Will the T420s with i7 Processor only come with Discrete Graphics?

I'm looking at purchasing a new T420s and noticed in the tabook.pdf that the i7 processor option only comes with discrete graphics. Anybody know if it can be ordered with just the integrated graphics chip?

Thanks,

 

Try the custom configuration website.

 

Thanks Orca,

Did already try the configuration option but there is no i7 available yet. Don't know if I should order the i5 now or wait and see if there will be a 420s with i7 and integrated graphics

 

Even if and when the i7 option is available, it means the "dual core" i7-2620M which is practically in the same league as the i5 options.

 

As long as dual core i7 then the integrated GPU is included. They should tell you whether the i7 with discrete gpu has the optimus feature or not.

 

All Sandy Bridge processors have on board IGP. Whether the Lenovo wants Optimus is another story.

 

Had a look on the Intel website, the i7-2600 seems to have the integrated GPU, that is interesting.

 

So would you guys go with the i5 now or wait for the i7 in 3 weeks?

 

That depends on one's needs, applications and budget. But... i7 "dual core"? Nah, i5 is less expensive.

 

Go with the i5 dual core, the performance difference between that and a i7 dual core is minimum, not worth the extra money.

 

It's my opinion that unless your current computer is on it's last legs and getting ready to croak, waiting a little bit might save you some money. All of the OEM's haven't shown their cards.

 

You're definitely going to have more options in a few weeks (x220 for one) but I wouldn't expect the T420s to get much cheaper soon. It's already considerably cheaper than the T410s at launch and Lenovo models typically don't drop in price significantly for several months.

If you want a T420s, I would pull the trigger now with the i5-2520M. The difference between the i5-2520M and the i7-2620M is minimal:

http://ark.intel.com/Compare.aspx?ids=52231,52229,

The i7 has an extra MB of L3 cache (not a huge deal) and 200MHz of extra clock (8%). You won't be able to tell the difference except by running benchmarks. Lenovo wants $190 on the T420 to upgrade to the i7-2620M which is way too much. You'd be much better off spending the money on 8GB of memory ($90 on Newegg - don't pay Lenovo's ridiculous RAM prices).

One thing that you might want to wait on is the SSD. Intel is releasing the SSD 320 series soon which will be available in a 7mm form factor. The 160GB version has a list price of $289, which is over $100 cheaper than the current X25-M G2 160GB. The 320 series is also faster. So if you're thinking about an SSD you might want to order the machine with the lowest-end HDD and then upgrade to an SSD when the 320 series start shipping. Or of course you can just hold off on the entire machine until then.

 

My desktop i7-2600 definitely has the integrated GPU.

What's absolutely insane is that on the desktop, only the K-series (multiplier-unlocked overclockable) Sandy Bridge CPUs have the 12EU HD Graphics 3000. All of the non-K-series CPUs have the slower 6EU HD Graphics 2000.

But it gets better: the K-series can only be overclocked on a P67 chipset board, which doesn't support the CPU's integrated GPU. And the only chipset that does support the integrated GPU (H67) doesn't support overclocking. So to get the faster graphics, you need to buy the CPU that supports overclocking but the chipset that doesn't support overclocking.

This will be fixed with the Z68 chipset next quarter which supports both the integrated GPU and overclocking.

The worst part is that the people who buy the highest-end CPUs (like the i7-2600K) are the people who are least likely to use the integrated graphics. It's the person buying the i3 who would really benefit from having the faster HD Graphics 3000, but they have to make do with the slower HD Graphics 2000.

At least Intel was smart enough to put the faster HD Graphics 3000 on all of the laptop i3/i5/i7 Sandy Bridge chips.

 

Maybe Intel is anticipating that more manufacturers will be like Lenovo and start rolling out optimus technology with nvidia GPU, otherwise these integrated GPU on these high end quad core i7 are wasted.

 

There are a number of laptops with quad-core i7 and no dedicated GPU whatsoever (the EliteBook 8460p and the T520 are both available with this configuration).

For a certain market segment it actually makes sense. There are a lot of people who use the CPU heavily but don't need high-end graphics. Software engineers, for example, want CPU power to compile/test faster but probably don't need graphics.

On the desktop it makes less sense because power, space, and heat are less problematic and because even a cheap $140 mid-range GPU (like a GTX 460) is 5x or more faster than the Intel graphics. The problem in the laptop space is that to get dramatically better performance than the Sandy Bridge GPU you end up with a big laptop and a massive power brick (like the W520). And even the Quadro 2000M is only about 3x as fast as the Intel HD 3000. Obviously that's still a big deal if you game, or if you need the sort of OpenGL performance and ISV certifications that you get with a Quadro.

Back in 2007, even a mid-range 20W GPU like the 8600M GT was 8x as fast as the Intel graphics (GMA X3100). Today there is no laptop GPU that's 8x as fast as the Intel HD 3000 (even the GTX 485M at 100W is only around 5x faster) and something reasonable like the 35W 540M is only about 2x as fast.

It's not just intel. AMD's Llano (hopefully shipping mid-2011) will have a Mobility Radeon 5650 class GPU on-chip.