Intel DX10 Drivers; NVIDIA Laughs

Chip giant Intel finally released a driver update that will enable DirectX10 on its chipsets that feature integrated graphics. Intel has been claiming DirectX 10 compatibility since the introduction of the G965 chipset in 2006, but has only recently released driver support for it. The update available at Intel’s website, is naturally a Windows Vista driver only and is compatible with Intel’s G31, G33, G35, Q33, Q35, G965, Q963, and GM965 Express chipsets.

However, NVIDIA has been reportedly been sending tech journalist tidbits on the performance of Intel’s DX10 update – mainly that there is no performance gain.

NVIDIA ran the usual benchmark of games under DX10 settings and to no surprise found Intel’s integrated graphics to be “downright incapable” of being used with DX10 applications.

NVIDIA goes on to say, “Saying GMA 3500 is DirectX 10 capable is kind of like saying Styrofoam is "nutrition capable". I guess Intel’s definition of capable is a lot different than our definition... a lot.” NVIDIA may be patting itself on the back for drawing that conclusion, but PC enthusiast have widely linked Intel’s IGP to poor performance for quite some time now. While NVIDIA should not be worried too much about Intel upping the performance on its IGP, they should be worried about Intel’s upcoming Larrabee project.

Larrabee, due in 2010, is a multicore discrete graphics initiative from Intel based off of the x86 architecture and supports OpenGL and DirectX instructions. Larrabee, has drawn much interest from the technology community and is one of the most anticipated product launches in the industry.

Jen-sun Huang, NVIDIA CEO, and the rest of NVIDIA have been on the initiative of opening “a can of whoop ass”, before Larrabee takes off. This latest act from NVIDIA appears to be just another example of the company’s aggressive PR plan — pushing the consumer to link poor graphics performance with Intel. Conversely, Intel previously stated in a press call that it thinks computer graphics is hitting a severe bottleneck and that is vector based solutions coming down the line will be the way of the future for 3D.