The Tech Report takes a further look at the Intel G45 Express chipset.  On paper, the G45 Express certainly looks like it should be able to run with the new IGP order. But can Intel really compete with the graphics specialists on their home turf?

Let's get this out of the way right now: if you're looking to play games on an integrated graphics chipset, you can do a lot better than the G45 Express. AMD's 780G and Nvidia's GeForce 8300 platforms offer significantly better performance and a more reliable track record when it comes to compatibility, especially with newer titles. Of course, if you want to play newer games, you're much better off ditching integrated graphics in favor of one of the sub-$100 discrete graphics cards available on the market, but I digress.

So the G45 Express' Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD isn't much of a gamer, then. But Intel's latest GMA does support Blu-ray decode acceleration—a task it performs rather well. Even with our budget Pentium E2180, the X4500HD had no problems smoothly playing back high-bitrate Blu-ray movies at 1080p. The latest integrated graphics chipsets from AMD and Nvidia can do this too, of course, but at least Intel has reached parity here.

The rest of the G45 Express is also up to snuff, with a second-generation PCI Express x16 slot, low power consumption at idle and under load, plenty of south bridge features including an integrated Gigabit Ethernet MAC and problem-free AHCI implementation, and a front-side bus compatible with a wide range of very potent Core 2 processors. Intel arguably has a much more attractive processor lineup than AMD at the moment, and that gives the G45 Express a leg up on the 780G and GeForce 8300. And if you're looking to build a Core 2-based home theater PC with an integrated graphics chipset and Blu-ray decode acceleration, the G45 is currently the only game in town.

As tends to be the case with Intel's integrated graphics platforms, there's a price premium associated with the G45 Express. Motherboards based on the G45 typically cost $10-40 more than those based on AMD's 780G, which is our current integrated graphics chipset of choice. That's not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it's something to keep in mind, particularly when building a budget rig.

The MSI G45M-FIDR we tested today should hit the market at around $120, and it's a decent board overall. I particularly like the inclusion of the ICH10R south bridge chip, since falling hard drive prices continue to make RAID more attractive for desktops, if only for redundancy. However, the G45M-FIDR doesn't play to the G45's strengths, which are its Blu-ray playback acceleration and abundance of digital output options. We can only hope MSI's home-theater-PC-oriented take on the G45 does better on that front