Intel HD Graphics 3000 not ready for prime time

[wbabt007 398]

Hello my fellow forumnites is me again, I was just wanted to share with you my impression on this obscure and often not used(unless in battery mode) Feature in our M18x R1, the famous (actually I should say infamous) Intel HD graphics 3000.

For the past days I been looking to replace my dell xps m1530 because the screen finally went dark( I replace the inverter and the CCF Lamp but change run ito unforeseen issues and even though i got an image is towards the yellow and not as bright as before).

There are many candidate laptops to replace mine, but one of the trends I been facing is that most laptops in the low end range (500-750 US) tend to come with the Intel hd graphics ranging from the 300 series to the 4500.

That prompted to read more about it and all I can take from it was a mix bag. Some people claim is the best thing since slice bread and other claimed is the worst of worst. This cause me some concerns because the last thing I want is to purchase a laptop for school that will actually be a step down form the xps m1530.

Then in remembered that our M18x R1 come with the Intel Graphics, so i decided to test it, seconds later i press the function key plus f7 and after a reboot(that lasted between 3 and 5 minutes) I had plunged in the world of Intel integrated graphics, and I have to tell you is one of the worst things i ever seen.

The screen response is sluggish at best in the desktop and browsing the web is just plain painfully slow. colors still look good but is not the same, and then I decided to open a game to see the average performance.

On normal operation (dual 6970 AMD cards ) I usually get around 60 to 90 fps in Atlantica Online (Free to play MMORPG that been out for 4 years) with the integrated Intel HD graphics I get an Average of 10 to 7 fps, wow seriously?

I know that the HD graphics are not really geared towards high demanding 3D games(running battlefield 3 would probably melt them, so i am not asking for miracles) but if I remember correctly the Alienware m17x R1 came with the nVidia Geforce 9400 as the integrated solution which is 100 times more capable to run a game that the Intel incarnation.

Best bet is do not buy a laptop for any price if its main card is the Intel HD graphics, you will probably regretted in the long run. (unless off course you are planing to surf the web and check your web-mail) for anything else you will be soon smashing the machine on your desk.

Well that about it, hope to see you soon on the forums or on Battlefield 3 (Caspian Border or Operation Firestorm)

Cheers.

[unreal25 786]

I think there are usually some Power Savings feature active by default on Intel integrated graphics (that would explain the colors). For gaming it might work for some games on low resolutions and very low graphic details, but yeah -- it's not really a gaming card.

[vikingrinn 33]

lol, well, you're right - i don't think the intel hd 3000 iGPU is going to be on par with amd 6970 crossfirex dGPU's anytime soon...

anywho, for everyday tasks, never really experienced much of a problem (an ssd would definitely remedy the case of a 3-5 minute reboot time...) with the intel hd 3000, and the newly revised intel hd 4000 has made many improvements for a 'good' average all around iGPU:

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Intel HD Graphics 4000 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

[Brian 1980]

The Intel 3000 GPU blows but like viking mentioned, the 4000 one is somewhat passable compared to its predecessor. Their performance is still subpar but slowly getting better. I use my integrated graphics during the day when I need to unplug my M18x, it gets me >3 hours of battery which is nice.

[Michael 1315]

@Brian - I bet 2 Intel HD 3000 in SLI would blow your 680M out of the water!

[Brian 1980]

@Brian - I bet 2 Intel HD 3000 in SLI would blow your 680M out of the water!

lol yeah I bet, my 680M would cower in fear of their brute power.

[wbabt007 398]

lol yeah I bet, my 680M would cower in fear of their brute power.

Wait, you have 680M in your m18x? I thought you order it with dual 6970 in xfire, do my eyes deceive me? Did you change your card? whats going on?

[Xonar 418]

http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m18x/1860-incoming-clevo-680m-4gb-aw-m18x-r1.html

[Brian 1980]

Wait, you have 680M in your m18x? I thought you order it with dual 6970 in xfire, do my eyes deceive me? Did you change your card? whats going on?

@wbabt007 you've been gone far too long. I went from 6970M xfire to 6990m xfire to 580M SLi! Now I'm replacing the 580M's with 680M (starting with 1 card first). See Xonar's link above this post for more info.

[unreal25 786]

AMD Trinity seems much better for gaming.

[DigitalFubar 17]

AMD Trinity seems much better for gaming.

Lol Ive only ever owned ati cards.. and when i got my 18xr2 with 680s it was night and day difference.. more vibrant.. brighter.. smother.. stable.. games run great.. minus a few hicups but still playable..

[Xonar 418]

I think unreal25 was talking about AMD integrated vs. Intel integrated.

[phridom 10]

was there something mentioned in another post about some kind of unlock for the intel 3000? im coming late on this so i apologize for coming in late on this but i swore i saw something like that on here somewhere does anyone have the link?

[mw86 1362]

Its not total fail. I was able to get Diablo3 easily playable at 720p with shadows down and everything else max. Wasnt 60fps but was usually 40-60fps. No probs there but that was using full performance options Intel allows and the latest Intel gpu driver. Same as Dirt 3 720p lowered shadows all on max except no AA and around 35fps average. This is the 2960xm so i think HD3000. What i noticed is your ram speed will allow your graphics to run better. I tested a max of 2133mhz sodimms i made in Thaiphoon burner giving 30+ in the vram bandwidth according to GPUZ. Ran great. 1600mhz min for any good performance at all. 1866 better and 2133mhz was blazing vs stock. I posted it in one of ram threads and i thought in the M18x R1. Bench thread.

So maybe due to that im the only one who has great gaming on Intel HD sure beats my 7970m's in crossfire... Why well because it never has crashed on me. Atleast drivers are working better than the mess i am dealing with AMD. It must be an M18x R1 thing or just bad cards since I have more probs than anyone here on 7970m. Im hoping AW-Frank has a resolution when he gets back. Ive already provided service tag and plenty iinfo of issues. So i can only wait.