As you could imagine the G45 is underwealming for gaming, but it seems Intel actually cares to help keep open source drivers for their product(s) going. The G45 is Intel’s most advanced IGP for video use: it has hardware acceleration of H.264, VC-1, and MPEG2, plus it features full 8-channel HDMI audio support. Unlike ATI and NVIDIA’s latest generations, Intel’s drivers actually enable proper video acceleration.
Phoronix had this to say about the video features:
[quote]While the Intel GMA X4500HD isn’t for Linux gamers, this is an ideal solution for solely desktop users, those looking to build a Home Theater PC (HTPC), or those deeply concerned about open-source support. The Intel GMA X4500 series works great for desktop applications with the choice of either XAA or EXA 2D acceleration and we had found no significant slow-downs or other problems while testing out this IGP with the latest git code. Those interested in the X4500 series for media playback, the xf86-video-intel driver supports both X-Video and X-Video Motion Compensation. In comparison, neither of the latest graphics cards from NVIDIA or ATI supports XvMC with the closed-source or open-source drivers.[/quote]
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=intel_x4500hd&num=8
.
