Intel GMA 4500 - status on functionality in Ubuntu?

[pingu1]

Hi!
I see a lot of computers (laptops/notebook and so on) - have Intel GMA 4500 cards today... can anyone tell me how this graphicscard works with Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Coala - and if anybody knows - how it works in the newer version that's coming?
(Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) Alpha 3)

[SiegHard]

Hi!
I see a lot of computers (laptops/notebook and so on) - have Intel GMA 4500 cards today... can anyone tell me how this graphicscard works with Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Coala - and if anybody knows - how it works in the newer version that's coming?
(Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) Alpha 3)
What do u mean in meaning works? :D I have Intel GMA 4500mhd and in my ubuntu 9.10 compiz all effects runs good and pretty smooth, gaming quake3 runs 50-60fps warcraft3 30fps and so on :D So it pretty works but not so good how could it :)

[pingu1]

I'm wondering if it works (which drivers do you use/are they already present in 9.10?) - and how well. I see some are complaining about having black screens on startup, problems in general with these graphic cards....

I am going to buy a new laptop in the near future, and I ask because 60% of the laptops in the stores has this graphics card.

[Tristan Schmelcher]

Hi pingu, I happened to notice your post while I was googling for information about the 4500. I work for a company that is developing a hardware-accelerated application and we've done a lot of testing with Intel's Linux driver for the 4500. For most applications (especially older games, like Quake 3), the driver works fine, but some of the more advanced graphics functionality in the driver is simply broken. It's getting better all the time, but last I heard 10.04 still had some problems with it. So if you're buying the laptop to play bleeding-edge games then the 4500 might not be a good choice. But otherwise it should be just fine, and after a few more releases of Ubuntu it'll probably be able to handle the bleeding-edge stuff too. On the other hand, if you're looking for the best possible graphics card for Linux then I personally recommend NVIDIA ones.

[pingu1]

Thank you, Tristan Schmelcher.
I agree, as I see most people recommend nVidia, but the cheapest, and the "most" popular laptops (in Norway at least) are ones with GMA 4500. It's usually, from what I can see, more expensive laptops that has nVidia-cards, but then again - there is a reason that they are more expensive - and not just because of graphics....

Maybe I'll put som more money in it.....
Anyway - thank you.