Intel 4500 integrated video.....good enough?

Ok I am at why wits end on the graphic card question for a new laptop. Please help )

Let's start by saying I do not game, nor do I intend on starting to game with this machine. I will use this as a laptop for around the house (not a desktop replacement), for watching movies (DVD, avi, mkv, etc...), Internet, MS Office, some photo editing possibly (Photoshop with RAW images).

I will say I multitasking and have multiple tabs/windows open all the time and I absolutly hate a slow computer. I would also say battery life is a concern and I don't want fans running loud to cool something I don't need (ie 1gb video card......well at least I don't think I need for my tasks).

Likely will have a P8xxx chip....4gb of ram at a minimum...7200rpm hdd if not a SSD drive soon. But the video card is the dilemma I just can't figure out lol

this site has been very helpful and thanks to those that contribute!!!

 

Out of all the tasks you mentioned, the only one that even remotely involves the GPU in performance terms is watching movies; and the GMA 4500MHD includes all the hardware needed to offload MPEG-2 and H.264 video from the CPU. That means better performance (HD video!) and longer battery life.

 

Intel GMA 4500 is fine for what you want. CPU and amount (and speed) of RAM is more important. What you are considering is fine. A P8000 series is fine, recommend minimum 2.4GHz, and 4GB is great, recommend 64-bit OS to make use of all of it. 7200 RPM is perfect too. SSD is good, except make sure you have one large enough. I don't see a reason for SSD at the moment unless read speed is of absolute importance.

Consider a higher res screen (i.e. 1680x1050 or 1920x1080) if you want desktop room to multitask multiple windows and display several simultaneously.

4500MHD will manage everything you list for sure, including longer battery life. And for what it's worth, it's a fairly capable gaming card despite what everyone else says.

As a matter of fact, you should be able to get a smaller machine if you don't need a 17" screen for a working desktop, because you don't need the dedicated GPU. A good light 14" or 15" should suffice.

 

Thanks for the quick responses!

any advice on a good 15-16" screen with good resolution? I keep seeing these with 1366*768 (I think) and people say it's crap.

Thanks again!

 

The Latitude E6500 would be something to look at.

 

It's not that it's crap, it's just that 1366x768 isn't much screen desktop space to work with. For a gaming laptop it's fine, so you can game at the screens native resolution. For desktop work though, more pixels the better. That's why I use my 24" 1920x1200 Dell monitor for work stuff.

 

Yes, for your usage the Intel GMA 4500MHD is plenty good enough.

As for resolution, I would recommend going to stores and checking out screens of various resolutions. Personally, I would accept a minimum resolution of 1440x900 (or 1600x900 by the new 16:9 screen aspect ratio) on a 15" screen.

 

I won't use it to game and I do like space (or real estate) on my screen. Looked at the E6500 and was surprised by what thought was a high price ~$1500 after upgrades. I looked at a Lenovo Y650 (1366*768 though) and can get under $1k....hhhmmm. Ok the Lenovo SL510 has a higher res option too.

I like the idea of the higher res, but are there other options I could be looking at? Anyone?

Thanks!!!

 

Asus has some good options.

The problem with this selection is, I think, it's all or nothing for you usage. The computers that have something like a P8700 also have dedicated graphics and the cost reflects it. And the computers with GMA 4500 have either lower-end CPUs and/or 1366x768.

But they are nice machines. Check them out.

 

For the records - I have completed more than half of COD4 single player in my roommates's DELL with 4500HD. That was until my m15x arrived

 

Here's a good option. You didn't say how much you wanted to spend, but this Dell Studio XPS at Best Buy comes with ATI HD 3670 and 1600x900 15.6" screen, 500GB HDD, 4GB RAM, P8700 CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium for $1100. Nice machine.

http://tinyurl.com/ybcd6lk

Not sure if you can get something comparable or better price at Dells website.

Edit: Just configured same machine at Dell, and it's $74 more there.

 

hi, i'm building a desktop...i was calculating my budget when i realised one thing. i did not have enough money to buy a mid to upper range gpu(i was thinking about the ati 4850)...so i will wait for a few months before buyying the gpu. the motherboard has this gpu: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X4500, Pixel Shader 4.0, DirectX 10, Max. shared memory 1759MB

In the meantime, will i be able to play games like nfs shift, call of duty,stalker series and some new games with it? Of course, i mean on lowest resolution and lowest graphics settings....the processor of the computer is a 2.8core2duo and 4gb ddr2 ram...

 

Luke, that question is better asked on our sister forum DesktopReview, and in their equivalent of the Will My Notebook Run It? thread.

HTwingut, the guy didn't want a dedicated GPU b/c he doesn't game. Drop the "XPS" and spec a Studio 15 perhaps?

 

But isnt the desktop x4500 and the x4500m nearly the same?

 

Yes, nearly. The desktop x4500 is more powerful. But to answer your question I have tried CoD 4 and Stalker SoC and Clear Skies and they play at lowest graphics settings just fine on my 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo with 4500MHD notebook (in my sig). I also had to run at 1024x576 resolution, but your more powerful CPU should make up for it and be able to run at a more standard resolution like 1280x800 or 1366x768. I can't vouch for Shift.

 

hey thanks bro!!!you made my day..i thought that the x4500 was pretty useless...

 

The problem is that the integrated GPU's aren't considered gaming cards because they usually don't have a full feature set, limited bandwidth, low clock speeds and use system RAM which is usually quite a bit slower than the dedicated cards memory.

That being said, if you know what it can handle and what to expect, you will be quite pleased. Heck, the Stalker Call of Pripyat benchmark ran fine at 1024x576 at low settings, even medium settings were reasonable, and didn't look too bad.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5551998&postcount=5

I wouldn't use it as a primary gaming laptop by any means, but for me, it works when I need it to. You lose the eye candy in most cases, but the gameplay is still fine. It has caused me to go back and revisit some classics anyhow that DO run well on the X4500 (or even X3100 and some 950) like Warcraft III, Age of Empires 2, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Rainbow Six 3 Raven Shield, Comanche 4, Battlezone, and on and on.

 

In a pinch, it will satisfy the itch.

 

It's good for playing 5 yr old games! ;P

It plays CS:S at 30 fps, but it appears that by 2 ghz Core 2 is holding me back.

Some benchies...