Dedicated vs integrated graphics for streaming TV/Movies

I'm looking to buy a new laptop - The purpose is really just for streaming TV/Movies from the internet.
Should I fork out the extra $$ to go for dedicated graphics or will integrated graphics give me good speeds?

 

Almost any modern laptop no matter how cheap will allow you to watch movies and stream them just fine. Still, if you can find something with a dGPU you'd be better off.

 

Integrated is perfectly fine for TV and movies, even HD. If you can, go with HD 4000 though.

 

..or, you could go with something integrated that has the full feature set of a dedicated card. And which won't make your laptop glow in the dark when running on higher than idle speeds.

Advice, though - if you pick an intel platform, try to add an nvidia kepler card. They are more effective than intel graphics on normal loads. Use less power when running on 40-50%. And they dynamically underclock. So you can use the kepler card to get perfect webgl acceleration, or filtering and so on to an external screen, and much less garble. Netflix on intel gma vs. an nvidia card is almost funny. Same with hd video, 10bit, etc. You don't get the massive framedrops and weird colours, for example. And it still uses less power. A 640m or 640le has a low footprint since it has lower standard clocks. But any of the kepler cards will be comparable in practice.

And then you also have more grunt to go on if you need that.

If you don't need that, pick an amd apu-platform. I.e., full acceleration features, lots of "cores", seamless switch between "2d" and 3d contexts. At significantly lower power-draw..

Really is no contest when comparing intel gma and other alternatives in that sense. But in the interest of "fairness", I'd be obliged to tell you to consider either, depending on your use, of course. It may be that you /could/ be perfectly happy with an intel hd 4000 only accelerated experience. Of course.

The new ULVs come with a slightly more modest gma in terms of power-draw, though. So they could be better picks, if you don't want an amd platform. And want to maximise battery while running film and so on in hardware-acceleration on the intel chips. Since they essentially will have the same performance for film and streaming, this being more dependent on number of stream-processors and feature extensions more than raw speed.

 

I meant to supplement my previous post with this: If you want to go with an integrated GPU, just for knowledge's sake, the AMD Trinity APUs have been known to have better graphics processing. Also, if you're leaning towards an iGPU for budget reasons, the AMD Trinity APUs are cheaper than the Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs.

But you can expect the AMD counterparts to not be as adequate in other everyday task handling as the current i7 processors. The Trinity line is roughly as good as Ivy Bridge i5s from what I've read, with mildly better integrated graphics.

 

A discrete GPU is not necessary. Any modern processor will stream video just fine (though avoid Intel Atom), just go with the cheapest.

 

So what do you think of these?

Compare Results - Future Shop

 

Those are pretty much equal, except for a few techinical differences.

1. Its nice to see all of them using 8GB RAM (mostly 1600) and the A10-4600M APU (top of the line mobile APU). You can expect flawless 2D and 3D performance from this combination alone for gaming and HD video playback/streaming.

2. The performance nut in me, says go for the Toshiba S885 because of the added 7610M 1GB dedicated GPU for asymetrical crossfire, which has been improving more and more lately, but its not really necessary for your needs. For me, it would be for the fun of experimenting what that setup is capable of using "Dual-Graphics" with the latest AMD 13.1 Catalyst drivers. Even then, for your intended purposes, the A10-4600M alone would be perfect!

3. Its great that all of them are using high capacity hard drives. More would be better so the G6 looses this one, barely. Still, this is one part that can easily be upgraded if need be. But, were only judging these machines based on the information presented to us right now.

4. I admit, I am biased. I wouldn't go with the Acer first because of build quality reasons. However, I have seen a newer Acer notebooks and it appears that the build quality has gone up slightly, especially their consumer keyboards. My personal choice would be in this order from first to last; Toshiba S855, Toshiba L850, Acer (unknown model number), and finally the HP G6.

5. The Acer does have Gigabit ethernet, which the others don't have.

6. The HP and the Acer both have Bluetooth, which the Toshiba's lack.

7. A con towards the Acer, according to the specs, its using 1066 RAM?! Why, somethings wrong there.

8. The Acer does have 2 watt speakers and for movies that might prove to be worthy of consideration (an inexpensive external 2.1 speaker system should definitely be on your list).

9. The two toshiba's have the larger capacity batteries. However, I bought an HP Pavilion G4 with an A6-3420M last year and the battery life on that thing was fantastic (something like 5-6 hrs)!

10. We can't make the choice for you but any of these will be more than suitable for what you want it for. There's many similarities, but at the same time minor technical differences. Only you can decide which you is best for you, considering these factors and others such as brand, build quality, and prices to name a few more.

 

Save a few bucks and get this: Newegg.com - Refurbished: ASUS K55 Series K55N-BA8094C Notebook AMD A-Series A8-4500M(1.90GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi AMD Radeon HD 7640G

$380, refurbed with A8, slightly slower than the A10, but still more than adequate for streaming, general use, and gaming even.

 

Plus you can OC it!

 

The link he provided is for Futureshop Canada. I think he's in Canada. Unless they've got that model available in Canada, I agree with HT's recommendation! Save some cash, and pick up that Asus which is still very similar to the computers in his link.

@ehancock

What do you mean you can OC it? Unless you know of a way to overclock Trinity APUs that none of us know, please share!

 

You can OC the GPU slightly, but yeah, CPU can not be OC'd.

Here is the same one at Newegg Canada for $399, $20 more than USA: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230909

 

Even for $100 savings, being refurbished, I would not think this is a good deal for $400?

 

$100 savings over what? Everything else was at least $549. I have no issue with refurb products, especially those with at least a 90 day warranty. Usually refurbs receive a lot more scrutiny than a new product and the glaring issue with the product is fixed.

 

$100 savings over the regular price. (see your link).

Saving $100 and giving up 9 months warranty is not what I would call a bargain with todays electronics - especially the low end ones we're talking about.

 

Doesn't newegg offer "extended warranties" for cheap? Like $50 for a year or something like that?

 

Problem is that you can't find a laptop like this new for under $550 anymore...

edit: looks like the Acer Aspire V3 is a good option at $450US new. Although it doesn't seem to be an option for Canada. It's too bad they put the A8 in most of these laptops instead of the A10.