Hi,

My question is: How compatible is Linux with something called an "Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950"

I noticed some Dell laptops have this "Integrated" video card instead of a traditional Nvida or ATI card. Would Linux work well with this "Integrated" card?

Thanks.

Yes, Intel open sources its video drivers, so support is "out of the box" for Linux, with no drivers to install. The performance isn't great for games, but normal desktop stuff - video, beryl, simple games - are fine.

Intel's integrated graphics under Linux has limited features. Most OpenGL commands are still rendered by the CPU, so Beryl will perform poorly. Video playback acceleration is not included, so the processor will be doing all the work. Also you have to run a utility to re-program the chip to handle non-factory resolutions every time the system boots up in Linux. I strongly recommend get a notebook computer that uses nVidia graphics if you want little trouble using it in Linux.

Dell notebook computers are costly. There are a lot cheaper and stronger built notebook computers from other manufactures.

Some videos of Beryl on a GMA950. It does OK.

I can confirm what macemoneta says, the Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 950 works fine. I can play a DVD and at the same time make my Compiz cube spin without any lose of sound or video quality. And because the drivers are open sourced you don't need to follow any difficult installation procedure as with ATI or NVIDIA.

Best regards,

Yves

The nVIDIA proprietary driver installation is pretty straightforward and as painless as following the instructions to install a random program on Windows. And it works pretty well. And it's not difficult at all. And I love have after 3 years of struggle with Ati drivers telling me they won't enable 3D acceleration for unknown reason.
Anyway it seems that as far as you don't want to play modern games, the integrated Intel chipset it efficient enough to handle common tasks and it is well supported in Linux.

I have Nvidia video on three of my machines. While the performance is very good, my problem has been with the support. I've never been able to use Beryl, because of the well known "black window bug" which has existed since Nvidia supported compositing (about a year now). If I open more than three windows on a machine, the windows turn black (no visible content). I normally have a dozen or more windows in use. Since the problem is caused by a memory management error, when you see the bug is a function of how much video memory you have. Every Nvidia card is impacted. Nvidia promises they will fix it one day. There's also the problem of having to re-install the driver every time there's a kernel or Xorg update. Since I use Fedora, those are frequent.

I won't ever purchase another piece of hardware that requires a proprietary (closed source) driver. If Nvidia or ATI want my business, they either need to open source or wait for the reverse engineering projects (like Nouveau for Nvidia or Avivo for ATI) to reach usable levels.

I've got the Intel 950 graphics chip also, and it works fine for common tasks that I do in Linux and in Win XP (required by job.) Older games seem to work pretty well on it, and I don't have the time/money for the newer ones anyway.

It all depends on what you are going to use the laptop for. Where I work we still use some Dell D505's (with an earlier Intel graphic chip) and they work fine also.

The "integrated" graphics option would be on my mom's laptop. She does not play video games or watch TV. She would only do basic stuff such as go online, write letters, etc.

Would the "integrated" graphics option suffice? Should I expect the hardware to act differently if I am running Linux instead of Windows?

It will more than suffice.