core in their integrated solution, ALi is able to beat out all other integrated solutions. In addition, the Aladdin TNT2 is also able to take advantage of its local frame buffer, which can dramatically increase the amount of available memory bandwidth.

The ProSavage core of the PM133 comes next, performing only slightly behind the Aladdin TNT2 solution in Quake III at 640x480x16. We experienced similar results with the ProSavage core of the KM133 as well.

A larger performance drop is realized when going to SiS' 300 integrated graphics core that is found in the SiS 603S and 730S chipsets. And finally, the integrated graphics found on the 815 chipset falls to the bottom of the performance chart, far from its top spot when in 2D graphics.

When at 800x600x16, the results are very similar to what we encountered at 640x480x16. It seems that if you are looking for fast gaming performance, the Aladdin TNT2 is the best solution, at least when in Quake III arena, where it is now performing 31% faster than its next fastest competitor.