One of the biggest architectural changes introduced by the Core i5 600 series is the 32nm design process. However the CPU and GPU do not belong to the same piece of silicon, rather this Multi-Chip Package (MCP) carries the 32nm CPU and the GPU which is still manufactured on a 45nm process.

The GPU or IGP (Integrated Graphics Platform) in the Core i5 600 is called the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator HD, which has been derived from an existing Intel graphics product.

Intel claims the Graphics Media Accelerator HD is considerably more powerful than the GMA X4500 HD featured in the Intel G45 chipset. The number of shaders has been increased to 12 from 10 offered by the G45, while they operate at either 733MHz or 900MHz depending on the processor, whereas the G45 runs at 800MHz.

Intel has also increased the amount of memory that the GPU can utilize from 768MB on the G45 to a massive 1.7GB on the built-in GPU for systems that have RAM to spare.

The Graphics Media Accelerator HD has a theoretical bandwidth of 21.2GB/s which is ~25% greater than the GMA 4500M HD using DDR3 memory. Overall Intel claims that Clarkdale graphics will work about 1.5x faster than the integrated graphics core of the G45 chipset, which nonetheless should still be insufficient to become a mildly capable gaming GPU.