Aero support on Intel 915 Cards

[roadgeek9]

As we all know, there is currently no WDDM driver for the most popular graphics card, the Intel 915. I have been trying the registry hacks in RC2 to see if I could force Aero Glass (Vista RC2 Business), but no luck. But, I have recently found out that Intel will be releasing a WDDM driver when Windows Vista is released (being a huge corporation, who knows if they are lying or not). This is odd how Micro$oft hasn't written a driver yet, as the Intel 915 supports everything that Aero requires (DirectX 9, Pixel Shader, 128 MB of Memory, 32-bit Support), we just need a WDDM driver. Please note that my system has an Intel Pentium M 1.73 GHz, 1 GB Memory, 80 GB Hitachi HDD, 8x Pioneer DVD-RW, 128 MB Mobile Intel 915 Graphics Card. I am currently running Windows XP on a 60 GB partition and Fedora Core 5 on a 20 GB partition, I used to run Windows Vista RC2 Business Edition.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

The Intel 915 is a motherboard chipset that uses the Intel GMA 900 video discrete logic. It isn't a true "video card" in the normal sense and it uses shared system memory.

If Intel releases a WDDM driver then it will likely be for overall system compatibility reasons. I wouldn't necessarily expect them to enable Aero on that hardware as it would probably not be very usable.

[Thread Moved from Windows Beta to Vista Beta]

[roadgeek9]

The Intel 915 is a motherboard chipset that uses the Intel GMA 900 video discrete logic. It isn't a true "video card" in the normal sense and it uses shared system memory.

If Intel releases a WDDM driver then it will likely be for overall system compatibility reasons. I wouldn't necessarily expect them to enable Aero on that hardware as it would probably not be very usable.

[Thread Moved from Windows Beta to Vista Beta]

That is true, as the card relies on system memory. But, why does the Intel 945 support Glass, whereas the 915 may? There isn't a very high possibility that it could run Glass well, but it could run it (sure, it would make a Pentium III run faster than a Pentium M after that).

Edited November 1, 2006 by Fred Derf

[neowin_34242]

This is odd how Micro$oft hasn't written a driver yet, as the Intel 915 supports everything that Aero requires (DirectX 9, Pixel Shader, 128 MB of Memory, 32-bit Support), we just need a WDDM driver.

I know you hate MS, but that doesn't mean you can blame them for not providing a driver. It's intel to blame for not including a WDDM driver for i915. In fact, their team is busy with i965.

[DomZ]

A bit of thread hijacking, will my inspiron 6400 (intel 945gm graphics) support glass?

[depeschie]

A bit of thread hijacking, will my inspiron 6400 (intel 945gm graphics) support glass?

yes

[Fred Derf Veteran]

[Thread Cleaned]

[bzo]

But, I have recently found out that Intel will be releasing a WDDM driver when Windows Vista is released (being a huge corporation, who knows if they are lying or not).

Where did you hear this? Very recently on on the Intel forum, an Intel rep has said that there will be no WDDM drivers for the 915. In fact he said that it was not possible, though the explanation seemed a little sketchy to me.

Intel Forum

[lardiop Veteran]

I was always under the impression that only the 945/950 card from Intel was going to be supported.

I've even made product purchase recommendations based on that very fact. (IE: People buy a computer with an ATI/nVidia card instead of an Intel 915 to support Aero)

[roadgeek9]

I was always under the impression that only the 945/950 card from Intel was going to be supported.

I've even made product purchase recommendations based on that very fact. (IE: People buy a computer with an ATI/nVidia card instead of an Intel 915 to support Aero)

Well, I bought my laptop last year, prior to Microsoft shoving WDDM down our throats, but my systems are oriented towards being in a corporation, so we aren't worrying that much about Glass.

Where did you hear this? Very recently on on the Intel forum, an Intel rep has said that there will be no WDDM drivers for the 915. In fact he said that it was not possible, though the explanation seemed a little sketchy to me.

Intel Forum

Earlier this year some guy on an Intel forum said that there was eventually going to be a WDDM driver for the Intel 915. But, who knows.

I know you hate MS, but that doesn't mean you can blame them for not providing a driver. It's intel to blame for not including a WDDM driver for i915. In fact, their team is busy with i965.

But still, M$ has written drivers for devices before (ranging all the way back to Windows 95/NT4), so why not work on the more popular i915. If it never happens, I will transfer to Linux and stay with Linux for a while until I can afford to buy a MacBook.

[bzo]

Earlier this year some guy on an Intel forum said that there was eventually going to be a WDDM driver for the Intel 915. But, who knows.

it's probably the same guy "Chuck" we're talking about. He initially did say a driver was coming for the GMA900, but later corrected himself and said that only the GMA950 and up would be supported. This link I posted was his latest response to all the complaining in the Intel forum.

[depeschie]

i could not believe that intel wont support i915 (gma900). technically, this fits and the gma900 is fast enough to display aero smoothly. i think they will release a driver when vista is out for consumers.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

What 2D and 3D scores does a gma900 get in Vista RC2 anyway? It must be less than 2.0 and probably closer to 1.0

[roadgeek9]

What 2D and 3D scores does a gma900 get in Vista RC2 anyway? It must be less than 2.0 and probably closer to 1.0

Windows Vista has its own built-in benchmarking utility, if you read the logs on a system with an i915 graphics card in it, or any card that doesn't have a WDDM driver, it will be limited to 1.9, and it got a 1.9, just like the 32 MB nVidia GeForce MX400.

i could not believe that intel wont support i915 (gma900). technically, this fits and the gma900 is fast enough to display aero smoothly. i think they will release a driver when vista is out for consumers.

Well, the card is not necessarily the best on the market (compared to the entry-level nVidia GeForce FX5200).

[Southern Patriot]

Intel may have a legal problem if they don't provide a WDDM driver, as many systems with GMA900 graphics were sold (and continue to be sold) as "Vista Ready" (not Vista Capable, but Vista Ready).

[roadgeek9]

Intel may have a legal problem if they don't provide a WDDM driver, as many systems with GMA900 graphics were sold (and continue to be sold) as "Vista Ready" (not Vista Capable, but Vista Ready).

That is very true, but Microsoft has had exactly how many legal problems?

[depeschie]

Intel may have a legal problem if they don't provide a WDDM driver, as many systems with GMA900 graphics were sold (and continue to be sold) as "Vista Ready" (not Vista Capable, but Vista Ready).

My Sony Vaio FS515B was sold as "Vista Capable" and has a GMA900 (i915) Chipset... but no aero

[superhuman]

Intel has just handed over to M$ new driver released for 915 chipset in October. I wonder whether it contains WDDM or not. Check your windows update

[guruparan]

My Sony Vaio FS515B was sold as "Vista Capable" and has a GMA900 (i915) Chipset... but no aero

Vista Capable is different from VISTA PREMIUM READY....which is 1GB of RAM, 128 MB of Graphics card which supports Vista driver model(only these drivers support aero ui like flip3d,glass window etc!)..but i am not sure whether sony vaio is aero supported!

[xUnix]

Intel may have a legal problem if they don't provide a WDDM driver, as many systems with GMA900 graphics were sold (and continue to be sold) as "Vista Ready" (not Vista Capable, but Vista Ready).

Just because is Vista ready doesn?t necessarily mean Aero ready. I think they are 2 separate thing, you can perfectly run Vista on a computer that doesnt supports Aero.

[depeschie]

Vista Capable is different from VISTA PREMIUM READY....which is 1GB of RAM, 128 MB of Graphics card which supports Vista driver model(only these drivers support aero ui like flip3d,glass window etc!)..but i am not sure whether sony vaio is aero supported!

this sony vaio has centrino 1.7 ghz, 1024mb ram, integrated dx9 graphics with pixel shader 2.0 and 128mb of non dedicated ram. i hear that some people even with 64 mb graphic cards can run aero... would be angry if intel wont provide a wddm driver for i915.

[roadgeek9]

this sony vaio has centrino 1.7 ghz, 1024mb ram, integrated dx9 graphics with pixel shader 2.0 and 128mb of non dedicated ram. i hear that some people even with 64 mb graphic cards can run aero... would be angry if intel wont provide a wddm driver for i915.

There is a slight problem, if you have 1 GB of Ram and the Intel 915 graphics card, it bumps the amount of memory down to 1016 MB from 1024 MB.

My Sony Vaio FS515B was sold as "Vista Capable" and has a GMA900 (i915) Chipset... but no aero

There is Vista Capable (it can run Vista, but without Aero) and there is Vista Premium Ready (it can run Vista, with Aero.

this sony vaio has centrino 1.7 ghz, 1024mb ram, integrated dx9 graphics with pixel shader 2.0 and 128mb of non dedicated ram. i hear that some people even with 64 mb graphic cards can run aero... would be angry if intel wont provide a wddm driver for i915.

Microsoft says in one of the Vista help files that if your resolution is 1280x1024 or lower, you can use a 64 MB WDDM compatible graphics card. If they were able to get Aero, they either had a 64 MB WDDM graphics adapter or used a registry hack (my laptop has an Intel 915 card and my desktop has an nVidia GeForce2 MX400 32 MB AGP running Linux and is working perfectly fine (see signature))

[depeschie]

There is a slight problem, if you have 1 GB of Ram and the Intel 915 graphics card, it bumps the amount of memory down to 1016 MB from 1024 MB.

There is Vista Capable (it can run Vista, but without Aero) and there is Vista Premium Ready (it can run Vista, with Aero.

Microsoft says in one of the Vista help files that if your resolution is 1280x1024 or lower, you can use a 64 MB WDDM compatible graphics card. If they were able to get Aero, they either had a 64 MB WDDM graphics adapter or used a registry hack (my laptop has an Intel 915 card and my desktop has an nVidia GeForce2 MX400 32 MB AGP running Linux and is working perfectly fine (see signature))

okay, ive tried several registry hacks - with no result. the resolution is 1280x800x32bit. so i have to wait for an updated wddm driver (hopefully) or someone will post a regsitry hack which works for the rtm (hopefully) ;)

ive also added 512mb of ram - with no result. i cant believe that this could be the point... in fact i have 1 gig of ram... these little megabytes cutted by the i915... hmpf.... we will see in rtm.

[Ambroos]

Why would Intel not make drivers? It can only increase their product popularity!?

[BigBoy]

Why would Intel not make drivers? It can only increase their product popularity!?

Because they would rather sell you a new chipset and make a new "Vista Aero compatibility" a carrot for it too.