Why latest games don't work on INTEL 915/945 motherboards

(Read this article carefully. I hope this article helps you. You can ask me any questions regarding this article. This applies for G31/G33 motherboards too)

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1] What do the games mainly require?

-   Games mainly require:

* CPU
* RAM
* VIDEO CARD
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2] What do the latest games require?
-   Well, speaking in terms of games that were released between 2006-2007, their minimum requirements are:
* CPU: P3, CELERON or P4 (however 90% games require P4)
* Minimum CPU speed for P4 required was 2.2 GHz
* RAM: minimum 256 MB or 512 MB (90% games require 512 MB)
* VIDEO MEMORY: minimum 64 MB or 128 MB (60% games require 64 MB)
But however even if u have: 

* CPU: P4 3.2 GHz
* RAM: 1 GB
* VIDEO (GRAPHICS) MEMORY: 192 MB OR 256 MB (assuming that you have INTEL 915 or 945 motherboard INTEL 900 GMA or 950 GMA onboard graphics)
You will find that recent games wont run on your PC.

Example:

OBLIVION requires minimum of,
* CPU: P4 2.0 GHz or equivalent processor
* RAM: 512 MB
* VIDEO MEMORY: 128 MB
But still it does not run on system having,
* CPU (PROCESSOR): 3.2 GHz
* RAM: 1 GB
* VIDEO (GRAPHICS) MEMORY: 192 MB OR 256 MB (assuming that you have INTEL 915 or 945 motherboard with INTEL 900 GMA or 950 GMA onboard graphics)
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3] Why do these games dont run even if u have such a nice system?
-   Well, the only aspect where your PC fails is GRAPHICS.

Even if you have intel 900 GMA graphics with 192 MB of memory or 950 GMA graphics with 256 MB of memory, there are few more things that your graphic chip or graphic card must have.

Features of a GRAPHIC CARD:
* 3D ACCELARATION
* VIDEO MEMORY
* PIXEL SHADER
* VERTEX SHADER (There are two types: SOFTWARE VERTEX SHADERS and HARDWARE VERTEX SHADERS)
* HW TRANSFORM AND LIGHTING
* HW RASTERIZING
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4) What are the features of 900 and 950 GMA graphics ?
-   Features of 900 GMA (INTEL 915 motherboard) and 950 GMA (INTEL 945 motherboard):
* 3D ACCERALATION: YES
* VIDEO MEMORY: 192 MB (for 900 GMA) and 256 MB (for 950 GMA)
* PIXEL SHADER: 2.0
* VERTEX SHADER: 3.0 (it has SOFTWARE VERTEX SHADER which uses DIRECTX)
* HW RASTERISING: YES
* HW TRANSFORM n LIGHTING: NO (usually PROVIDED BY CPU or you can use 3D ANALYZE)
So all features are satisfied for the GAMES OF 2006-2007 ERA, except one where 915 or 945 fails. These games require HARDWARE VERTEX SHADERS and what 915 or 945 chipset has is SOFTWARE VERTEX SHADERS.
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5) So what can be done to run these or later games?
-   Practically speaking nothing can be done as such to run these games except buying a new motherboard or getting a nice graphic card . However there are few softwares which may prove helpful.

EXAMPLE:
* OBLIVION RUNS WITH OLDBLIVION
* PRINCE OF PERSIA: SANDS OF TIME RUNS WITH 3D ANALYZER
But softwares are not sufficient to run all games.
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6) Which motherboard do you suggest will be able to run all latest as well as upcoming games?
-   Speaking in terms of latest games like BIOSHOCK or SPIDERMAN 3,
what you require minimum is:
SPIDERMAN 3 minimum system rquirements:
CPU: P4 3.0 GHz
RAM: 1GB for XP and 1.5 GB for VISTA
VIDEO MEMORY: 256 MB
Video memory features required by SPIDERMAN 3:
* PIXEL SHADER: 3.0
* VERTEX SHADER: 3.0 (HARDWARE VERTEX SHADER required)
* HW TnL: YES (it is always better to have it on the graphic chipset)
So taking into account these features I suggest that INTEL G45 motherboard would be the best. But at the same time I would say that Graphic cards are more reliable than the onboard graphic chipsets.

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7) Why Intel G45 motherboard?
-   Features of G45 motherboard (INTEL GMA X4500 graphics):-
* VIDEO MEMORY: 384 MB
* PIXEL SHADER: 4.0
* VERTEX SHADER: 4.0 (features HARDWARE VERTEX SHADER)
* HW TnL: YES
So i guarantee that almost any game upto this date would run on this motherboard, but few of the latest games might be laggy.
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8) Why do you say that latest games might be laggy on G45 motherboard?

-   The graphic chipset features mentioned above like vertex shader, HW TnL are just sufficient to run the game. There are many other features in the graphic cards other than those mentioned above which decide the look and performance of the game.

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9) I need more information on Intel Motherboards and related Graphic chipsets?

-   Click Here and read more about it. However this would require you to have some technical knowledge about the features of those motherboards. Anyways we would make sure that we explain everything in a systematic manner, but this would take time.