Conclusion:

Overall the G45 definitely seems to be an improvement over the G35 and at times did somewhat better than we expected in older titles such as WoW, Battlefield 2, and CS: Source. However, the abysmal scores of DX10 show this card isn't ready for prime time and in CoD4 show it can't handle even modern games that scale well. Not decoding H.264 content properly didn't help either but this should be addressed at some point we assume. Still though looking at the price and how well the 780G and 790GX perform both in games and in regards to HTPC performance we have to say that this makes more sense for those looking for a home theater, and most people won't need the better CPU power offered by a Core 2 Duo. Don't blame Gigabyte though, they did a great job and the board overclocks very well. If you just want integrated video and a high-quality board then this is a great choice but you could honestly go with a cheaper board and be fine if 2D is your only concern or see much stronger power out of  a $35 video card. We like what they've done though and we'll try to continue to track it. We doubt Intel will ever catch up with AMD or Nvidia anytime soon and Larrabee is far from even being on the table at this point so time will tell. Good job by Gigabyte, and it is good Intel is at least trying to put out a somewhat better performing card even if it still pales to what AMD has in regards to integrated graphics. For an HTPC or those who don't need all the extra horse power, you might be much better served by Gigabyte's excellent 780G motherboard.

Pricing:
The Gigabyte GA-EG45M-DS2H can be picked up for $128.50 which is about the same price as a 790GX motherboard. Gigabyte's great 780G motherboard can be had for $85.50.

Score: 88%