How will a GT640M run with i3-2367M?

I understand this is an underclocked i3 (to preserve battery)

How much will this limit the power of the GFX?

Thank

 

it depends on what you will do with it. But mostly the GPU is the bottleneck rather than the CPU.

 

GPUs are the main bottleneck in gaming these days, not the CPU. I have a Pentium CPU in my desktop and so far it hasn't limited by GTX 560SE.

 

I will be using it for general use (browsing, music, watching films (720p x264)

Will replace the HDD with an SSD I have, so specs will be

Core i3-2367M
4GB DDR3 RAM
64GB SSD
GT640M

I don't need an i7 or anything like that, but I don't want to click on Firefox for example, and be sat there 5-10 seconds waiting for it to load, or have it lag while opening a new tab/switching tabs

Cheers

 

then i'd advise some more RAM adding. For only 30$ you can add another 4gb tray. It is worth it for the fluency of your machine. If you are not gaming or doing other heavy stuff this system is more than adequate

 

Ha, for that sort of usage the Intel HD 4000 will be plenty, let alone a GT 640M. That sort of lag is mostly caused by the storage drive, and since you're getting a SSD with the computer you won't suffer much from this sort of lag. Now, if there's any lag regardless, that's most likely a problem with your ISP connection being too slow, something that no computer hardware on your end can help with.

 

Sorry, I forgot to mention I would like to do some gaming (hence why I like the GT640M in this one, and it's also at an extremely good price atm (£400, $640)

FIFA 13, GTA IV, GTA V (even on low when it comes out if possible), Flight Simulator X but I don't care about any other new games like Assassin's Creed... would like to play Skyrim too

Would it be better to go for an i5 with a GT630M?

 

GPU would still be the more important factor, so in that case I'd go for the i3 + 640M.

 

Okay, think I will. Thanks a lot guys

 

ok... gta is a very cpu intensive game, flight simulator as well. Better post in the what notebook should I buy forum, fill the stickies

 

Yes, GTA and FSX are definitely CPU limited games.

 

Nothing to really think about here:

The system setup is woefully underpowered:

That 2011 i3 is spec'd is at the performance level of a 2009 T9400:

See (PM score 1793):
PassMark - Intel Core i3-2367M @ 1.40GHz - Price performance comparison

See (PM score 1773):
PassMark - Intel Core2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz - Price performance comparison


And this WILL limit the gpu's performance in addition to the cpu limiting the gaming power of the system itself.


The 4GB RAM has already been mentioned: upgrade to at least 8GB to have the best user experience going into 2013.

The (much too) small 64GB SSD can potentially give you worse performance than a good 7200RPM HDD can (how much capacity in % do you expect to use?) in a matter of a few weeks or less - yeah, even with your 'light' usage scenario.

Also as a non-gamer, I don't think that 640m is 'gaming-worthy' for anything past a few months? (But, I could be wrong on this one).



Not trying to tear apart your system - just want to give you a realistic view of your proposed setup - basically; every important part of the system is negatively affecting the other.



To answer your question directly:

How will a GT640M run with i3-2367M?

Not optimally, imo (for gaming).


Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

the 640m is ok i think. You dont need to expect the same preformance as a crossfire 7970m but its defently cheaper

NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE - Notebookcheck.net Tech

It can run Fifa on ultra at over 80 fps which is ok. But if you are not contend about the preformance you could overclock it since the 640m LE is a underclocked 640m. Same for the processor you only have to make sure the system will still be properly cooled.

 

Passmark is not a good indication of how the CPU will affect GPU performance. The CPU will not hamper performance of the GPU, no, not at all. Where you will be limited is when the game requires extensive CPU power to run in-game mechanics, physics, AI, etc, so there's little overhead to process video frames. Given that the 640m is a mid-grade 128-bit GPU, the GPU bandwidth will be the limiting factor. But the couple games OP noted, GTA IV and FSX, those require more CPU power for non-GPU tasks which is what would limit the in-game performance.

As long as you run games at 1366x768 or 720p you should be fine. I've had a 650m DDR3 GPU in my W110ER system for 7 months now and it plays everything perfectly fine. BF3 even plays wonderfully. With a dual core i5-3360m it manages Sleeping Dogs at 60fps using medium settings. The 640m is just a slightly slower clocked 650m. I expect it last a solid year or more before it starts to struggle with newer games.

 

HTWingNut, thanks for the additional data points. I agree that PM is not the be-all and end-all of cpu benchmarking; but at least it gives us comparative results across many different platforms/processors.

Correct me if I'm wrong: but isn't your W110ER the Sager NP6110 'Firefly' in your profile/signature?

If it is, you are supporting my view that a powerful quad core plus 8GB RAM + SSD is what is 'needed' to give the GPU the best shot of being usable for at least a year (and, truthfully; the 640m is much slower than the 20% given here than a 650m especially if it uses DDR3 and the 650m uses DDR5).


See:
Gaming Laptop Showdown: Acer Ultra M3 vs. Alienware M14x Review • Reviews • Eurogamer.net



The minimum frame rates of the 640m are very indicative of what to expect with this level of performance.

 

If the 650m uses GDDR5 then that's a different point altogether. The 650m in my Clevo is DDR3 vRAM though, the 640m is literally just a 650m clocked slower and most 640m users are able to overclock to at least 650m speeds without issue. I only have 8GB because I had the RAM and it's so cheap there's no reason not to buy 8GB DDR3-1600. Cost difference between 1333 and 1600 is quite minimal too. SSD is definitely recommended, at least I can't live without one now. I want to destroy my work laptop becaue it has a 5400RPM HDD and takes FOREVER to boot up.

 

Thanks guys

In the end I went with a Core i3-2350M and 7670M lol...

Hoping it will run okay when I put my SSD in there

 

Bad, very bad, you'll get a half GT 640M with that poor weak i3 in many games, i had a B960 in my clevo, it gave awful performance with my GT 650M. And B960 is a noticeably better cpu than the core i3 2367M, no turbo compared to core i5 or i7 17W cpu...Can't imagine how bad the performances would be.

 

Depends entirely on the game.

 

And the expectations i.e. graphics quality.

You live and you learn. But I think the OP can still game and enjoy his computer.