Intel GMA 3650

The Intel GMA 3650 is an integrated graphics processor from the GMA 3600 IGP generation, built on the Cedarview chip using a PowerVR SGX545 architecture fabricated on a 65 nm process. With a production status of end-of-life and a release date from late September 2008, this part targets the lowest tier of computing, where its performance profile defines a very specific use case.

Who Should Consider It

Given that the GMA 3650 has no benchmarks with actual scores—its avgBenchmarkScore is 0—and sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, the data suggests this is a purely functional display adapter rather than a gaming or workstation part. The pixel rate of 640.0 MPixel/s and texture rate of 2.560 GTexel/s indicate that any 3D workload will be severely constrained; these figures are an order of magnitude below what even entry-level discrete graphics from the same era would manage. For resolution and settings, the hardware limits are clear: this is not a component for 1080p gaming, nor for 720p with moderate details. The FP32 performance of 40.96 GFLOPS is the metric that tells the real story—this is roughly 0.04 TFLOPs, a figure that would struggle with basic desktop composition effects. The only realistic consideration is for systems where the workload is limited to 2D desktop rendering, video playback of low-resolution content, or as a display output for basic productivity tasks. If the target is a lightweight, fanless system where the GPU is merely present to drive a panel, the GMA 3650 is adequate. However, any expectation of frame rates in modern or even mid-2000s 3D titles should be abandoned; the data shows no headroom for such tasks. The 32 shading units and 4 TMUs are present in name only, as their throughput is bottlenecked by the 1 ROP, which caps fill-rate operations. For users who need a silent, low-power device for web browsing or document editing at low resolutions, the GMA 3650 can serve, but only with the understanding that the experience will be minimal.

Memory Subsystem

The memory configuration is entirely system-dependent: size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." This means the GMA 3650 has no dedicated VRAM; it borrows from the host system's main memory, which introduces significant latency and bandwidth penalties. The lack of dedicated memory means that performance is directly tied to the speed and capacity of the system RAM, which is a critical bottleneck in any graphics workload. For high resolutions, this is a severe limitation—sharing bandwidth with the CPU for both compute and memory access means that even moderate display resolutions like 1366x768 will saturate the available bandwidth quickly. The memory clock is also listed as "System Shared," so there is no fixed speed; the effective bandwidth is unpredictable and dependent on the platform's memory controller. In practice, the data implies that the GMA 3650 cannot maintain consistent frame pacing at any resolution above basic desktop usage, as the memory subsystem lacks the dedicated resources to handle large texture buffers or framebuffer operations. The 1 ROP further compounds this, as pixel throughput is constrained not just by memory but by the rasterization pipeline itself. For any task requiring large framebuffer writes, such as video playback in a window larger than 720p, the system-dependent memory will likely produce stuttering or dropped frames. The absence of dedicated VRAM also means that the system's total memory capacity is reduced by whatever amount the driver reserves for graphics, which on systems with 1-2 GB of RAM could impact overall system responsiveness.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

There are no RT cores or tensor cores listed in the fact pack, and the API support is minimal: DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0, with no Vulkan support. This places the GMA 3650 in a pre-ray-tracing era, as hardware-accelerated ray tracing did not exist in this class of product. The absence of Vulkan means that any modern game or application that relies on this API for low-level hardware access will not run at all. DirectX 10.1 support is the maximum feature level, which allows for basic shader model 4.1 features, but this is insufficient for games that require DirectX 11 or higher. OpenGL ES 2.0 is a mobile-oriented API, suggesting this part was designed for embedded or low-power platforms, not desktop gaming. The PowerVR SGX545 architecture is notable for its tile-based deferred rendering approach, which can be efficient for certain workloads, but the implementation here is constrained by the low shading unit count and the single ROP. The display outputs are "Portable Device Dependent," meaning the GMA 3650 was likely intended for netbooks or small form-factor systems where the display connection is hardwired to the motherboard. In terms of feature set, the data shows a part that is fundamentally obsolete for any modern graphics API, and its feature set is limited to legacy compatibility. There is no support for hardware-accelerated video decoding beyond what the OS provides through software fallbacks, and the lack of tensor cores means no AI acceleration. For users who need to run applications that require Vulkan or DirectX 11+, the GMA 3650 will not function.

How It Compares

The fact pack lists no nearest rivals, which means there is no benchmark data to compare against other GPUs. The percentileVsAllGpus of 50 is a mid-point ranking, but this is misleading because it is based on a benchmark score of 0; the 50th percentile is a default placeholder rather than a meaningful statistical position. Without rival scores, the data cannot indicate how this part stacks up against integrated graphics from AMD or older Intel HD Graphics. The absence of nearestRivals and benchmarks suggests that this product was never tested in a standardized suite, or that its performance was so low that it was excluded from comparative databases. What can be inferred is that the GMA 3650 is likely at the bottom of the performance curve compared to any other GPU with a non-zero benchmark score. The 64.0 MPixel/s pixel rate is indicative of a part that is slower than even the earliest Intel Extreme Graphics from the early 2000s, which typically had pixel rates in the hundreds of MPixel/s. In the absence of rival data, the only comparison is internal: the FP32 throughput of 40.96 GFLOPS is roughly one-thousandth of a modern integrated GPU like the Intel Iris Xe, which would score in the thousands of GFLOPS. The texturing rate of 2.560 GTexel/s is similarly low, suggesting that any texture-heavy workload will be untenable. The lack of a benchmark score means that no performance percentage deltas can be calculated, so any claims about being "30% faster" or "twice as slow" cannot be made. The data simply shows a product with theoretical limits that are far below any contemporary competitor.

FAQ

Q: What DirectX version does the Intel GMA 3650 support?

A: It supports DirectX 10.1, which is the maximum API version listed for this GPU.

Q: Does the GMA 3650 support Vulkan?

A: No, the Vulkan API is not listed; only DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 are supported.

Q: How much dedicated memory does the GMA 3650 have?

A: It has no dedicated memory; the memory size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all system-shared or system-dependent.

Q: What is the production status of the GMA 3650?

A: The production status is end-of-life, with a release date of late September 2008.

Q: How many shading units does the GMA 3650 have?

A: It has 32 shading units, 4 texture mapping units, and 1 raster operations unit.

Q: What is the thermal design power of the GMA 3650?

A: The TDP is 13 W, and it is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a PCI bus interface.

Power and Cooling

The GMA 3650 has a thermal design power of 13 W, which is low enough to be passively cooled in most implementations; no power connectors are listed, and no suggested PSU is specified, indicating that it draws power from the motherboard's standard rails. The slot width is "IGP," meaning it is integrated into the chipset or processor package, not a discrete card. The bus interface is PCI, which is an older standard, further confirming that this is a legacy part from an era before PCIe became ubiquitous in integrated graphics. The 13 W TDP is a fixed figure, and given that the GPU is system-shared, the actual power draw will vary with system memory activity, but the GPU core itself is designed for low-power environments like netbooks or embedded devices. Cooling requirements are minimal: a simple heatsink or even the system's case airflow would suffice, as the 65 nm process is relatively large and does not concentrate heat in a small die. The display outputs are portable-device dependent, meaning that the cooling solution is likely integrated into the motherboard design, and there is no provision for active cooling beyond what the system chassis provides. For a system builder, the 13 W TDP means that no additional power delivery is required beyond the basic 20-pin or 24-pin ATX connector, and the lack of a suggested PSU rating implies that any power supply capable of powering the CPU and motherboard will handle the GPU. The PCI bus interface also means that the GPU is not a separate card that would require a slot power connector; it is a chip on the motherboard.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark performance of the GMA 3650 cannot be analyzed in the traditional sense because the avgBenchmarkScore is 0, and there are no entries in the benchmarks array. The percentileVsAllGpus of 50 is a theoretical midpoint, but with a score of zero, this percentile is not derived from actual performance data—it is a default value. The data shows a pixel rate of 640.0 MPixel/s, which translates to a fill rate of 0.64 gigapixels per second; this is a hard ceiling on how many pixels can be written to the framebuffer per second. The texture rate of 2.560 GTexel/s is the maximum texture fetch rate, but with only 4 TMUs, the texture throughput is severely limited. The FP32 performance of 40.96 GFLOPS is the raw compute capability, which is approximately 0.04 TFLOPs; this is the metric that determines shader complexity. To put this in context, a modern GPU with a score in the 50th percentile would have an FP32 rating in the thousands of GFLOPS, meaning the GMA 3650 is orders of magnitude slower. The absence of rivals means that no percentage deltas can be computed; the data cannot say "X% faster than Y" because there is no Y. The 1 ROP is the most telling bottleneck: even if the shaders could process data faster, the pixel output stage would throttle everything. The 32 shading units are also low; for comparison, a mid-range GPU from the same era would have several hundred. The combination of a 65 nm process, system-shared memory, and a PCI bus creates a scenario where the GPU is not just slow but also constrained by the platform around it. The benchmark results, such as they are, indicate that this part is only suitable for framebuffer output, not for any graphics processing that would generate a measurable score. The data implies that any attempt to run a 3D benchmark would produce a result so low that it would round to zero, which explains the empty benchmark array.