What can you do with intel hd graphics. Intel graphics driver - what kind of program is it, is it needed or not? Integrated graphics tests

To do this, we take the following steps:

• Right-click on a free space on the desktop;
• From the menu that appears, select “Graphic characteristics...”;
• Check the box next to “Advanced mode” and click “Ok”;
• Open the “3D Graphics” tab;
• And on the right side of the window, in the 3D graphics settings, move the slider all the way towards “Performance”;
• Just below, check the box next to the entry “Optimal operating mode for applications”;
• Finally, click “Apply” and “Ok”.

3. Disable or remove programs that require a lot of resources.

Some programs begin their work during system boot, sometimes the user is not even aware of it. It is necessary to disable autoloading of such programs; this will significantly increase system performance. Also, a lot of resources are required for antiviruses, utilities for downloading files from the Internet, programs used for communication (Skype, various clients). All these programs, if possible, are also disabled during the game to improve performance.

Well, it should be noted that there are many programs that are developed by specialists specifically for overclocking video cards. The main thing is to choose the best option that will really increase performance and not lead to unstable operation of the system and reduce its performance.

And one more important factor, when installing the game, make sure that your laptop meets the system requirements of this game. Since neither an ordinary user nor an advanced specialist in this matter will be able to force him to work faster than he can.

The family of integrated Intel HD Graphics chips is an excellent replacement for discrete, that is, video cards running as separate modules. The use of a built-in video chip will be especially relevant for various laptops and netbooks. The advantages of such solutions are increased battery performance and less heating of the internal space of the mobile PC.

Video chip family

Intel HD Graphics Family includes several generations.

1. Intel HD - installed on the family and the first generation iCore 3/5/7. Codenamed Nehalem/Lynnfield. The capabilities of such a video card are very limited. Therefore, if the laptop will be used for working with graphics and for multimedia entertainment (watching movies in HD quality, playing games), then this chip will not be the best solution.
2. Intel HD 2000/3000. The second generation of integrated video chips from Intel is installed in the second generation iCore 3/5/7 processors. Codenamed Sandy Bridge. Today it is practically not used in new laptop models, but it is still a significant market player.
3. Intel HD 2500/4000. The third generation of integrated video logic is currently the most widespread representative of the mobile device market. Such cards are part of the third generation iCore processors. This video logic is codenamed Ivy Bridge. In terms of performance, it is close to Radeon HD 65xx cards.
4. The latest generation of Intel HD Graphics, codenamed Haswell. Part of the new 4th generation iCore processors. The main model of this generation is the 4600. It has two stripped-down versions - 4200 and 4400. The most powerful cards are the 5100 and 5200. In terms of performance, the latest model of the Intel HD 5200 card is ahead of most discrete video cards in the mid-price range.

Intel HD 3rd and 4th generations allow you to fully enjoy the quality of movies with resolutions up to 4K. Also, such video cards can easily cope with video game loads of the last 2-3 years. Since the first generation of processors and integrated video logic is already a little outdated, we will omit it from the review of Intel (R) HD Graphics cards. Let's move on.

Second generation video chips

Today, Intel HD Graphics 3000 video logic is still used quite often. It is an ideal solution for low-end mobile PCs. This solution allows you to quite comfortably watch high-quality films and even sometimes enjoy the delights of video games released in 2011-2012. However, if you consider that budget laptops and netbooks are not purchased for the purpose of multimedia entertainment, then everything falls into place. The maximum resolution supported by the video card is 2560 x 1600 pixels. In addition, this generation of video logic supports HDMI output. In order to optimize the performance of this interface, it is advisable to have the latest Intel HD Graphics driver installed.

As mentioned above, the second-generation graphics core family is represented by two models. These are Intel HD Graphics 2000 and 3000. Despite the fact that they are both manufactured using the same technological process, the performance of the cards can differ by a factor of two. This is due to the fact that the younger model has a lower core clock frequency; in addition, it is equipped with only six actuators (versus 12 for the older version of the card).

Thanks to this differentiation, a fairly clear segmentation of the market is achieved. So, the user can purchase a laptop with a dual- or quad-core processor and a full HD 3000 graphics core or reduced HD 2000 graphics. Naturally, this is reflected in the cost of the product.

Third generation

Intel HD Graphics 4000 video logic was presented in 2012. It is made on the basis of a 22nm technological process. The peak performance of the chip is 200 gigaflops. At the same time, the previous generation of video cards from Intel was executed on a 32-nm process, and the performance was exactly 2 times less.

Integrated graphics allow you to use all the features of DirectX 11 and OpenGL 3.3. According to the assurances of the developers and repeated tests, the Intel HD 4000 card allows you to enjoy all the delights of high-definition movies. In addition, this video logic makes it possible to feel quite comfortable in most modern games. Of course, it should be understood that some of them will require a lower resolution and reduced quality settings.

What should you do if the game does not work correctly or if any artifacts appear in the image? To fix this problem, you need to find a driver for the Intel HD Graphics 4000 chip on the manufacturer's website, download and install it. This advice seems trivial, but it actually helps. The fact is that the company's engineers try to regularly update the drivers of their products and improve compatibility with the latest applications.

If we compare the performance of the video card with the previous generation, it has increased by 30%. Additionally, you can get a boost in power by using a faster i7 processor and more RAM.

Fourth generation of video logic

Today, the Intel HD Graphics video card is installed in almost half of the laptops. This is due to both the excellent marketing moves of the corporation and the correct approach to integration. With each new generation, video logic becomes more and more advanced, which allows it to compete on an equal footing with discrete cards of the mid-price level.

The release of the latest generation chip had a noticeable impact on sales of video cards from other manufacturers. After all, there is no point in paying extra money for something that can work “right out of the box.” Just a few years ago, the performance of integrated video graphics was of little interest to anyone. After all, everyone understood that chips such as Intel HD were needed only for running office applications, viewing photos and low-resolution films. However, after the release of the third generation iCore processors and Intel HD Graphics 4000 video chips, the situation began to change dramatically.

It has become a real competitor for discrete chip manufacturers. And these are not empty words; just look at the falling dynamics of sales of cards from AMD and nVIDIA. In addition, AMD was forced to abandon the release of budget Radeon HD 70xx graphics due to its uncompetitiveness.

Description

Intel HD Graphics 4600 is an evolutionary development of the integrated video chip. Thanks to the fact that in 2010 Intel abandoned the then-classical scheme of separating vertex and pixel pipelines and switched to a unified shader architecture, it was able to regularly modernize its own video logic. Every year the company improves the chip manufacturing process, which has a positive effect on the number of execution units and, as a result, on performance.

The Intel HD 4600 already has 20 execution units installed, which allows it to compete on equal terms with AMD and nVIDIA chips. For comparison, the previous HD 4000 model had 16 blocks, and the HD 3000 only 12. Thus, even if we take the HD 4000 and HD 4600 chips with the same core frequency, the computing power of the latter will be 25% more. In addition to the number of execution units, the frequency of the video core was also increased. Now it is 1250 MHz, versus 1150 MHz for the previous generation. A distinctive feature of Haswell processors and video logic is reduced power consumption in idle mode.

The new Intel graphics allow you to support OpenGL 4.0 and DirectX 11.1 (shaders version 5). Other features of the chip include full-screen anti-aliasing, HDR and a number of other technologies that can improve the resulting image. It should be mentioned that, like the previous generation core, the HD 4600 can work with three monitors simultaneously.

Theoretical performance calculations

Knowing about the features of integrated graphics of different generations, you can move on to comparing their performance. For greater objectivity, the budget discrete card GeForce GT 630 will take part in the test. Core performance at peak load is:

• HD 4600 - 400 gigaflops;
• GT 630 - 311 gigaflops;
• HD 4000 - 294 gigaflops;
• HD 3000 - 194 gigaflops.

As we can see, already at this stage the discrete card is inferior to the latest generation of integrated graphics. However, we cannot ignore such a performance parameter as the scene shading speed. According to this indicator, discrete graphics are many times better than integrated solutions:

• GT 630 - 13 Mtex/s;
• HD 4600 - 5 Mtex/s;
• HD 4000 - 4.6 Mtex/s;
• HD 3000 - 1.35 Mtex/s.

In terms of rasterization speed, GeForce also shows the best results:

• GT 630 - 3.2 Mpix/s;
• HD 4600 - 2.5 Mpix/s;
• HD 4000 - 2.3 Mpix/s;
• HD 3000 - 1.35 Mpix/s.

At the moment, we will not touch upon memory bandwidth, since the characteristics of this indicator for Intel HD Graphics cores depend on the load on the processor.

Integrated graphics tests

Well, let's move on from theoretical foundations to practical tests. First, let's compare the performance of three generations of chips from Intel. HD 3000 graphics are tested based on HD 4000 - i7-3770K, HD 4600 - i7-4770K. At maximum load, the graphics core frequencies were 1350, 1150 and 1250 MHz, respectively.

The test is carried out at minimum video game graphics settings and a resolution of 1920 x 1080. In this case, filters such as anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering are disabled. The 3DMark performance test application was run at standard settings. Since the HD 3000 does not support DirectX 11 technology, other video chips are also checked without enabling it.

• HD 3000 - 3221 points;
• HD 4000 - 5795 points;
• HD 4600 - 8253 points.

The Unigine Heaven test also demonstrates the significant performance of the latest generation of chips:

• HD 3000 - 213 points;
• HD 4000 - 327 points;
• HD 4600 - 446 points.

Gaming performance

Let's finish with synthetic tests and move on to comparing the performance of cards in gaming applications. In the game Crysis 2, the HD 4600 card is almost one and a half times faster than its predecessor (11.5 points versus 7.7). HD 3000 received only 5 points.

F1 2011 is not so sensitive to GPU performance. Due to this, the HD 4600 was ahead of the HD 4000 by only 28 percent. It is noteworthy that the game runs perfectly even on HD 3000 graphics, which cannot but please owners of old laptops.

High-end graphics applications like Metro 2033 and Tomb Raider can be played quite well at medium or low settings in DirectX 10 mode on an HD 4600 card. Unfortunately, older chips don't allow for a smooth gaming experience due to the amount of frames per second noticeably sags, and the picture becomes like a slide show.

As a result of all the tests carried out, we can say that the next round of development of integrated graphics based on Haswell processors is a real step forward. Particularly pleasing is the fact that even in games released in 2013-2014 it is possible to achieve acceptable results. That is, even a budget laptop will allow you to fully enjoy the quality of multimedia entertainment.

Comparison of integrated and discrete cards

Now, from the test of integrated chips, let's move on to comparing the Intel HD 4600 and As can be seen from the indicators above, the Intel solution has a good peak performance indicator. Although at the same time this chip is inferior in memory bandwidth and rasterization speed.

First, let's test our cards on synthetic tests 3DMark and Unigine Heaven. The comparison is carried out at maximum graphics settings in Full HD resolution and using DirectX 11. As a result, the following test results were obtained:

• HD 4600 - 980 b.;
• GT 630 - 919 b.

• HD 4600 - 361 b.;
• GT 630 - 360 b.

• HD 4600 - 344 b.;
• GT 630 - 320 b.

As you can see, the HD 4600 chip competes on equal terms with a discrete card, which has advantages in the number of rasterization units, texture and pixel processing speed. But, unfortunately, in gaming applications things are, albeit a little, but still worse. In games such as Battlefield-3, Crysis-2, F1-2011, the HD 4600 lag is somewhere between 5-20%. In the Metro-2033 game, the integrated graphics lagged behind the GeForce GT 630 by more than half. But in games such as DiRT Showdown and Tomb Raider, the Intel card received 12 and 22% better results, respectively.

Results

The new integrated core from Intel is a significant step forward in the development of such technologies. Modern video chips easily outperform their previous generations in all performance indicators - the average gap over the HD 4000 is 40%. What about discrete graphics? Here we can say with confidence that if the laptop will not be used only for games, then it is much more correct to refuse to buy a mid-priced video card, since the built-in core allows you to completely replace it. In addition, do not forget about energy consumption. The top one, together with integrated graphics, consumes only 84 Watts, while the discrete GT 630 card based on a simple dual-core processor will initially consume 130 Watts of energy. As a result, this will result in lower battery capacity as well as overheating of internal components.

That is why, when buying a new laptop, forget about cheap discrete video cards, even if they are of the latest generation. In reality, they will not be able to provide the productivity gains that could justify such a purchase. Moreover, Intel HD Graphics 4600 can easily satisfy all the needs of a modern user.

In this article, the top-end model was used for testing, but today you can already purchase i5 and i3 models that are more affordable for the average user. As with the previous generation, the new video card has a stripped-down model - Intel HD Graphics 4400. Despite the smaller number of execution units, it is still ahead of the 3rd generation cards in terms of performance. Well, fans of ultrabooks and expensive laptops are much luckier, because Haswell series processors can be equipped with a more powerful HD 5100/5200 graphics core, which already has 40 execution units, which is twice as many as the HD 4600.

More about performance

As mentioned above, integrated video cards use RAM equally with the processor. Therefore, if you install a fairly powerful crystal of the latest generation in a laptop, but limit yourself to only a few gigabytes of slow memory, then the performance results of such a configuration can be very disappointing. Memory is the bottleneck for video logic, and therefore it is recommended to use the latest models with high frequencies and low latency to achieve good results.

Another nuance that significantly affects the performance of not only video graphics, but also the computer as a whole is overheating. Above a certain degree, the video chip and processor show poor results in various tests and real applications. Therefore, it is recommended to regularly clean coolers and the internal space of mobile PCs from dust. The result will not take long to arrive.

It's also important to understand that graphics quality will depend on the processor you choose. The fact is that as the load on the core increases, the video chip receives lower priority for transmitting packets, thus affecting the image quality. Therefore, test results when comparing budget and top-end processors and the same video logic will not be in favor of the first. Thus, the choice of the “heart” of a laptop directly affects the capabilities of the video chip.

And the last piece of advice for today. The latest driver must be installed. Even if you purchased a laptop already fully configured for work, do not be lazy to go to the manufacturer’s official website and download the latest version.

Hello friends If you have noticed a program such as the Intel graphics driver and are now thinking whether you need it or not, then I immediately forbid you to think so! And all because without this program your computer will not work normally!

So what is an Intel graphics driver and why is it so important? For your monitor to work properly, it must display a good and high-quality image. This is precisely the task that is assigned to the graphics adapter. Previously, it was separately placed on the motherboard, but now it is already built into the Intel processor itself. You connect the cable to the motherboard, but in fact the most important thing, that is, the graphics adapter or core, is located in the processor.

So, in order for this graphics adapter to produce a normal, smooth picture, so that you can change colors, screen resolution, all this requires drivers to be installed. Don’t worry, you don’t need to install anything, Windows itself has already taken care of this - it downloads the necessary drivers and installs them itself, and then asks to reboot

If you remove the Intel graphics driver, the computer will work, but a little strangely. The image may appear jittery or put some pressure on your eyes. Well, this definitely happened in the days of large CRT monitors, it was just unpleasant to look at the monitor. This is a little easier with LCD monitors.

So, here are the key points that I think you should know about the Intel integrated graphics driver:

• Your built-in graphics core in Windows is most likely called Intel HD Graphics; in older versions, when the video chip was separately soldered on the motherboard, it had a different name - Intel Extreme Graphics or Intel Graphics Media Accelerator; By the way, the modern integrated graphics core has made significant progress in performance and you can play many games on it, only of course at minimum settings;
• as a rule, you don’t need to think about installing Intel drivers for video, Windows itself should do this, and in its latest version, that is, in Windows 10, the driver installation mechanism has been significantly improved and works without glitches;
• Intel HD Graphics allows you to configure many parameters, although, to be honest, I looked at them, but I didn’t change anything, because I don’t know why, everything works like a clock; however, I want to convey to you that in the settings you can improve brightness, clarity (namely clarity, not contrast), and many unusual settings, which is why I am writing that maybe you will be interested in all this; You can get to the Intel HD Graphics settings either through the desktop menu or through a special icon in the Control Panel; there is also a tray icon;
• if you have a separate video card or you recently installed it, then you can remove Intel HD Graphics, since this software will no longer be of any use, and it will remain in the processes if you do not remove it;

The appearance of the Intel HD Graphics control window can be different, for example like this:

Although I personally have this type of program:

And once upon a time the driver management program looked something like this.

You've probably come across this built-in graphics card in laptops. However, this name hides several chips that were built into a variety of processors, and the first of its generation was actually in the motherboard.

Before Intel HD Graphics, we mostly dealt with the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA), and you can read about it. These graphics were not at all suitable for games, which, of course, did not suit many users. And since users want built-in graphics that they can play on, it means that manufacturers are trying to give it to them. So Intel HD Graphics was released.

It first appeared in 2010 along with mobile processors. At that time, they were already manufactured using a 32-nm process technology, but the graphics, which were not yet built into the processor itself, but soldered into the motherboard, were manufactured using a 45-nm process technology. Its graphics performance (3D image processing in particular) was 70% higher than the Intel GMA.

In 2011, the platform appeared. Here, a graphics chip was already built into the processor, manufactured using a 32-nm process technology. In the mobile version it was Intel HD 2000 for Core and Intel HD Graphics for Pentium and Celeron. This was the second generation of Intel HD.

The third generation appeared simultaneously with in 2012. In Celeron and Pentium there was an option without an index - just Intel HD Graphics, in Core - Intel HD Graphics 2500 and . It supported DirectX 11 - and this is important for games. This graphics core has also been used for integrated graphics in processors.

The line showed us a fairly large number of Intel HD options. The simplest one, without an index, as usual, went to Pentium and Celeron, and those with an index went to other processors. We will tell you about them in a separate article.

In the meantime, learn more about Intel HD Graphics, built into Haswell processors. It included 10 execution units and 40 shader processors. In terms of performance, it is approximately equal to the AMD Radeon HD 6450 - as you can see, it is quite a good option. In addition, it outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GT 620.

Likewise, there is support for DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.0, OpenCL 1.2 and OpenGL 4.0. There is a decoder for high-definition 4K video. Clock speed varies depending on the processor model. The exact clock frequency (both in normal mode and in turbo) can be found at the very end, column 7.

What games can you play on this video card? At minimum settings - almost any, but not the most modern ones. Dota 2 is quite suitable. If this particular video card is installed in your laptop, please share what games you play. This material concerns specifically Intel HD Graphics without an index. Let us remind you that in Haswell it can be found in Pentium and Celeron processors.

Even during our first acquaintance with processors based on the Clarkdale core, we paid attention to one of their key features - the integrated graphics core Intel HD Graphics. Then, in our review of the Intel Core i5-661, we conducted preliminary testing of the performance of this graphics adapter, and also checked its capabilities for decoding high-definition video. Continuing, while testing the first motherboard in our test laboratory on the Intel H55 Express chipset, a solution from the developer - Intel DH55TC, we even presented the results of attempts to play modern games.

But, since in all these materials the main attention was paid, nevertheless, to the capabilities of a specific processor and a specific motherboard, and the graphics core itself has several modifications and differs in frequency characteristics from processor to processor, we decided to conduct an in-depth study of the capabilities of Intel HD Graphics separate it into a separate material, collecting all the information available about it.

Let's start with a reminder of the theory. So, the new mass processors based on the Clarkdale core, more recognizable by the names of the models of the Intel Core i5, Intel Core i3 and Pentium G6950 series, are composite - under the heat distribution cover, the 32 nm computing core is adjacent to a 45 nm crystal, which includes all additional controllers, such as a memory controller and PCI Express bus controller, control and monitoring logic, as well as the Intel HD Graphics core.

Moreover, the processor contains only the computing part of the Intel HD Graphics graphics core - it is this that processes graphic information for 2D and 3D scenes or decodes high-definition video. The image prepared for output, frame by frame, is transmitted using the Intel Flexible Display Interface (Intel FDI) to the chipset, which is already responsible for outputting the stream via the digital interfaces DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort, and for the latter two it also adds a multi-channel audio stream , or transcoding for analog VGA (D-Sub) output.

Compared to previous generation video adapters that were built into Intel G43/45 chipsets, Intel HD Graphics has a number of advantages:

• there are 2 more execution pipelines;
• improved vertex processing and work with the Z-buffer;
• the maximum operating frequency and the volume of the video buffer allocated from RAM have been increased;
• OpenGL 2.1 support appeared;
• The ability to simultaneously work with two HDMI outputs has been implemented, including modes with multi-channel audio transmission and support for an extended color range.

An important emphasis is placed on the improved hardware decoding unit for high-definition video and post-processing, which promises the ability to view up to two video streams simultaneously (picture-in-picture mode).

However, in different processors this graphics core runs at different clock speeds, which should provide a noticeable difference in performance and make them easier to position. The fastest Intel HD Graphics is in the processor Intel Core i5-661, and possibly in some future models, operating at 900 MHz. It is interesting to note that this particular processor was included in almost all test laboratories as an official sample, and therefore many people spoke about the effectiveness of the Intel HD Graphics graphics adapter based on its testing, although, as you can see, so far this integrated video adapter is only so fast in one processor.

The bulk of processors based on the Clarkdale core, all models of the Core i3 line and almost all Core i5, except for the Intel Core i5-661, have a video adapter that operates at a frequency of 733 MHz, which theoretically makes it about 20% slower.

And in the only processor in the Intel Pentium G line - Intel Pentium G6950, the video core even operates at a frequency of 533 MHz, which confirms the positioning of this model as, most likely, the last and most budget representative of the Pentium series. But given its maximum accessibility, you can expect that this is what many budget-conscious users will have a computer with.

It is precisely this spread of capabilities due to different operating clock frequencies that we want to explore, both by comparing the new solution with the previous generation and with the most budget discrete accelerators.

In order to answer the question as correctly as possible about the dependence of Intel HD Graphics performance on its clock frequency, we took three processors: Intel Core i5-661, Intel Core i3-530 And Intel Pentium G6950– and brought them all to the 2.8 GHz frequency, turning off the technologies Hyper-Threading And Turbo Boost on models that support them, in order to maximally equalize the capabilities of older models with the Intel Pentium G6950.

However, it is worth noting that the Intel Pentium G6950 processor is distinguished from the Intel Core i5 and Core i3-530 model series by some other, most likely artificial, limitations and limitations: its cache memory is 1 MB less, the QPI bus frequency is only 2400 MHz , and the built-in memory controller cannot work with DDR3-1333 memory, being limited to an effective frequency of only 1066 MHz. We did not look for ways to level out these differences, since, on the one hand, they ensure maximum adequacy of the results for the entire platform without taking into account the clock speed of specific processor models, and, on the other hand, they allow us to more adequately evaluate the increase in Intel HD Graphics performance compared to the previous one generation of integrated video cards.

To compare the capabilities of Intel HD Graphics and Intel GMA X4500, we used a system based on the ASUS P5G43T-M PRO motherboard with the Intel G43 Express chipset and an Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 processor, which operates at a nominal frequency of 2800 MHz and has 3 MB of cache memory . This combination is very similar in parameters to the system on the Intel Pentium G6950. Moreover, it is very significant that both Intel HD Graphics and Intel GMA X4500 These systems operate at the same frequency of 533 MHz.

In addition, the memory controller built into the Intel G43 Express chipset does not support DDR3-1333 when operating in nominal mode, unwittingly allowing us to evaluate the progress of Intel integrated video adapters of various generations under almost identical conditions.

And, of course, it was very interesting to compare the built-in graphics core with the most affordable external video cards, which should provide higher performance and better functionality, although they will not be as energy efficient.

From the most inexpensive video cards we have chosen LEADTEK GeForce 210 with 512 MB DDR2 (210-512D2-SFLS-1-HDMI) and ASUS Radeon HD 4350 with 1 GB DDR2 (EAH4350SILENT/DI/1GD2/A), as the most striking and functionally similar representatives of the budget sector.

To make the comparison of the capabilities of embedded solutions from Intel and budget discrete solutions from AMD and NVIDIA more clear, we suggest comparing the capabilities of these solutions.

Comparison table:

* Calculated approximately based on an analysis of the performance of systems with a built-in video adapter in various modes.

Judging by the comparative characteristics, Intel HD Graphics is slightly inferior to budget discrete accelerators in terms of capabilities and number of execution units, and also does not have its own video memory, although it can “borrow” an impressive volume from the system, but it has a relatively high operating clock frequency and, even with the most pessimistic estimates of energy consumption, it turns out to be 2-3 times more energy efficient. But, nevertheless, Intel promises performance sufficient for many games - let's try to check this.

Intel HD Graphics Performance Testing

So, as noted a little above, for the most correct comparison of the new platform with an integrated video card with the solution of the previous generation Intel GMA X4500, we used the ASUS P5G43T-M PRO motherboard and the Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 processor, and the remaining tests were performed on the following system :

At the same time, discrete video cards were tested on the same system with an Intel Core i5-661 processor, which operated at the same clock frequency of 2.8 GHz with Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technologies disabled.

Having studied the results, I would immediately like to note some superiority of Intel HD Graphics over the Intel GMA X4500, and, as can be seen from the processor test in Futuremark 3DMark’06, the influence of the architecture of the processors themselves on the result is minimal. However, we are forced to note that the drivers are still somewhat crude, although noticeable progress has been observed, especially when working with OpenGL. We hope that in the near future, when the drivers are brought to the proper level, the superiority in all applications will be close to 20% only due to architectural improvements, and today the adapters built into Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i3 receive a noticeable advantage due to a noticeably higher operating clock frequency.

Comparing the frequency modifications of Intel HD Graphics with each other, one can only confirm the theoretical conclusion - the higher the operating clock frequency, the higher the efficiency. But in numerical terms this will not always be very noticeable. If compared to the 533-MHz version, the Intel Core i5 and Intel Core i3 look noticeably faster, then they do not differ so much from each other as to make a recommendation to definitely look for an option with the fastest graphics core, especially considering the higher power consumption of such a processor.

Compared to the simplest discrete accelerators on the ATI Radeon HD 4350 and NVIDIA GeForce 210, all Intel HD Graphics options are inferior in performance. Moreover, if in synthetic tests, apparently due to optimization, the gap is not so big, then in gaming applications even an entry-level video card will be about 2 times faster. Of course, you can and should note that buying an additional card increases the cost of the system, as well as its power consumption, so if you don’t plan to play on a new PC, then the built-in solution will be more profitable in all respects. In addition, you won’t be able to play modern games on the external video cards included in the testing, especially if the owner has a widescreen monitor with Full HD resolution and wants to see all the effects. But buying a truly gaming video card is a completely different question, as is choosing a processor for such a system.

Examples of games

Serious Sam 2

Let's playVSerious Sam 2 onIntel Pentium G6950

Let's playVSerious Sam 2 onIntel Core i5-661

Let's start with what we think is a fairly simple game, Serious Sam 2, in which, during testing, a fairly high frame rate was recorded even at maximum settings. However, in practice, we had to slightly reduce the image quality to medium settings and play at 800x600 resolution, because... in crowd scenes, despite maintaining a decent frame rate, “microfreezes” were observed, which did not allow for good aiming.

Call of Juarez

Let's playVCall of Juarez onIntel Pentium G6950

Let's playVCall of Juarez onIntel Core i5-661

In the game Call of Juarez, not everything turned out to be so smooth either - even with minimal graphics settings, at times there were noticeable “drawdowns” to an uncomfortable level, although in general the performance of even an Intel Pentium G6950 will be enough to complete this not new game, although without seeing all the delights one of the most beautiful games for DirectX 9.0c.

Race Driver: GRID

Let's playVRace Driver: GRID onIntel Pentium G6950

Let's playVRace Driver: GRID onIntel Core i5-661

But the newer and more resource-intensive game Race Driver: GRID for integrated Intel HD Graphics video cards turned out to be noticeably heavier, especially for the slowest modification in the slow Intel Pentium G6950 processor. In order to at least somehow drive using Intel HD Graphics at a frequency of 533 MHz, I had to reduce the graphics settings to the minimum state and reduce the resolution to 640x480, observing ugly squares on a 24-inch monitor. Using the Intel Core i5-661, performance has improved noticeably, although we cannot speak of complete gaming comfort.

Far Cry 2

Let's playVFar Cry 2 onIntel Pentium G6950

Let's playVFar Cry 2 onIntel Core i5-661

But Far Cry 2, an even newer and very resource-intensive game, turned out to be quite “playable” even on an Intel Pentium G6950 with minimal video quality settings and a resolution of 800x600. At times it even seemed that Fraps was writing slightly lower numbers in the upper left corner, displaying the current frame rate. And when replacing the processor with an Intel Core i5-661, as we saw earlier, it was even possible to increase the resolution to 1024x768 and set the graphics settings to medium.

In general, having tried to really evaluate the comfort of playing relatively new and far from new games, we can say that, despite advertising and assurances, and even sometimes quite high numbers with the average frame rate during tests, Intel HD Graphics does not will satisfy the needs of game lovers, although in the absence of an alternative it will allow you to look at many games and even play through some of them.

High Definition Video Playback

Already during the first testing of Intel HD Graphics, we also checked the possibilities for accelerating high-definition video decoding. But then the experiment took place on an Intel Core i5-661 processor, which has the fastest built-in video card, so it was much more interesting to repeat the experiment on the slowest solution in the line, because if the Intel Pentium G6950 can cope with HD-Video decoding, then so will all other processors. Clarkdale core will definitely be able to do this.

Movie "Jumper"
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Video format: AVC
Codec: H.264/AVC
Resolution: 1920x816
Audio track No. 1: 6-channel sound in AC-3 format, Ukrainian language.
Audio track No. 2: 5.1-channel sound in DTS format, Russian language.
Audio track No. 3: 5.1 channel sound in DTS format, English.
Audio track No. 4: 2-channel audio in Vorbis format, English.
Subtitles No. 1: in UTF-8 format in Ukrainian.
Subtitles No. 2: in UTF-8 format in Russian.
Subtitles No. 3: in UTF-8 format in English.

As you can see, even the video core built into the Intel Pentium G6950 processor almost completely takes over the responsibilities for processing the high-definition video stream. The processor load when playing the movie “Teleport” was at the level of 10-15%, and the image was uniform and clear.

Film "The Chronicles of Riddick"
File format: Matroska
Size: 16.6 GB
Bitrate: 16 Mb/s
Video format: VC-1
Codec: WVC1
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Audio track No. 1: 6-channel audio in AC-3 format, English.
Audio track No. 2: 6-channel sound in AC-3 format, Russian language.

The heavier VC-1 format with a bitrate of 16 Mb/s was more difficult for the Intel Pentium G6950 processor to cope with - at times its load reached 50%. But even with such a processor load, the film could be watched comfortably.

To summarize, I would like to confidently assure that since even the Intel Pentium G6950, the slowest processor based on the Clarkdale core with the slowest built-in Intel HD Graphics video card, is capable of decoding various high-definition video formats, then other models based on this core will be able to become the basis of a modern media center .

Results

Well, let's summarize the capabilities of the harbinger of future systems-on-a-chip. It cannot be said that the Intel HD Graphics graphics core built into processors based on the Clarkdale core, even when operating in the fastest mode, provided a radically new level of performance, turning a system with a built-in video card into a full-fledged gaming computer. But, nevertheless, this graphics core is a step forward, providing the minimum required performance for all tasks of modern systems, even the simplest games, especially considering the general overhead costs of its acquisition and operation - when purchasing a processor it is shareware, and compared to discrete ones cards are noticeably more economical. The only weak point of Intel HD Graphics is modern games, because... It’s one thing to play with an old hit, and another thing to spend money on buying a modern fashionable game with a bunch of special effects that this “video card” will not allow you to see. Therefore, if you plan to play comfortably, then you cannot do without a discrete accelerator, because even the simplest accelerator will provide twice the performance. But if games are secondary or even tertiary tasks for your system, then using Intel HD Graphics, even in the slowest version inside the Intel Pentium G6950 processor, can be considered the best option.

We express our gratitude to the companiesIntel , Kingston , Scythe AndSea Sonic for the equipment provided for testing.

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