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LOSTCIRCUITS	SHORTCUTS: Integrated Graphics AMD's 690G / Radeon 1250 Platform Intel G965 / GMA X3000 Platform Test Environment / Pricing DVD Performance Gaming: F.E.A.R. Gaming: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3DMark '06 Vista Performance Index Vista DVD and DRM Storage Subsystem Final Words Give Us Some Feedback on this Review
AMD' 690G vs Intel's 965G Revolte of the Integrated Graphics
(Joe Freund, September 4, 2007)

Vista

DVD playback under Vista did not go as smoothly as with Windows XP, but the issue was not with the integrated graphics. Rather, Vista’s DRM has a problem with Zoom Player 4.51 on either platform. Here is the error that Vista would generate when Zoom Player 4.51 tried to play a DVD.

Zoom Player 5, however, was able to play DVDs under Windows Vista. Bottom line: If you insist on using Vista, both the AMD 690G and the Intel G965 can deliver the Aero interface, but be prepared to update your software to avoid trouble with Microsoft’s DRM.

Dual Display/HDMI

Using two displays with the AMD 690G under both Windows XP and Vista worked well. Any combination of 2 between VGA, DVI, and HDMI offered several options with the Samsung 173T LCD, the Dell 2001FP LCD, and the Hitachi 57F59A rear projection HDTV. With the two LCD monitors, the desktop could be cloned at a resolution up to 1280x1024 (the native res of the Samsung) or extended with the Samsung going up to 1280x1024 and the Dell able to use its full resolution of 1600x1200. Cloning wasn’t the best option when using the HDTV because of the different aspect ratios, but the desktop was easily extended between either LCD at its native resolution and the HDTV at 1280x720.

The biggest advantage of HDMI over DVI is the ability to carry audio signals. The Asus M2A-VM HDMI features an internal connection from the SPDIF output on the motherboard to the HDMI card to carry stereo PCM and digitally compressed multichannel DVD sound. By adding a Dolby Digital encoding sound card like the HDA X-Mystique and connecting its coaxial SPDIF output to the coax SPDIF connection on the HDMI card, the M2A-VM HDMI becomes capable of sending all sound over HDMI with the video signal.

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