Ivy Bridge integrated graphics - Myth or Magic?

Here we are again - Awaiting new IGPU's and the rumors are swirling. Theoretical performance versus real life game performance. How much is driver, how battery draining? When will Intel get their act together?

Is the fixation on ultra thin notebooks just making it hard, or will gaming on sub 14 notebooks soon be a reality?


I've heard all from no significant gains over Sandy Bridge to people who speak off 6dmark 06 scores in the 6000-7000 range(dont remember were though).



What do you guys think? logically based on experience, won't this be another dud - another letdown?

 

Doubt it will get those scores but even if it did thats a quite bad score as my old mobility 8800gtx would get 11k and thats like 6 generations old

 

true but those were power hungry monsters. Im talking about stuff that can fit inside a macbook pro 13 or a vaio SA! - good battery, does not get extreme temperatures, can remain in a sub 14 chassis!


it was not that long ago we had threads about gaming on x 3100 remember? in that respect we've come along way with Intel IGPU that we have today.

 

Yeah, but that was a long time ago, and the games didnt require as much power as today.

If play bioshock which came out around the same time as the x3100 on a x3100 gpu VS playing Arma 3 which will probably come the same time as the new intel GPU you will see that its pretty much unplayable just like the x3100 could not handle new games in 2007 the new Intel GPU cant handle new games today

 

Only issue is the Vaio SA also packs a HD6630m GPU in there

I think the best fitted recipeints of a faster Intel IGP are "Ultrabooks" and their MBA origins, and *maybe* if Apple doesn't fit their next MBP13 with a good GPU, the MBP13.

 

Next gen ultrabooks are rumored to sport Thunderbolt ports or some sort of universal docking connector giving x4 2.0 pci-e eGPU connectivity options. Ultrabooks will then be gaming capable.

To give an idea of what the performance difference between current gen iGPUs and eGPUs see DIY eGPU implementation: i5-2540M 2.6 12.5" HP 2560P + NVidia GTX560Ti @x1.2Opt.

 

well, sort of. except it's not really an ultrabook if you have to connect it to an external GPU.

I can hook up my netbook to an external CPU / GPU / memory / monitor, and it can be gaming capable too.

I'm not saying eGPU isn't great, but it doesn't make ultrabooks gaming capable, it makes ultrabooks + an eGPU gaming capable. It would give ultrabooks the capacity for gaming with extra hardware, but not the capability on its own.

 

Compared to HD 3000, I would say it is magic