Integrated graphics processor

Integrated graphics processing unit

Integrated graphics processing units (IGPU), also called integrated graphics, shared graphics solutions, integrated graphics processors (IGP), or unified memory architectures (UMA) use a portion of a computer's system RAM rather than dedicated graphics memory. IGPs can be integrated onto a motherboard as part of its northbridge chipset, or on the same die (integrated circuit) with the CPU, such as Accelerated Processing Unit (AMD APU) or Intel HD Graphics. IGPUs and APUs are less costly to implement than dedicated graphics processing, but tend to be less capable. Integrated graphics processing was considered unfit for 3D games or graphically intensive programs but could run less intensive programs such as Adobe Flash. Examples of such IGPs would be offerings from SiS and VIA circa 2004. However, modern integrated graphics processors such as AMD Accelerated Processing Units and Intel Graphics Technology can even handle Triple A games at lower settings.