How to run Quake III and HD videos on a Netbook

(Credit: Liliputing)

Most Netbooks are unable to render high-definition videos, not to mention run 3D games. In fact, the standard Intel Atom processor and integrated graphics chipset can barely handle Flash-heavy Web sites.

However, it's beginning to seem like the limitation is not on the hardware, but the drivers. Martin Mohring, from the Linux Foundation, was at a Mobile Dev Camp event in Germany. There, he showed an MSI Wind U115 with an Atom Z530 1.6GHz/Intel GMA 500 combo not only playing an HD video clip, but also running Quake III at about 35fps. The secret? This Netbook is using Moblin Linux, which has optimized drivers to push the graphics performance to another level.

If this gets you all excited, you can download a copy of Moblin Linux here and let us know your experience. But while waiting for the download, check out some videos posted by UMPC Portal and Netbook News.de after the jump.

(Source: Crave Asia via Liliputing)

[TrackSmart]

This post makes no sense. Intel's Moblin platform doesn't support the Intel GMA 500 chipset:
"Platforms with the GMA-500 Graphics chipset are not supported."

Intel doesn't support it's own chipset under Moblin, it's own operating system for netbooks. That's truly horrendous product support.

[TrackSmart]

By the way, I am referring to the download page you posted. It's clear that the currently version of Moblin does not have GMA 500 support (it's labelled everywhere on the page).

I'm guessing the drivers they are using are still in development. Hopefully they will include them in Moblin soon...

[Shannon_VanWagner]

Very Cool! I think GNU/Linux is an outstanding "Universal Platform" for playing games.

I have a similar story about a Netbook. My system76.com Starling Netbook with Ubuntu Netbook Remix GNU/Linux runs the 3d FPS online game UrbanTerror (urbanterror.net) by Frozen Sand, check it out here:

http://digg.com/linux_unix/Unboxing_the_System76_com_Starling_Netbook_with_Ubuntu_Linux

Free yourself with GNU/Linux!

Shannon VanWagner
humans enabled

[AnnihilatorESP]

I have an Asus eee 1000h with Windows XP and it can play up to 720p without problems (using VLC). The problem is also in the codecs and the software used. With coreAVC it can HD videos up to 1080i.

[ET3D]

Haven't seen any details on how exactly Quake III was run (resolution, quality, ...), but some googling show that this is about the speed of an NVIDIA TNT. Which means that this is a very very weak 3D chip with no chance of salvation.