x220 integrated gpu question

I know that the up and coming x220 will not have a dedicated gpu but is the integrated gpu on it better and faster than the apu radeon 6310 in the x120e because I'm thinking about returning this one and grabbing the x220.

 

Faster in terms of what? Gaming? Rendering?

"Benchmarks" wise the Intel HD Graphics pulverizes the 6310, but I'm going to assume when the resolution and quality is cranked up the 6310 will prevail. Do you plan on using your notebook for gaming?

 

5-10GB single 1080p mkv HD videos and at least games with the graphical power of HL2, 1st F.E.A.R and WOW (basically 3-4 yrs older games) at native resolution and med settings. I'm not expecting this to run Crysis 2/Metro.

Reason I'm asking is x120e pound for pound for the price under $460 is hard to beat, so if I decide to add another $400-500, I want it to at least play some 2-3yr old games because in the $900-1000 price range i could grab an m11x r2 but the build quality/keyboard of the thinkpads got me hooked.

 

I think benchmarks I saw with the Radeon 6310 and Intel HD in the SB CPUs put them pretty much neck in neck when gaming is concerned. In some games, the 6310 pulls ahead while in others, the Intel HD graphics cranks out some more FPS. It's hard to compare, though, since the X120e's E-350 sets the bottleneck clearly at the CPU, preventing accurate GPU-only comparisons. Do note, though, that some games will be a bit glitchy on Intel HD, simply because typically Intel GPUs are not supported. The 6310 fares better in that regard.

With either option, though, don't expect much quality gaming, though.

HD videos will run with no issues on either machine.

WoW runs on the X120e, but at low settings at native res. It doesn't look pretty, but it will play. I believe HL2 runs at medium settings at native resolution on the X120e, but I'm not certain--I'm merely repeating what I remember some other forumer reported.

I would expect similar performance from the X220 on the above games.

 

Good info. Do you know the expected release date of x220 in the U.S because I see in Lenovo site dated @ April 2011.

Thanks

 

Im not so sure. Ive heard that 1080p sometimes lags on msi u270 (pretty much the same spec as x120e) even with updated gpu drivers, proper codecs etc.
On 1215n its hard to watch even 720p and Atom + ION is quite comparable to AMD Brazos

 

You heard or actually saw with your own eyes? My 4500MHD can run HD videos no problem.

You know I also heard jumping off a cliff isn't a good idea..

 

Outputting 1080p videos from my X120e works fine over HDMI, and watching 720p videos on the internal screen are both handled with no problems. If you read some other reviews of the X120e, you'll see reviewers come to the same general conclusion. As long as hardware acceleration (GPU) is enabled, HD videos will play fine on the X120e (VLC will probably not work so great for HD videos, though, since it doesn't seem to support hardware acceleration, at least in my experience).

 

VLC got two fixes to play HD videos smoothly, Tool>Preferences>Inputs/Codecs then check Use GPU acceleration and the 2nd one if that doesn't work, H.264 loop filter from none to all.

 

How can one expect WoW to run on a X220? I plan to get one because of the IPS, and it'd be nice to do some gaming on the road.

I don't mind lower quality graphics, it just has to run smoothly.

 

Intel HD Graphics 3000 - Notebookcheck.net Tech


That's the gpu on the x220, it seems to be good news with the test and benchmarks and scoring more than double the score in 3dmark06 vs radeon 6310 and my old geforce 7600go and I was able to run WOW raiding/farming smoothly with my GO 7600 at native resolution at medium settings.

 

That is cool beans, good enough for me, just a casual gamer

 

That's pretty good, I'll be playing Counterstrike, DoD and Team Fortress @work all day long

 

WoW plays great on the Sandy Bridge integrated GPU. My desktop has the slower HD Graphics 2000 (which has 6 execution units) and I can still run WoW with all settings on "Ultra" (except for shadows and water quality on "low", and light shafts "off") at 1600x900 with 16x AF texture filtering and get 30-50fps.

Now keep in mind that:

• The x220 has the faster HD Graphics 3000 (twice as many execution units as my desktop)
• The x220 is 1366x768 instead of the 1600x900 I tested at
• Drivers are still new for Sandy Bridge and performance is still being improved

So the net result is that you should be able to run WoW on "ultra" (with a few settings reduced like shadows and water effects) at the native resolution and get 40-60fps most of the time. Which is pretty darn good in my opinion.

 

April 19th.

 

Are you guys hiring?



You can always use Vidock for hardcore gaming.

 

WoW is kind of unoptimized tho. I had to tone down shadows on 1920x1200 and I think grass clutter for 1 bar below max (with everything else on ultra) on the 5870M crossfire.

I am more interested how it will play new Star Wars MMO.

If anything - the lower resolution will make more games playable.

 

On the same note, do you guys think Starcraft 2 will run ok at native resolution on medium-high detail?

 

not at all, try medium low

 

the demographic for Thinkpads are sure changing, not only are the age of consumers have lowered, but the range of applications are increasing...

 

indeed probably one of the reasons for the edge series