Does Intel GMA950 support Aero?

[Barry Watzman]

I'm trying to get a straight answer to what should be a relatively
simple question: Will Aero run, natively, "out of the box", on
computers that have an Intel GMA [Graphics Media Accelerator] 950 shared
memory chipset video system? For the purpose of this question, it can
be assumed that the computer has a Gigabyte of total memory and at least
a Core solo processor (e.g. not a Celeron).

The purchase of some laptops hinges on this, so the answer must be
right. I know that people have been able to run Aero on GMA950 using
some patches and alternate drivers manually installed. But I also know
that some of those patches and drivers that previously worked in early
beta version no longer work in RC1 and [I am presuming] RC2; thus, I
want the answer based only on expected WDDM support by Microsoft or
Intel for GMA950, included with Vista "out of the box".

Thanks

 

[Bill Frisbee]

Barry,

As far as I know, out of the box the 950 does not fully support Aero.
The next major revision of the Intel chipsets and integrated Video should
however.


Bill F.

 

[Barry Watzman]

The next major revision is already out and does (the "3000" series of
integrated video ... used in the Core 2 Duo 965G). But there's a pretty
huge hole here, and there are going to be a lot of very unhappy
customers since GMA 950 laptops are not only still for sale ... indeed
they are probably the majority of all laptops currently on store shelves
..... but still in production.

Barry,

As far as I know, out of the box the 950 does not fully support Aero.
The next major revision of the Intel chipsets and integrated Video
should however.


Bill F.

I'm trying to get a straight answer to what should be a relatively
simple question: Will Aero run, natively, "out of the box", on
computers that have an Intel GMA [Graphics Media Accelerator] 950
shared memory chipset video system? For the purpose of this question,
it can be assumed that the computer has a Gigabyte of total memory and
at least a Core solo processor (e.g. not a Celeron).

The purchase of some laptops hinges on this, so the answer must be
right. I know that people have been able to run Aero on GMA950 using
some patches and alternate drivers manually installed. But I also
know that some of those patches and drivers that previously worked in
early beta version no longer work in RC1 and [I am presuming] RC2;
thus, I want the answer based only on expected WDDM support by
Microsoft or Intel for GMA950, included with Vista "out of the box".

Thanks

 

[Bill Frisbee]

Barry,

Not much Microsoft can do about it... it is really up to the hardware folks
to make sure. The 950 was out quite a bit before Vista was...
I know its not what you want to hear, but thats the way it goes in this
case.

Bill F.

The next major revision is already out and does (the "3000" series of
integrated video ... used in the Core 2 Duo 965G). But there's a pretty
huge hole here, and there are going to be a lot of very unhappy customers
since GMA 950 laptops are not only still for sale ... indeed they are
probably the majority of all laptops currently on store shelves .... but
still in production.

Barry,

As far as I know, out of the box the 950 does not fully support Aero.
The next major revision of the Intel chipsets and integrated Video should
however.


Bill F.

I'm trying to get a straight answer to what should be a relatively
simple question: Will Aero run, natively, "out of the box", on
computers that have an Intel GMA [Graphics Media Accelerator] 950 shared
memory chipset video system? For the purpose of this question, it can
be assumed that the computer has a Gigabyte of total memory and at least
a Core solo processor (e.g. not a Celeron).

The purchase of some laptops hinges on this, so the answer must be
right. I know that people have been able to run Aero on GMA950 using
some patches and alternate drivers manually installed. But I also know
that some of those patches and drivers that previously worked in early
beta version no longer work in RC1 and [I am presuming] RC2; thus, I
want the answer based only on expected WDDM support by Microsoft or
Intel for GMA950, included with Vista "out of the box".

Thanks

 

[Junxiu Li]

Theoretically, GMA 950 will support Aero in Vista, which has been promised
by Intel some time before.
I have met the same problem in the the latest RC2 build 5744 that Aero Glass
is missing. It is heard that the issue happened to some independent graphic
card users.

I believe this issue will be fixed in the coming RTM build.

 

[KrzysztofM]

Yes it does. I;m working now on a Laptop with 950GMA using Aero.
Speed index value is poor (2.2) but I don't compain (maybe because I have no
other system to compare).

Best regards,
Krzysztof

 

[Tom Scales]

What drivers? I can't find working Aero-capable drivers.

Tom

Yes it does. I;m working now on a Laptop with 950GMA using Aero.
Speed index value is poor (2.2) but I don't compain (maybe because I have
no other system to compare).

Best regards,
Krzysztof

I'm trying to get a straight answer to what should be a relatively simple
question: Will Aero run, natively, "out of the box", on computers that
have an Intel GMA [Graphics Media Accelerator] 950 shared memory chipset
video system? For the purpose of this question, it can be assumed that
the computer has a Gigabyte of total memory and at least a Core solo
processor (e.g. not a Celeron).

The purchase of some laptops hinges on this, so the answer must be right.
I know that people have been able to run Aero on GMA950 using some
patches and alternate drivers manually installed. But I also know that
some of those patches and drivers that previously worked in early beta
version no longer work in RC1 and [I am presuming] RC2; thus, I want the
answer based only on expected WDDM support by Microsoft or Intel for
GMA950, included with Vista "out of the box".

Thanks

 

[Bill Frisbee]

You will probably have to edit the registry for the Aero hack.

Intel does not offer Aero capable drivers at this time.

Bill F.

What drivers? I can't find working Aero-capable drivers.

Tom

Yes it does. I;m working now on a Laptop with 950GMA using Aero.
Speed index value is poor (2.2) but I don't compain (maybe because I have
no other system to compare).

Best regards,
Krzysztof

I'm trying to get a straight answer to what should be a relatively
simple question: Will Aero run, natively, "out of the box", on
computers that have an Intel GMA [Graphics Media Accelerator] 950 shared
memory chipset video system? For the purpose of this question, it can
be assumed that the computer has a Gigabyte of total memory and at least
a Core solo processor (e.g. not a Celeron).

The purchase of some laptops hinges on this, so the answer must be
right. I know that people have been able to run Aero on GMA950 using
some patches and alternate drivers manually installed. But I also know
that some of those patches and drivers that previously worked in early
beta version no longer work in RC1 and [I am presuming] RC2; thus, I
want the answer based only on expected WDDM support by Microsoft or
Intel for GMA950, included with Vista "out of the box".

Thanks