My thoughts on tx2500z ATI 3200 IGP

Wow, I got this laptop yesterday and spent most of the day getting rid of all the wonderful crap HP shipped with it. After a long day, I decided to see how this thing held up with some games.

TF2 - Pretty good 800 x 600 or 16:10 equivalent on mediums works great online ~ 30 fps (tested ctf2fort one game)

COD4 - 800 x 600 all low, wonderful online a must have, ~40 fps (tested on the dreaded BOG, 32 players)

Bioshock - Can't change the resolution! not playable at 1280 x 800 but I'd bet it would be if I could change the settings

Assassins Creed - can get playable but at a big sacrifice of visual quality (desktop has 8800 GT so I'm spoiled) so if it does not matter, just turn graphic detail to 1/4, level of detail 4/4, res at 800 x 600

Games I plan to test this weekend;
Portal
Prey
HL2
also might pick up max payne 1 and 2 since its 7.50 on steam!
One game I hope it plays in the future;
Left 4 Dead (I think it should)


-TNK

 

interesting. i'm thinking about getting cheap Hp with this IGP

 

how about heat and general fan noise/activity on the tx2500z??? Is fan on all time at a higher than average rpm??

 

hmm, I'm actually running tf2 @ 1280x800 at high on mine and it runs perfectly smooth... this is with the 2.4ghz cpu and 4gb of ram, not sure which model you've got, but you should definately be able to get good frame rates at 1280x800 in TF2... even in heated 32 player games it runs perfectly.

And, agree, love mine.

EDIT: Try running Bioshock in dx9 mode, I've got issues running in dx10 mode on mine but dx9 works fine.

 

Wow, thats one powerfull igp...

Now they just need to work on extending the battery life of the thing. I can already hear intel whimpering

 

wow to be able to play COD4 with integrated... hmmm... lol (now checking the prices of the cheapest laptop with that IGP... lol)

 

yeah, it's a suprising little thing... I just spent the last hour playing Crysis Warhead on mine, settings are 800x600, performance, and getting framerates in the 28-40 range... and with the TX2500's 12" screen, 800x600 still looks pretty dang good and of course crysis even on low is gorgeous. It's funny, I was playing some Far Cry this morning on very high at 1280x800 with 30-40 fps, and then fired up Warhead, and even on a lower res and settings, it just is awesome how things have advanced... and Far Cry is still pretty, but Crysis feels so much more alive if that makes sense.

Sorry, long winded there... but, bottom line, for a IGP it's pretty freakin sweet.

 

Have you tried using the digitizer instead of your mouse to shoot and turn?

 

Darn looks like its slightly better than my ATi 9600XT lol. Go figure...

 

Sounds like your integrated card pwns my discrete X1300. I think I may be able to hold off 1 more year before I am forced to buy an upgrade.

 

wow warhead really runs on this?

 

yeah, i never bothered to try Crysis on it, as I assumed it'd be a disaster, but then when Warhead came out and they talked about improved performance, I'd thought why not try it.... and was pleasantly suprised.

Now don't get me wrong, you won't be playing at high and at native res, but if you don't mind dropping to 800x600 (instead of my native 1280x800), and setting to performance mode (low), it's totally enjoyable and playable. On a bigger screen the res might be an issue, but on a 12" screen 800x600 still looks pretty good. 1024x600 is very playable as well, but I'm a sucker for smoother framerates as opposed to slightly better visuals.

I'll put it this way, I've got a Toshiba X205 with SLI 8600's sitting beside me and I've got Warhead installed on both, and am about halfway through Warhead playing almost exclusively on the Tablet, totally enjoyable.

Course, I always pull for the underdogs anyway ha

 

Could you post a screeny for your tf2? w/fraps
thanks

LAST EDIT: Turned off catalyst control for games, seemed to help a lot!

-TNK

EDIT: Oh and I have 2.4 as well and 3GB Ram, vista 64 bit

 

So I think Tf2 on high is good now, but jsut wondering if anyone could tell me if they have any sort of modified settings in Catalyst Control Center?

Thanks

-TNK

 

Your 3GB of RAM could be the problem if it isn't running in dual channel. Use CPU-Z to see if it is running in dual-channel mode. Dual-channel RAM should give your HD3200 more memory bandwidth to play with. I know the latest Intel chipsets can run different sized sticks in dual channel but I am not sure about AMD's memory controller being able to do that.

-J.B.

 

JB has a good point, my Vista scored jumped up with the 4gb upgrade from 3gb... with 3 it's not dual channel, where as with two 2GB matched sticks, it does use dual channel...

Now in reality, not sure if it even matters, but might be a slight difference. I put 2 2GB pc6400 sticks in mine when I bought it. And with the IGP using that for its main memory, might be helping a bit.

Here's a couple of quick pics, one of the settings I use, and the other a quick shot of in game quality, be it shrunk down with jpeg compression ha. FPS run from about 24 in an open battle with lots of action on screen and pyro going crazy (I love me some pyro), up to about 48ish in the sewers of 2Fort. Absolutely great for a little tablet in my opinion. And game size hasn't really mattered, usually play on servers with 20-32 people... but doesn't seem to matter much. Hope this helps!





http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/be77solo/tf2tx2500.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/be77solo/tf2settingstx2500.jpg

Sorry, never figured out the clickable thumb thing ha

 

And, just for anybody that cares, got a link to a couple Crysis:Warhead shots. FPS is in the top right corner. For a Tablet I sure can't complain, looks good on the 12" screen. This is the level where the plane crashes and you have to recover the camera and rescue the pilot.





http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/be77solo/Warhead2.jpg
http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff292/be77solo/Warhead1.jpg

 

I am so getting crysis warhead then. Thanks for this thread!

 

Thanks for the screen shots and wow, even runs warhead? that is amazing

-TNK

 

Thx! Repped!