I only briefly tried the integrated GMA4500 in Windows, it gets around 1800 in 3dmark 05. That puts it somewhere in the ballpark of a Radeon 9600pro. So only passable for early DX9 games, and low-mid settings at that.

it's very limited for gaming, it will often perform even the same as the much older GMA950 and such, very early DX9 games might be playable at lower settings, but a 9600PRO would be better for that no doubt.
it's a lot better on 3dmark than in gaming also...

but outside of gaming, for windows 10 it's far better than using GMa 950 or GMA 3100 (g31) due to wddm 1.1 drivers, and better support for DX9/10.
OpenGL doesn't work properly on win10 with it (actually Ivy Bride, HD garphics 4000/2500 I think is the oldest Intel IGP with properly working OGL on win10 out of the box)

386SX wrote on 2021-02-09, 12:22:

Does it have a mesa opengl driver that works into modern distribution?

The i965 driver is still maintained in Mesa and supports GMA gen 4, and newer, so, yes, a modern distribution should "just work".

I have not tested the GMA 4500 on linux, but GMA 950/3100 is not great, even half life based games have issues with stability and rendering errors here and there.

For newer Intel GPU it is recommended to use modesetting driver instead of x.org, but for older (than Sandybridge) x.org is better.

I have Linux Debian 10 running on HP DC7900 USDT - Q45 graphics (GMA 4500). Running just fine OTB.
I'm using XFCE window manager, so upgraded it to 4.14 (from default 4.12) to avoid screen tearing, but this is not dependent on GPU (XFCE shortcoming).
However, I didn't even tried to check it's OpenGL capabilities. This computer is pure internet machine for my mom.

Drivers for earlier Intel GPUs seams broken with new kernels.
I tested few motherboards/laptops with G31 chipset (GMA 3100) - in system log I'm getting constant "DRM error", or something like this...
However I didn't observed any screen corruptions or glitches, just this error in system log. But it doesn't looks good for me, so I moved to newer ones 😀
This was not the case with older kernels. Last error free Debian for intel 3 series chipset was Debian 8 Jessie (one can extend its life adding MX linux repositories).

As for windows I don't know.

Thanks for the answers! Some update, I tried installing it on a G41 Asrock board using the onboard intel gpu and a 45nm E8600 cpu and latest LXQt ubuntu 20.x seems to work fine. Here are the results in logs:

From Xorg log:
[ 57.156] (==) modeset(0): Backing store enabled
[ 57.156] (==) modeset(0): Silken mouse enabled
[ 57.186] (II) modeset(0): Initializing kms color map for depth 24, 8 bpc.
[ 57.186] (==) modeset(0): DPMS enabled
[ 57.187] (II) modeset(0): [DRI2] Setup complete
[ 57.187] (II) modeset(0): [DRI2] DRI driver: i965
[ 57.187] (II) modeset(0): [DRI2] VDPAU driver: va_gl
[ 57.187] (II) Initializing extension Generic Event Extension
[ 57.187] (II) Initializing extension SHAPE
[ 57.188] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SHM
[ 57.188] (II) Initializing extension XInputExtension
[ 57.189] (II) Initializing extension XTEST
[ 57.190] (II) Initializing extension BIG-REQUESTS
[ 57.190] (II) Initializing extension SYNC
[ 57.190] (II) Initializing extension XKEYBOARD
[ 57.190] (II) Initializing extension XC-MISC
[ 57.191] (II) Initializing extension SECURITY
[ 57.191] (II) Initializing extension XFIXES
[ 57.191] (II) Initializing extension RENDER
[ 57.191] (II) Initializing extension RANDR
[ 57.192] (II) Initializing extension COMPOSITE
[ 57.192] (II) Initializing extension DAMAGE
[ 57.192] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[ 57.192] (II) Initializing extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[ 57.193] (II) Initializing extension RECORD
[ 57.193] (II) Initializing extension DPMS
[ 57.193] (II) Initializing extension Present
[ 57.193] (II) Initializing extension DRI3
[ 57.193] (II) Initializing extension X-Resource
[ 57.193] (II) Initializing extension XVideo
[ 57.194] (II) Initializing extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[ 57.194] (II) Initializing extension SELinux

From vainfo:

error: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment.
libva info: VA-API version 1.7.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/iHD_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_7
libva error: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/iHD_drv_video.so init failed
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 1
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_6
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.7 (libva 2.6.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) G41 - 2.4.0
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD

From glxinfo:

Extended renderer info (GLX_MESA_query_renderer):
Vendor: Intel Open Source Technology Center (0x8086)
Device: Mesa DRI Intel(R) G41 (ELK) (0x2e32)
Version: 20.2.6
Accelerated: yes
Video memory: 1536MB
Unified memory: yes
Preferred profile: compat (0x2)
Max core profile version: 0.0
Max compat profile version: 2.1
Max GLES1 profile version: 1.1
Max GLES[23] profile version: 2.0
OpenGL vendor string: Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) G41 (ELK)
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 20.2.6
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.20

Mpv (smplayer) log with a test file MP4 H264 (not HD):

[vaapi] libva: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/iHD_drv_video.so init failed
[ffmpeg/video] h264: No support for codec h264 profile 100.

Vdpauinfo gives an error but I suppose VAAPI is working even if I wasn't expecting it to support only MPEG2?
Anyway it's good that such old gpu is still supported somehow. What about xorg.log? Am I using some acceleration for the 2D part or not? I was expecting more "Intel" driver lines in the logs.

Thanks

Looks like you are using modesetting driver now.
To switch to x.org driver you have to create /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf file with following content:

1Section "Device"
2  Identifier "Intel Graphics"
3  Driver "intel"
4EndSection

If there is no xorg.conf.d subdirectory - create it (as a root, because only root by default have write access to /etc directory) .
Source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_gr … g_configuration

I've verified above method. It works.

zyga64 wrote on 2021-02-10, 17:38:

Looks like you are using modesetting driver now. To switch to x.org driver you have to create /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.con […]
Show full quote

Looks like you are using modesetting driver now.
To switch to x.org driver you have to create /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf file with following content:

Copy code to clipboard

1Section "Device"
2  Identifier "Intel Graphics"
3  Driver "intel"
4EndSection

If there is no xorg.conf.d subdirectory - create it (as a root, because only root by default have write access to /etc directory) .
Source: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_gr … g_configuration

I've verified above method. It works.

Thanks! Now it seems to see more specific features:

[ 57.245] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Chipsets:
i810, i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 854, 852GM/855GM, 865G,
915G, E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM,
Pineview G, 965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, Q33,
GM45, 4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43
[ 57.245] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) HD Graphics
[ 57.245] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics
[ 57.245] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Pro Graphics
[ 57.284] (II) intel(0): Using Kernel Mode Setting driver: i915, version 1.6.0 20190822
[ 57.284] (II) intel(0): SNA compiled: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20200226-1 (Timo Aaltonen <timo.aaltonen@canonical.com>)
[ 57.284] (II) intel(0): SNA compiled for use with valgrind
[ 57.403] (--) intel(0): Integrated Graphics Chipset: Intel(R) G41
[ 57.403] (--) intel(0): CPU: x86-64, sse2, sse3, ssse3, sse4.1; using a maximum of 2 threads
[ 57.403] (II) intel(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
[ 57.403] (==) intel(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
[ 57.403] (==) intel(0): RGB weight 888
[ 57.403] (==) intel(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[ 57.403] (II) intel(0): Output VGA1 has no monitor section
[ 57.403] (II) intel(0): Enabled output VGA1
[ 57.403] (--) intel(0): Using a maximum size of 256x256 for hardware cursors
[ 57.403] (II) intel(0): Output VIRTUAL1 has no monitor section
[ 57.403] (II) intel(0): Enabled output VIRTUAL1
[ 57.403] (--) intel(0): Output VGA1 using initial mode 1024x768 on pipe 0
[ 57.403] (==) intel(0): TearFree disabled
[ 57.403] (==) intel(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[ 57.403] (==) intel(0): DPI set to (96, 96)
[ 57.403] (II) Loading sub module "dri3"
[ 57.403] (II) LoadModule: "dri3"
[ 57.404] (II) Module "dri3" already built-in
[ 57.404] (II) Loading sub module "dri2"
[ 57.404] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
[ 57.404] (II) Module "dri2" already built-in
[ 57.404] (II) Loading sub module "present"
[ 57.404] (II) LoadModule: "present"
[ 57.404] (II) Module "present" already built-in
[ 57.592] (II) intel(0): SNA initialized with Eaglelake (gen4.5) backend
[ 57.592] (==) intel(0): Backing store enabled
[ 57.592] (==) intel(0): Silken mouse enabled
[ 57.652] (II) intel(0): HW Cursor enabled
[ 57.654] (==) intel(0): DPMS enabled
[ 57.654] (==) intel(0): Display hotplug detection enabled
[ 57.654] (II) intel(0): [XvMC] xvmc_vld driver initialized.
[ 57.677] (II) intel(0): [DRI2] Setup complete
[ 57.677] (II) intel(0): [DRI2] DRI driver: i965
[ 57.677] (II) intel(0): [DRI2] VDPAU driver: va_gl
[ 57.677] (II) intel(0): direct rendering: DRI2 enabled
[ 57.677] (II) intel(0): hardware support for Present enabled
[ 57.678] (II) Initializing extension Generic Event Extension
[ 57.678] (II) Initializing extension SHAPE
[ 57.678] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SHM
[ 57.678] (II) Initializing extension XInputExtension
[ 57.692] (II) Initializing extension XTEST
[ 57.692] (II) Initializing extension BIG-REQUESTS
[ 57.692] (II) Initializing extension SYNC
[ 57.693] (II) Initializing extension XKEYBOARD
[ 57.693] (II) Initializing extension XC-MISC
[ 57.693] (II) Initializing extension SECURITY
[ 57.693] (II) Initializing extension XFIXES
[ 57.693] (II) Initializing extension RENDER
[ 57.694] (II) Initializing extension RANDR
[ 57.694] (II) Initializing extension COMPOSITE
[ 57.694] (II) Initializing extension DAMAGE
[ 57.695] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[ 57.695] (II) Initializing extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[ 57.695] (II) Initializing extension RECORD
[ 57.695] (II) Initializing extension DPMS
[ 57.695] (II) Initializing extension Present
[ 57.696] (II) Initializing extension DRI3
[ 57.696] (II) Initializing extension X-Resource
[ 57.696] (II) Initializing extension XVideo
[ 57.696] (II) Initializing extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[ 57.696] (II) Initializing extension SELinux
[ 57.696] (II) SELinux: Disabled on system
[ 57.696] (II) Initializing extension GLX
[ 58.942] (II) AIGLX: Loaded and initialized i965
[ 58.942] (II) GLX: Initialized DRI2 GL provider for screen 0
[ 58.942] (II) Initializing extension XFree86-VidModeExtension
[ 58.942] (II) Initializing extension XFree86-DGA
[ 58.942] (II) Initializing extension XFree86-DRI
[ 58.942] (II) Initializing extension DRI2

I see that it write a VDPAU line on the log but I got this message on vdpauinfo:

display: :0 screen: 0
Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_va_gl.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Error creating VDPAU device: 1

Do you know if there're any more packages/drivers to install?

386SX wrote on 2021-02-10, 16:02:

Vdpauinfo gives an error but I suppose VAAPI is working even if I wasn't expecting it to support only MPEG2?

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_g … sing_units#Gen4 the G41 (GMA X4500) only supports MC+LF for H.264, you need the G45 (GMA X4500HD) for full H.264 decoding (i.e. just feed it the bitstream). I guess VAAPI only exposes codecs that can do full decoding and I think modern video players expect that too.
As for VDPAU, Intel GPUs don't expose that natively and rely on libvdpau-va as a wrapper to translate VDPAU to VAAPI.

jtchip wrote on 2021-02-11, 00:11:

386SX wrote on 2021-02-10, 16:02:

Vdpauinfo gives an error but I suppose VAAPI is working even if I wasn't expecting it to support only MPEG2?

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_g … sing_units#Gen4 the G41 (GMA X4500) only supports MC+LF for H.264, you need the G45 (GMA X4500HD) for full H.264 decoding (i.e. just feed it the bitstream). I guess VAAPI only exposes codecs that can do full decoding and I think modern video players expect that too.
As for VDPAU, Intel GPUs don't expose that natively and rely on libvdpau-va as a wrapper to translate VDPAU to VAAPI.

Thank you! I wasn't expecting anyway that Intel igpus would have this open support. Beside the GMA3600.. for that not-Intel gpu I have already quite some experience with it and it's not easy to live with it. 😀
This one seems to be enough good for retrogaming of the early 2000's games in Linux for now, then I'll test also Win in future.
Also cause I don't have much better cards beside a Geforce GT610 which is already old and low end and I'd not benefit that much maybe just the VDPAU profiles support.

Meanwhile, in 3DMark2000 and Wine I got almost 6000 points and 3Dmark03 almost 1900 points. 😀

jtchip wrote on 2021-02-11, 00:11:

386SX wrote on 2021-02-10, 16:02:

Vdpauinfo gives an error but I suppose VAAPI is working even if I wasn't expecting it to support only MPEG2?

According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_g … sing_units#Gen4 the G41 (GMA X4500) only supports MC+LF for H.264, you need the G45 (GMA X4500HD) for full H.264 decoding (i.e. just feed it the bitstream). I guess VAAPI only exposes codecs that can do full decoding and I think modern video players expect that too.
As for VDPAU, Intel GPUs don't expose that natively and rely on libvdpau-va as a wrapper to translate VDPAU to VAAPI.

For video playback you should use mpv instead of mplayer/vlc. It works MUCH better.
A simple E5200 (O.C. 3.3GHz) is capable of doing 1080p 60 fps AVC/H.264.