Game development

Finally, a sample from the general table of synthetic test results made for different Intel GPUs. Note the change in position in the card performance rating:

Note from notebookcheck: “Overall, we are impressed with Intel's new graphics core. The performance has improved by 30% compared to the HD 3000. This difference can be even greater - up to 40% if the GPU is paired with a powerful quad-core Ivy Bridge CPU, for example, the i7-3610QM.

So what if your favorite Intel HD game isn't working as expected? The advice given by www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-010486.htm looks like Captain Obviously: change the game settings, check for new patches for the game, install the latest Intel driver. But in reality, these tips work. Intel engineers work closely with game developers to create patches for Intel GPU compatibility. Also, as noted by notebookcheck, "slowly but surely" Intel drivers improve both in correctness and performance, which leads to solving problems with games.

At this point, the post for ordinary players ends (thanks for your attention, welcome to the comments), and begins

1. Correctly define the parameters of the graphics system and its capabilities- support for shaders, DX extensions and available video memory (note that Intel GPU does not have a separate video memory, it shares the system memory with the CPU).

You can look at the example of the source code and the application binary for the correct and complete determination of the parameters of the system with Intel GPU - GPU Detect.
In addition, the Microsoft DirectX SDK (June 2010) includes a Video Memory sample to determine the amount of available video memory. We also recommend searching the Internet for "Get Video Memory Via WMI".

2. Consider Turbo Boost Capabilities... With Turbo Boost, the Intel GPU can be doubled in frequency, providing significant performance gains. But only if the thermal state of the system allows it. And this happens, for obvious reasons, only when it is not very busy, that is, the CPU is not very hot.

The advice that follows from this is to use the CPU status request - GetData () as little as possible. Note that calling GetData () in a loop waiting for the result is 100% CPU utilization. If absolutely necessary, make requests to the CPU at the beginning of the frame rendering and load the CPU with some useful work before getting the GetData results. In this case, the CPU wait will be minimal.

3. Use the Intel GPU's Early Z rejection. This technology makes it possible to discard in advance from further processing, i.e. without executing expensive pixel shaders, fragments that do not pass the depth test are obscured by other objects.

There are two methods for using Early Z effectively:
- sorting and drawing objects from near to far in depth (front to back)
- prepass without rendering, filling the depth buffer and masking areas that are obviously invisible in the final image.
It is clear that the first method is not suitable for scenes with (semi) transparent objects, and the second has significant overhead.
The source code for Early Z usage examples can be viewed at

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Graphics card in load: a review of Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Intel HD Graphics 2500 graphics accelerators

Announcement: The Ivy Bridge processors did not impress us too much, because they were not much better than their predecessors. But until now, we have ignored their graphics core, which actually affected significant changes. It's time to fill this gap and test their graphics, suddenly, based on the results of such a study, new Intel CPUs will receive a completely different final score?

A few years ago, talking about the performance of integrated graphics cores made almost no sense. It was possible to rely on such solutions only in cases where working with three-dimensional graphics was not among the possible applications of a computer, because integrated graphics cores, compared to discrete video accelerators, had minimalistic functionality in 3D modes. However, by today this situation has changed radically. Since 2007, the instigator of the bulk of changes in the computer market, Intel has considered increasing the capabilities and performance of its own integrated graphics as one of the most important tasks. And its successes are impressive: integrated graphics cores have not only increased their performance by more than an order of magnitude, but have also become an integral part of modern processors. Moreover, the company is clearly not going to stop at what has been achieved and is hatching ambitious plans to increase the speed of embedded graphics by another order of magnitude by 2015.

The sudden interest among processor developers in improving graphics cores reflected the desire of users to have at their disposal fairly compact, but at the same time quite productive computing systems. It would seem that quite recently the term "mobile computer" was associated with a system that can be simply moved from place to place with one hand, and the question of its size and weight was of little concern to anyone. Today, even looking at fairly small 2kg notebooks, many consumers wrinkle their noses with displeasure. The trend has turned towards tablet computers and ultra-compact solutions, which Intel calls ultrabooks. And it is this pursuit of lightness and diminutiveness that has become the main driving force in integrating graphics into central processing units and in increasing its performance. One chip that fully replaces both the CPU and the GPU and at the same time has a low heat dissipation - this is exactly the basis that is necessary to create mobile solutions that seduce modern users. Therefore, we are witnessing the rapid development of hybrid processors, the existence of which has to be tolerated and the adherents of desktop systems. The latter, I must say, also receive certain dividends from such progress.

Ivy Bridge processors are already the second version of Intel's microarchitecture, characterized by a hybrid design that combines computational cores with a graphics one in a single semiconductor chip. Compared with previous version microarchitecture, Sandy Bridge, cardinal changes have taken place, and they primarily concern the graphics core. Intel even had to give special clarifications about the violation of the "tick-tock" principle: Ivy Bridge was supposed to be the result of transferring the previous design to a new, 22-nm technological process, but, in fact, from the point of view graphics capabilities a very significant step forward has taken place. That is why we have reviewed the new video core included in Ivy Bridge as a separate material - the number of all kinds of innovations is extremely large, and the improvement in 3D performance is quite serious.

An excellent idea of how significant the changes that have occurred can be obtained by simply comparing the semiconductor crystals of Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge.

Sandy Bridge - area 216 sq. Mm; Ivy Bridge - area 160 sq. Mm

Both of them are made according to different technological processes and have different areas. But note that while the Sandy Bridge design took the graphics core to roughly 19 percent of the die area, Ivy Bridge increased the proportion to 28 percent. This means that the complexity of the graphics included in the processor has more than doubled: from 189 to 392 million transistors. It is quite obvious that such a noticeable increase in the transistor budget could not go to waste.

It should be emphasized that Intel's policy regarding the integration of computing and graphics cores and increasing the capacity of the latter is somewhat at odds with the APU concept proposed by AMD. Intel's competitor is considering an on-chip graphics core as a complement to computing, hoping that flexible programmable shader processors can help increase the overall performance of the solution. Intel, on the other hand, does not take into account the possibility of widespread use of graphics for calculations: with the traditionally processor speed of Ivu Bridge, everything is in order and so. At the same time, the primary role of the graphics core is completely traditional, and the struggle of developers to increase its power is due to the desire to minimize the number of cases when a discrete video card is a necessary system component, especially in mobile computers.

However, both AMD's and Intel's approach is the same. The market share of discrete graphics is steadily declining, giving way to new generations of integrated graphics, which have now acquired support for DirectX 11 and received performance higher than a number of budget graphics cards. V this material we will look at the graphics accelerators Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Intel HD Graphics 2500 implemented in Ivy Bridge and try to evaluate which discrete video cards have lost their meaning with the advent of Intel graphics of the new generation.

Intel HD Graphics 4000/2500: What's New

Improving the performance of integrated graphics cores is not an easy task. And the fact that Intel was able to raise it by more than an order of magnitude in several years is in fact the result of serious engineering work. The main problem here is that the integrated graphics accelerators cannot use the dedicated high-speed video memory, but share the usual system memory with the computational cores with a bandwidth that is rather low by the standards of modern 3D applications. Therefore, optimizing memory management is the very first step to take when designing high-performance embedded graphics.

And this important step was taken by Intel in the previous version of the microarchitecture - Sandy Bridge. The introduction of a circular internal processor bus connecting together all the components of the CPU (computational cores, L3 cache, graphics, a system agent with a memory controller) opened a short and progressive route for the integrated video core for memory accesses - through the high-speed L3 cache. In other words, the integrated graphics core, along with the computational processor cores, became an equal user of the L3 cache and the memory controller, which significantly reduced the downtime caused by waiting for graphics data for processing. The ring tire turned out to be such a successful find of the past design that it migrated to the new Ivy Bridge microarchitecture without any changes.

As for the internal structure of the Ivy Bridge graphics core, in general it can be considered a further development of the ideas embedded in the HD Graphics accelerators of previous generations. The architecture of the current Intel graphics core has its roots in the Clarkdale and Arrandale processors introduced in 2010, but each new reincarnation of it is not a simple copy of the previous design, but its improvement.

Ivy Bridge generation HD Graphics architecture

So, in the transition from the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture to Ivy Bridge, the increase in graphics performance is achieved primarily due to the increase in the number of executive devices, especially since the internal structure of HD Graphics initially meant the technical possibility of their simplest addition. While the older version of the Sandy Bridge graphics, HD Graphics 3000, was implemented 12 devices, the most productive modification of the video core built into the Ivy Bridge, HD Graphics 4000, received 16 executive devices. However, this was not the only thing, the devices themselves were also improved. A second texture sampler was added to them, and the throughput increased to three instructions per clock.

The increase in the speed of data processing by the graphics core required the developers to think again about their timely delivery. Therefore, the Ivy Bridge graphics core has its own cache memory. Its size was not disclosed, however, apparently, we are talking about a small but high-speed internal buffer.

Although the innovations in the microarchitecture of the graphics core do not seem very significant at first glance, in total they translate into an increase in 3D performance that is clearly visible to the naked eye, assessed by by Intel as double. By the way, the next generation of HD Graphics accelerators, which will be built into Haswell processors, will have to offer about the same increase. The number of executive devices in them will grow to 20, and the fourth level cache will be included in the struggle to reduce latencies when the graphics core is working with memory.

As for the Ivy Bridge graphics, increasing its performance was far from the only goal of the engineers. In parallel with it, the formal specifications of the new graphics core have been brought in line with modern requirements. This means that HD Graphics 4000 finally has full support for Shader Model 5.0 and hardware tessellation. That is, now Intel graphics are fully compatible "in hardware" with the DirectX 11 and OpenGL 3.1 APIs. And of course, HD Graphics 4000 will not be a problem in the upcoming operating room. Windows system 8 — required drivers are already available on the Intel website.

Intel also added to the new graphics core and the ability to execute it using computing work, for this, the new generation of HD Graphics has support for DirectCompute 5.0 and OpenCL. In Sandy Bridge processors, these APIs were also supported, but at the driver level, which redirected the corresponding load to the computational cores. With the release of Ivy Bridge, full-fledged GPU computing has become available on systems with Intel graphics.

In light of modern realities, Intel engineers have paid attention to and support for the increasingly popular multi-monitor configurations. The HD Graphics 4000 graphics engine was Intel's first integrated solution capable of handling three independent displays. But keep in mind that to implement this function, it was necessary to increase the width of the FDI bus, along which the image is transferred from the processor to the system logic set. So support for three monitors is only possible with new motherboards using chipsets of the seventh series.

In addition, there are some restrictions on the resolutions and ways of connecting monitors. In a desktop platform based on processors of the Ivy Bridge family, theoretically, you can get three outputs: the first is universal (HDMI, DVI, VGA or DisplayPort) with a maximum resolution of 1920x1200, the second is DisplayPort, HDMI or DVI with a resolution of up to 1920x1200, and the third is DisplayPort with support for high resolutions up to 2560x1600. That is, the popular option with connecting WQXGA monitors via Dual-Link DVI with Intel HD Graphics 4000 is still impossible to implement. But the version of the HDMI protocol has been brought to 1.4a, and the DisplayPort protocol - to 1.1a, which in the first case means 3D support, and in the second - the interface's ability to transmit an audio stream.

The innovations also affected other components of the graphics core of the Ivy Bridge processors, including their multimedia capabilities. High-quality hardware decoding of AVC / H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 was successfully implemented in the last generation of HD Graphics, but in the Ivy Bridge graphics, AVC decoding algorithms were adjusted. Due to the new design of the module responsible for context-adaptive encoding, the performance of the hardware decoder has increased, which resulted in the theoretical possibility of simultaneous playback of multiple streams with high resolution, up to 4096x4096.

Considerable progress has also been made on the Quick Sync technology, which is designed for fast hardware encoding of video into AVC / H.264 format. Commissioned at Sandy Bridge, it was recognized as a colossal breakthrough a year and a half ago. Thanks to it, Intel processors have moved to the first places in the speed of video transcoding. high resolution, for the execution of which a separate hardware unit is now allocated, which is part of the graphics core. With HD Graphics 4000, Quick Sync gets even better with an improved media sampler. As a result, the updated Quick Sync engine provides approximately 2x the speed of transcoding to H.264 compared to its previous Sandy Bridge version. At the same time, within the framework of the technology, the quality of the video output by the codec has also improved, and ultra-high resolutions of video content, up to 4096x4096, are now supported.

However, Quick Sync still has weak sides... Currently, this technology is used only in commercial video transcoding applications. There are no popular free utilities that work with this technology on the horizon. Another drawback of the technology is its close compatibility with the graphics core. If your system uses an external graphics card that generally disables the integrated graphics, you cannot use Quick Sync. True, a solution to this problem can be offered by a third-party company LucidLogix, which developed the Virtu graphical virtualization technology.

Nevertheless, Quick Sync remains a unique technology in the market. A highly specialized hardware codec implemented within its framework turns out to be significantly better in all respects than encoding using the power of shader processors of modern video cards. The implementation of a similar utilitarian hardware solution for encoding, following Intel, was only able to be mastered by NVIDIA. And that specialized tool of this company, NVEnc, appeared only very recently - in accelerators of the Kepler generation.

Intel HD Graphics 4000 vs. Intel HD Graphics 2500: What's the Difference?

As before, Intel is integrating two graphics core options into Ivy Bridge. This time it is HD Graphics 4000 and HD Graphics 2500. The older and high-performance modification, which was discussed in the first place in the previous section, has absorbed all the improvements inherent in the microarchitecture. The younger version of graphics is not aimed at setting new performance standards for integrated solutions, but at simply providing the minimum required level of graphics functionality for modern processors.

The difference between HD Graphics 4000 and HD Graphics 2500 is dramatic. The fast version of the video core has sixteen executive devices, while the younger version has their number reduced to six. As a result, while HD Graphics 4000 provides approximately 2x the theoretical 3D performance advantage over the previous generation HD Graphics 3000, the advantage of HD Graphics 2500 over HD Graphics 2000 is predicted to be 10-20 percent. The same applies to the speed of Quick Sync - a twofold increase in speed compared to its predecessors is promised only for older versions of the video core.


Intel HD Graphics 4000	Intel HD Graphics 2500

At the same time, the "full-fledged" core HD Graphics 4000 can be found not in all representatives of the Ivy Bridge generation, but mainly only in mobile phones, where graphics integrated into the CPU are most in demand. In desktop models, HD Graphics 4000 is present either in the Core i7 series processors or in the overclocking Core i5 (with the K suffix in the model number) with the only exception to this rule - the Core i5-3475S processor. In all other cases, desktop users have to either deal with the HD Graphics 2500, or resort to the services of external graphics accelerators.

Fortunately, the increase in the gap between the senior and junior Intel graphics modifications occurred exclusively in performance. The functionality of the HD Graphics 2500 is not affected at all. As well as in HD Graphics 4000, the younger version has support for DirectX 11 and three-monitor configurations.

It should be noted that, as before, in different third-generation Core processors, the graphics core can operate at different frequencies. For example, Intel is more concerned with integrated graphics performance when it comes to mobile solutions, and this is reflected in frequencies. Generally mobile processors Ivy Bridge has an HD Graphics 4000 core that runs at a slightly higher frequency than their desktop versions. In addition, the difference in the frequency of the integrated graphics can be caused by the limitations in the heat dissipation of different CPU models.

In addition, the frequency of the graphics is a variable quantity. The Ivy Bridge processors feature a special Intel HD Graphics Dynamic Frequency technology, which interactively controls the video core frequency depending on the load on the processor cores and their current power consumption and heat dissipation.

Therefore, among the characteristics of specific implementations of HD Graphics, two frequencies are indicated: the minimum and maximum. The first is typical for the idle state, the second is the target frequency to which the graphics core seeks to overclock, if the current power consumption and heat dissipation allows it, under load.

CPU	Kernels / threads	L3 cache, MB	Clock frequency, GHz	TDP, W	HD Graphics Model	Execute. devices	Max. graphics frequency, GHz	Min. graphics frequency, MHz
Desktop processors
Core i7-3770K	4/8	8	Up to 3.9	77	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i7-3770	4/8	8	Up to 3.9	77	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i7-3770S	4/8	8	Up to 3.9	65	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i7-3770T	4/8	8	Up to 3.7	45	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i5-3570K	4/4	6	Up to 3.8	77	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i5-3570	4/4	6	Up to 3.8	77	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3570S	4/4	6	Up to 3.8	65	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3570T	4/4	6	Up to 3.3	45	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3550	4/4	6	Up to 3.7	77	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3550S	4/4	6	Up to 3.7	65	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3475S	4/4	6	Up to 3.6	65	4000	16	1,1	650
Core i5-3470	4/4	6	Up to 3.6	77	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3470S	4/4	6	Up to 3.6	65	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3470T	2/4	4	Up to 3.6	35	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3450	4/4	6	Up to 3.5	77	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3450S	4/4	6	Up to 3.5	65	2500	6	1,1	650
Mobile processors
Core i7-3920XM	4/8	8	Up to 3.8	55	4000	16	1,3	650
Core i7-3820QM	4/8	8	Up to 3.7	45	4000	16	1,25	650
Core i7-3720QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.6	45	4000	16	1,25	650
Core i7-3667U	2/4	4	Up to 3.2	17	4000	16	1,15	350
Core i7-3615QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.3	45	4000	16	1,2	650
Core i7-3612QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.1	35	4000	16	1,1	650
Core i7-3610QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.3	45	4000	16	1,1	650
Core i7-3520M	2/4	4	Up to 3.6	35	4000	16	1,25	650
Core i7-3517U	2/4	4	Up to 3.0	17	4000	16	1,15	350
Core i5-3427U	2/4	3	Up to 2.8	17	4000	16	1,15	350
Core i5-3360M	2/4	3	Up to 3.5	35	4000	16	1,2	650
Core i5-3320M	2/4	3	Up to 3.3	35	4000	16	1,2	650
Core i5-3317U	2/4	3	Up to 2.6	17	4000	16	1,05	350
Core i5-3210M	2/4	3	Up to 3.1	35	4000	16	1,1	650

How we tested

As part of our testing, we set ourselves the goal of comparing the performance of the new Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Intel HD Graphics 2500 integrated graphics accelerators in Ivy Bridge processors with the performance of predecessor and competing integrated GPUs and graphics cards in the lower price range. This comparison was carried out on the example of desktop systems, although the results obtained are not difficult to extend to mobile systems.

There are two actual processors for desktop computers with integrated graphics, which makes sense to compare with Ivy Bridge, at the moment there are two on the market: AMD Vision of the A8 / A6 series and Intel's Sandy Bridge. It was with them that we compared the system, which was based on the third generation Core i5 processors equipped with Intel HD Graphics 2500 and Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics cores. In addition, cheap discrete AMD video cards of the six thousandth series Radeon HD 6450 and Radeon HD 6570.

Unfortunately, when comparing the built-in video cores, we cannot ensure complete equality of other characteristics of the systems. Different cores belong to different processors, differing not only in clock frequency, but also in microarchitecture. Therefore, we had to confine ourselves to the selection of close, but not identical configurations. In the case of LGA1155 platforms, we chose exclusively the Core i5 series processors, and for comparison with them we used the older AMD Vision processors of the Llano family. Discrete video cards were tested as part of a system with an Ivy Bridge processor.

As a result, the following hardware and software components were used in the tests:

Processors:

Intel Core i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge, 4 cores, 3.4-3.8 GHz, 6 MB L3, HD Graphics 4000);
Intel Core i5-3550 (Ivy Bridge, 4 cores, 3.3-3.7 GHz, 6 MB L3, HD Graphics 2500);
Intel Core i5-2500K (Sandy Bridge, 4 cores, 3.3-3.7 GHz, 6 MB L3, HD Graphics 3000);
Intel Core i5-2400 (Sandy Bridge, 4 cores, 3.1-3.4 GHz, 6 MB L3, HD Graphics 2000);
AMD A8-3870K (Llano, 4 cores, 3.0 GHz, 4 MB L2, Radeon HD 6550D);
AMD A6-3650 (Llano, 4 cores, 2.6 GHz, 4 MB L2, Radeon HD 6530D).

Motherboards:

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe (LGA1155, Intel Z77 Express);
Gigabyte GA-A75-UD4H (Socket FM1, AMD A75).

Video Cards:

AMD Radeon HD 6570 1 GB GDDR5 128-bit;
AMD Radeon HD 6450 512 MB GDDR5 64-bit.

Memory: 2x4 GB, DDR3-1866 SDRAM, 9-11-9-27 (Kingston KHX1866C9D3K2 / 8GX).

Disk subsystem: Crucial m4 256GB (CT256M4SSD2)

Power Supply: Tagan TG880-U33II (880 W).

Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate x64.

Drivers:

AMD Catalyst 12.4 Driver;
AMD Chipset Driver 12.4;
Intel Chipset Driver 9.3.0.1019;
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Driver 15.28.0.64.2729;
Intel Rapid Storage Technology 10.8.0.1003.

The main emphasis in this testing was quite naturally placed on gaming applications of the integrated processor graphics. Therefore, the bulk of the benchmarks we used are games or specialized gaming tests. Moreover, to date, the power of integrated video accelerators has grown so much that they allowed us to conduct a performance study not only at low resolution 1366x768, but also in the de facto standard for desktop systems. Full HD resolution 1980x1080. However, in the latter case, we limited ourselves to the choice of low quality settings.

3D performance

Anticipating the performance test results, it is necessary to say a few words about the compatibility of HD Graphics 4000/2500 graphics accelerators with various games. Previously, a typical situation was when some games with Intel graphics worked incorrectly or did not work at all. However, progress is obvious: slowly but surely, the situation is changing for the better. With each new version of the accelerator and driver, the list of fully compatible gaming applications is expanding, and in the case of HD Graphics 4000/2500, it is already quite difficult to encounter any critical problems. However, if you are still skeptical about the capabilities of Intel graphics cores, then the Intel website has an extensive list (,) of new and popular games tested for compatibility with HD Graphics, with which there are guaranteed no problems and in which an acceptable level of performance is observed.

3DMark Vantage

The results of tests of the 3DMark family are a very popular metric for assessing the weighted average gaming performance of video cards. Therefore, we turned to 3DMark in the first place. The choice of the Vantage version is due to the fact that it uses the tenth version of DirectX, which is supported by all video accelerators taking part in the tests.

The very first diagrams very vividly show the huge leap in performance that the graphics cores of the HD Graphics family have made. HD Graphics 4000 demonstrates more than a two-fold advantage over HD Graphics 3000. The younger version of Intel's new graphics does not hit its face in the dirt. HD Graphics 2500 is almost twice as fast as HD Graphics 2000, even though both accelerators have the same number of execution units.

3DMark 11

A more recent version of 3DMark is focused on measuring DirectX 11 performance. Therefore, the integrated graphics accelerators of the second generation Core processors drop out of this test.

The graphics core of the Ivy Bridge processors was the first Intel accelerator to pass the test in 3DMark 11, and we did not notice any complaints about the image quality during this DirectX 11 test. The performance of the HD Graphics 4000 is also quite on par. It outperforms the entry-level discrete graphics card Radeon HD 6450 and the Radeon HD 6530D accelerator integrated into the AMD A6-3650 processor, yielding only to the older version of the integrated core of AMD Llano processors and the Radeon HD 6570 video card, which costs about $ 60-70. The younger modification of modern Intel graphics, HD Graphics 2500, is in last place. Obviously, the merciless reduction in the number of executive devices that has befallen it significantly affects the gaming performance.

Batman arkham city

The group of real gaming tests opens with the relatively new Batman Arkham City game, built on the Unreal Engine 3.

As you can see from the results, the performance of the integrated Intel graphics has increased so much that it allows you to play fairly modern games at full Full HD resolution. And although there is no talk of good image quality and a completely comfortable number of frames per second, this is still a strong leap forward, perfectly illustrated by the 55% advantage of HD Graphics 4000 over HD Graphics 3000. In general, HD Graphics 4000 overtakes the integrated in AMD The A6-3650 has a Radeon HD 6530D core and a discrete Radeon HD 6450 graphics card, slightly behind the AMD A8-3850K with its Radeon HD 6550D GPU. True, the junior version of the integrated Ivy Bridge core, HD Graphics 2500, cannot boast of such significant achievements in performance. Although its score exceeds that of HD Graphics 2000 by 40-45 percent, the graphics of the quad-core Llano processors, like the $ 40 graphics cards, are noticeably faster.

Battlefield 3

The most popular first-person shooter on the graphics built into the Ivy Bridge processors does not turn and turn fast enough. In addition, during testing, we encountered some problems with the display of the game menu. However, the overall performance score for next-generation HD Graphics solutions remains unchanged. The four-thousandth accelerator is slightly faster than the AMD A6-3650 graphics and the Radeon HD 6450 video card, but it is inferior to the older modification of the Llano processor video core and loses to the discrete Radeon HD 6570 video card.

Civilization V

The popular step-by-step strategy favors graphics solutions with AMD architecture, and they take the first places here. The results of Intel graphics are not very good, even HD Graphics 4000 lags significantly behind both the internal Radeon HD 6530D and the external Radeon HD 6450.

Crysis 2

Crysis 2 can be safely attributed to the most "heavy" for video accelerators computer games... And this, as we can see, affects the ratio of results. Even taking into account the fact that during testing we did not enable DirectX 11 mode, Intel HD Graphics 4000 in the Core i5-3750K processor performed poorly and lost both to the A6-3650 processor graphics and the discrete Radeon HD 6450 video card. To be fair, it should be noted that the advantage of Ivy Bridge over Sandy Bridge remains more than significant, and it is observed both in older versions of accelerators and with younger ones. In other words, the strength of the new graphics core is based only in part on the increase in the number of executive devices. Even without it, the HD Graphics 2500 is about 30 percent better than the HD Graphics 2000.

Dirt 3

In Dirt 3, the situation is typical. HD Graphics 4000 is about 80 percent faster than the older version of the graphics core from Sandy Bridge processors, and HD Graphics 2500 is ahead of the built-in HD Graphics 2000 video accelerator by 40 percent. The result of this progress is that in terms of speed, a system based on the Core i5-3750K without an external video card is in the middle between integrated systems with AMD A8-3870K and AMD A6-3650 processors. Discrete video cards can fight the new and faster version of HD Graphics, but only starting with the Radeon HD 6570: slower budget solutions lose to Intel's four thousandth accelerator.

Far cry 2

Look: in the popular shooter four years ago, the performance of modern integrated graphics developed by Intel is already quite sufficient for a comfortable game. However, so far with a low image quality. Nevertheless, the diagram clearly shows how rapidly the speed of Intel integrated solutions grows with the change of processor generations. If we assume that the pace will continue with the advent of Haswell processors, then we can expect that next year discrete video cards of the Radeon HD 6570 level will also become unnecessary.

Mafia II

In Mafia II, the graphics integrated into AMD processors looks stronger than even HD Graphics 4000. And this applies to both the Radeon HD 6550D and the slower version of the integrated accelerator from the Vision class APU, the Radeon HD 6530D. So once again we are forced to state that AMD Llano has a more advanced video core than Ivy Bridge. And the forthcoming new processors of the Vision family with the Trinity design, of course, will be able to push HD Graphics even further away from the leading position. Nevertheless, it is impossible to deny what is happening by leaps and bounds to improve Intel graphics. Even the younger version of the accelerator built into the Ivy Bridge, HD Graphics 2500, looks very impressive against the background of its predecessors. With only six execution units, it almost reaches the speed of HD Graphics 3000 from Sandy Bridge, the number of execution units in which is twelve.

War Thunder: World of Planes

War Thunder is a new multiplayer aircraft combat simulator, which is expected to be released in the near future. But even in this latest game, the integrated graphics cores, if you do not "twist" the quality settings, offer quite acceptable performance. Of course, discrete video cards of the middle price range will allow you to get more pleasure from the game process, but modern Intel graphics cannot be called unsuitable for new games. This is especially true of the four thousandth version of HD Graphics, which once again confidently surpassed the budgetary, but quite relevant discrete video card Radeon HD 6450. The younger graphics from Ivy Bridge looks much worse, its performance is about half as low, and as a result it is significantly inferior in speed not only for discrete graphics accelerators, but also for integrated video accelerators built into quad-core Socket FM1 processors from AMD.

Cinebench R11.5

All games we tested on are DirectX applications. However, we also wanted to see how the new Intel accelerators will cope with work in OpenGL. Therefore, to purely gaming tests, we added a small study of performance when working in the professional graphics package Cinema 4D.

As the results show, no fundamental differences in the relative performance of HD Graphics are observed in OpenGL applications either. True, HD Graphics 4000 still lags behind any options for integrated and discrete AMD accelerators, which, however, is quite natural and is explained by the better optimization of their driver.

Video performance

There are two concepts to work with video in the case of HD Graphics cores. On the one hand, this is the reproduction (decoding) of high-definition video content, and on the other, its transcoding (that is, decoding followed by encoding) using the Quick Sync technology.

As for decoding, the characteristics of the new generation of graphics cores are no different from what they were before. HD Graphics 4000/2500 supports fully hardware video decoding in AVC / H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2 formats via DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration) interface. This means that when playing videos using DXVA-compatible software players, the processor's computing resources and power consumption are kept to a minimum, and the content decoding is performed by a specialized unit that is part of the graphics core.

However, exactly the same was promised in Sandy Bridge processors, but in practice, in a number of cases (when using certain players and when playing certain formats), we encountered unpleasant artifacts. It is clear that this was not due to some hardware flaws in the decoder built into the graphics core, but rather to software flaws, but end user it doesn't make it any easier. By now, it seems that all childhood illnesses have already disappeared, and modern versions of the players cope with video playback in systems with HD Graphics of the new generation without any complaints about the image quality. At least, on our test set of videos of various formats, we could not notice any image defects either in the free Media Player Classic Home Cinema 1.6.2.4902 or VLC media player 2.0.1, or in the commercial Cyberlink PowerDVD 12 build 1618 ...

The processor load is expectedly low when playing video content, because the main work falls not on the computing cores, but on the video engine available in the depths of the graphics core. For example, playing Full HD videos with subtitles enabled loads the Core i5-3550 with the HD Graphics 2500 accelerator, on which we tested, by no more than 10%. Moreover, the processor remains in an energy-saving state, that is, it operates at a frequency reduced to 1.6 GHz.

I must say that the performance of the hardware decoder is without any problems enough for the simultaneous playback of several Full HD video streams at once, and for the playback of "heavy" 1080p videos encoded with a bitrate of about 100 Mbps. However, it is still possible to bring the decoder to its knees. For example, when playing an H.264 video encoded at 3840x2160 with a bitrate of about 275 Mbps, we were able to observe frame drops and slowdowns despite the fact that Intel promises support for hardware video decoding in large formats. However, the specified QFHD-resolution is used very, very rarely at the moment.

We also checked the operation of the second version of the Quick Sync technology implemented in the Ivy Bridge processors. Since Intel promises an increase in transcoding speed in the new graphics cores, our first focus was on performance testing. During practical tests, we measured the transcoding time of one 40-minute episode of a popular TV series, encoded in 1080p H.264 at 10 Mbps for viewing on an Apple iPad2 (H.264, 1280x720, 4Mbps). For the tests, we used two utilities that support the Quick Sync technology: Arcsoft Media Converter 7.5.15.108 and Cyberlink Media Espresso 6.5.2830.

It is impossible not to notice the increase in transcoding speed. The Ivy Bridge processor equipped with the HD Graphics 4000 graphics core handles the test task almost 75 percent faster than the previous generation HD Graphics 3000 processor. However, it seems that only the older version of Intel's graphics core has a staggering performance increase. At least when comparing the transcoding speed of the HD Graphics 2500 and HD Graphics 2000 graphics cores, the same striking gap is not observed. Quick Sync in the younger version of Ivy Bridge graphics works significantly slower than in the older one, as a result of which processors with HD Graphics 2500 and HD Graphics 2000 deliver video transcoding performance that differs by about 10 percent. However, there is no need to grieve over this. Even the slowest version of Quick Sync is so fast that it leaves far behind not only software decoding, but all Radeon HD variants that accelerate video encoding with their programmable shaders.

Separately, I would like to touch upon the issue of video transcoding quality. Previously, it was believed that Quick Sync technology gives a significantly worse result than accurate software transcoding. Intel did not deny this fact, emphasizing that Quick Sync is a tool for getting results quickly, and by no means for professional mastering. However, in the new version of the technology, according to the developers, the quality has been improved due to changes in the media sampler. Did you manage to achieve the quality level of software decoding? Let's take a look at the screenshots showing the result of transcoding the original Full HD video for viewing on the Apple iPad 2.

Software transcoding, x264 codec:

Transcoding using Quick Sync technology, HD Graphics 3000:

Transcoding using Quick Sync 2.0 technology, HD Graphics 4000:

Honestly, no dramatic quality improvements are visible. Moreover, it seems that the first version of Quick Sync gives an even better result - the image is less blurry and small details are seen more clearly. On the other hand, the excessive clarity of the picture on the HD Graphics 3000 adds noise, which is also an undesirable effect. One way or another, in order to achieve the ideal, we are again forced to advise turning to software transcoding, which is able to offer a better conversion of video content, at least due to more flexible settings. However, in the event that the video is planned to be played on any mobile device with small screen, it makes sense to use Quick Sync for both the first and second versions.

conclusions

Intel's pace of improving its own integrated graphics cores is impressive. It would seem that until recently we were delighted that the Sandy Bridge graphics suddenly became capable of competing with entry-level video cards, as in the new generation of Ivy Bridge processor design, its performance and functionality took another qualitative leap. This progress is especially striking against the background of the fact that the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture is presented by the manufacturer not as a fundamentally new development, but as a transfer of the old design to new technological rails, accompanied by minor improvements. But nevertheless, with the release of Ivy Bridge, the new version of the integrated graphics cores HD Graphics received not only higher performance, but also support for DirectX 11, and improved Quick Sync technology, and the ability to perform general-purpose computing.

However, in fact, there are two options for the new graphics core, and they differ significantly from each other. The older modification, HD Graphics 4000, is exactly what makes us all the delight. Its 3D performance in comparison with that in HD Graphics 3000 has grown on average by about 70 percent, which means that the speed of HD Graphics 4000 is somewhere between the performance of modern discrete video accelerators Radeon HD 6450 and Radeon HD 6570. Of course, for the integrated graphics are not a record, the video accelerators built into the older processors of the AMD Llano family still work faster, but already the Radeon HD 6530D from the AMD A6 family processors is defeated. And if we add to this the Quick Sync technology, which began to work 75 percent faster than before, it turns out that the HD Graphics 4000 accelerator has no analogues and may well become a desirable option for both mobile computers and non-purely gaming desktops.

The second modification of Intel's new graphics core, HD Graphics 2500, is noticeably worse. Although it also acquired support for DirectX 11, this is actually more of a formal improvement. Its performance is almost always below the speed of HD Graphics 3000, and there is no question of any rivalry with discrete accelerators. Strictly speaking, HD Graphics 2500 looks like a solution in which full-fledged 3D functionality is left just for show, but in fact, no one is seriously considering it. That is, HD Graphics 2500 is a good option for media players and HTPCs, since no video encoding and decoding functions are cut off in it, but not an entry-level 3D accelerator in the modern sense of the term. Although, of course, many games of past generations can work quite tolerably well on the HD Graphics 2500.

Judging by the way Intel has disposed of HD Graphics 4000/2500 graphics cores in its processor lineup, the company's own opinion about them is very close to ours. The older, four thousandth version is focused mainly on laptops, where the use of discrete graphics deals a serious blow to mobility, and the need for integrated and productive solutions is very high. In desktop processors, HD Graphics 4000 can only be obtained as part of rare special offers or as part of expensive CPUs, to put in which cut-down versions of something somehow "not comme il faut". Therefore, most Ivy Bridge desktop processors are equipped with the HD Graphics 2500 graphics core, which has not yet exerted serious pressure on the discrete graphics card market from below.

Nevertheless, Intel makes it clear that the development of integrated graphics solutions like a competitor, Is one of the most important priorities of the company. And if now processors with integrated graphics can have a significant impact only on the market of mobile solutions, then in the near future integrated graphics cores can swing to the place of discrete desktop video accelerators. However, how it will actually be - time will tell.

The emergence operating system Windows 8 has become a kind of "engine of progress" for a huge number of computer manufacturers. The new OS, which has two types of control (touch and classic), gave an additional impetus to the creation of devices of a new form factor, uniting a tablet and a laptop. We have already introduced you to one of the representatives of this class, namely a laptop. In this material, we will consider in as much detail as possible the next novelty of the line of "transformers", which you have probably already heard about.

Impression X70.02 Ultrabook Review

August of this year was marked by the fact that the company “ Navigator»Presented to the public its first ultrabook, which will be produced under its own brand Impression Computer, and this, one might say, is a rather significant event for the domestic IT market. After all, it is known that the production of new items, like all other devices of this brand, is carried out on the territory of our country.

Model ImpressionX70 is positioned by the manufacturer as a solution for the corporate segment of users, which is emphasized by an extended warranty of up to 24 or 36 months and support for Intel Anti-Theft technology with McAfee Anti-Theft software package to remotely lock a stolen device and protect information stored on the drive. At the same time, almost main feature Ultrabook, in addition to the compact dimensions inherent in this class of solutions, is the use of a high-capacity battery - 7800 mAh.

Review of mini-computer GIGABYTE BRIX GB-XM12-3227

Thanks to the active development of the computer sphere and constant transitions to more technological and much more energy efficient processes for creating components, among which the largest and overriding role are executed by processors, manufacturers of equipment are given the opportunity to translate into reality quite unusual devices, differing in the most compact dimensions while maintaining the maximum number of possibilities. This is precisely what became a decisive factor in the emergence of such a class of desktop solutions as mini-computers, which are now actively promoted not only by manufacturing companies, for example, ZOTAC with its ZBOX nano XS model, but also by Intel itself in the form of a conceptual device NUC (Next Unit of Computer) equipped with "full-fledged" Intel Core processors.

Not so long ago, the Taiwanese GIGABYTE joined these companies, which brought to the market a series of very compact mini-computers under the laconic name GIGABYTE BRIX, and is now actively expanding the model range of this line. At the moment, the "bricks" are available both in the basic version and in a very unique version with a built-in mini-projector with a brightness of 75 lumens, capable of displaying images from 7 to 85 inches diagonally at a resolution of 864 x 480 pixels. Soon the gaming GIGABYTE BRIX II should appear on sale, which is supposedly capable of playing games of the level of Crysis 3. It is important to note that the manufacturer prefers not only solutions from Intel, but also accelerated processors from AMD.

In this article, we will dwell in more detail on one of the models of the starting line, namely on GIGABYTE BRIX (GB-XM12-3227)... Its main feature is undoubtedly an incredibly compact case, in which the manufacturer managed to fit an energy-efficient dual-core Intel Core i3-3227U processor with integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics. random access memory and the drive is given at the discretion of the consumer, which expands the possibilities for configuring. However, not everything is so happy in the mini-computer, and already at the first acquaintance, a number of complaints are found.

Review and testing of the Lenovo ThinkPad T431s ultrabook

A striking representative of the Lenovo T-series ultrabooks, the lineup of which includes only premium devices. This means that this model, according to the company's plan, is the embodiment of functionality, the highest quality of workmanship and stylish design.

At first glance, it is clear that Lenovo ThinkPad T431s was developed not just as another "laptop" squeezed into the ultrabook form factor, but as a device with its own, unique look, as evidenced by it appearance and hardware and software capabilities. Reinforced carbon body, spill-resistant keyboard, enhanced security - that's far from full list distinctive features of this ultrabook. Lenovo ThinkPad T431s is produced in various configurations, differing, first of all, in processor models, as well as in the volume and type of storage. We got a sample based on Intel Core i5-3337U for testing.

Intel Core i3 / Core i5 (Haswell) Embedded Processors Coming in Q4 2013

Review and testing of the ultrabook-flip Dell XPS 12

Thanks to the release of the latest operating system from Microsoft, namely Windows 8, which is quite strongly focused on touch control, almost each of the manufacturers presented their vision of new devices that would simultaneously offer an equally convenient way to use both in classic mode and in a tablet. Some of them began to develop completely new form factors for devices. For example, Lenovo introduced the Lenovo Yoga Ultrabook with an innovative 360 ° display hinge design, transforming a laptop into a tablet. Other companies have decided to go the proven way and use the detachable display laptop concept that ASUS originally developed and initially used for its Android tablets.

Dell, keeping up with its competitors, decided to use its early developments, especially since one of these developments has already been used to produce the first-of-its-kind Dell Inspiron Duo flip laptop with a 10 "display rotating around its axis. An original and highly reliable design. caused quite a lot of interest in the device, but it did not become especially popular, due to the small diagonal and Windows 7 not very convenient in touch mode.

The second flip is the ultrabook, which should attract much more public attention, because the new product is not only made in the same uniquely premium style as the Dell XPS 13, but is also equipped with an excellent Full HD display with a diagonal of 12.5 ", which perfectly suits the touch interface. Windows 8. However, as bitter as it may sound, it was not without a fly in the ointment.

Fujitsu LIFEBOOK E743 - reliable and productive business laptop

It is noted that this generation GPUs Intel will support a number of new APIs (DirectX 11.1, OpenCL 1.2, OpenGL 3.2), provide improved content handling, enable multi-screen configurations, and guarantee DisplayPort 1.2 support.

As for the performance level of the Intel HD Graphics 4600 GPU, Intel claims that in the server class, this GPU can replace discrete graphics cards priced up to $ 150. The basis for such conclusions was comparative testing Intel Xeon E3-1275 v3 processor (Intel HD Graphics 4600) with its predecessor Intel Xeon E3-1275 v2 (Intel HD Graphics 4000) and two discrete graphics cards primary class in the SPECaps PTC Creo 2.0 benchmark. The increase in the number of computing units in the Intel HD Graphics 4600 model and the optimization of its driver allowed the new product in three out of five test suites to demonstrate higher results than unnamed budget discrete video cards. And the lag of the previous generation graphics core from the new product according to the test results was 26% on average.

Samsung Series 9 Premium Ultrabook is cheaper

Good news for everyone who was going to buy an ultrabook SamsungSeries 9 Premium Ultrabook, but was stopped by its initial recommended cost of $ 1900, about which announced at the end of last month. Today, some online retailers are accepting pre-orders for the new product starting at $ 1,350 for a model with a 128 GB solid state drive.

Despite the considerable cost SamsungSeries 9 Premium Ultrabook looks like a very attractive acquisition. The ultrabook is equipped with a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, Gorilla Glass and SuperBright backlighting, an Intel Core i7-3517U processor, 4 GB of RAM, a card reader, SoundAlive HD Audio stereo speakers, a module wireless Wi-Fi and a wide range of connection interfaces. Declared time autonomous work- about 8 hours.

The body of the ultrabook is made of aluminum, and its total weight is 1150 g.

Specifications:

Manufacturer
	Series 9 Premium Ultrabook (NP900X3E-A02US)
Operating system	Windows 8 Pro (64 bit)
	SuperBright lighting (300 nits)
CPU	Intel Core i7-3517U
	Intel HD Graphics 4000
RAM

Memory expansion
	SoundAlive HD Audio
Webcam
Wireless connection	Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n
Network Controller
Connection interfaces	Card reader 3.5mm audio jack for headphone and microphone
Autonomy	Up to 8 hours
Additionally	Backlit keyboard Aluminium case

Products webpage

Ultrabook ASUS ZENBOOK U500VZ-CN097H with touch 15.6-inch display

For everyone who wants to purchase a high-performance and elegant ultrabook, ASUS has developed and presented the ASUS ZENBOOK U500VZ-CN097H model. This 15.6-inch novelty is equipped with a quad-core standard mobile Intel Core i7-3632QM processor, six gigabytes of DDR3-1600 RAM and a hybrid disk subsystem. The latter consists of a 128 GB SATA SSD and a 500 GB HDD.

ASUS specialists also took care of the high quality of multimedia content playback, having equipped the ASUS ZENBOOK U500VZ-CN097H mobile computer with a Full HD IPS display, a mobile video card NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M and a 2.1-channel Bang & Olufsen IcePower audio subsystem with support for Sonic Master technology. And for video communication, the new product provides an HD (720p) webcam with an integrated microphone.

The novelty went on sale with an 8-cell battery and installed operating system Windows 8. Its estimated price is € 1699. The summary technical specification of the ASUS ZENBOOK U500VZ-CN097H ultrabook is presented in the following table:


	Touch 15.6 "Full HD IPS (1920 x 1080) with LED-backlight
Operating system
CPU	Intel Core i7-3632QM (4 x 2.2 GHz)
RAM	6 GB SO-DIMM DDR3-1600 (maximum 8 GB)
Storage device	128 GB SSD + 500 HDD (5400 rpm)
Video subsystem	NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M (2GB GDDR5) mobile graphics + Intel HD Graphics 4000 integrated graphics
Audio subsystem	2.1ch Bang & Olufsen IcePower speakers with Sonic Master, microphone
Network interfaces	Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b / g / n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
External interfaces	1 x Combo audio output
Webcam
Card reader
	8-cell lithium polymer (70 Wh, 4750 mAh)
Battery life
Dimensions Intel Core i5-3230M, rated at 2.6 GHz. The base configuration also includes 4GB / 8GB of RAM and a 128GB mSATA SSD. Optionally, the amount of RAM can be increased to 16 GB, and instead of a 128 GB mSATA drive, use a 256 GB version or a hybrid configuration with SSD and HDD solutions. The multimedia capabilities of the GIGABYTE U2442T Ultrabook are based on: touchscreen 14-inch HD-display with support for Multi-Touch technology; mobile video card NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M, which is equipped with its own 2 GB DDR3 memory and supports NVIDIA Optimus technology; two built-in speakers with a total power of 4W with support for THX TruStudio Pro technology; 1.3 megapixel webcam with built-in microphone. Note that the GIGABYTE U2442T model is also characterized by support for all necessary network modules and external interfaces, including Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB 3.0, HDMI and D-Sub. The novelty will go on sale with the installed operating system of the Windows 8 family. A more detailed technical specification for the GIGABYTE U2442T Ultrabook is presented in the following table: New mobile GPUs NVIDIA GeForce 700M line with GPU Boost 2.0 support NVIDIA has unveiled an expanded line of NVIDIA GeForce 700M mobile GPUs. Five new solutions have been added to the existing NVIDIA GeForce 710M and Geforce GT 730M models: NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M, GeForce GT 735M, GeForce GT 740M, GeForce GT 745M and GeForce GT 750M. At the same time, the first two GPUs are focused on use in Mainstream-notebooks, and the other three - in performance-class mobile computers. Details technical specification The new NVIDIA GeForce 700M series mobile GPUs have not been officially disclosed. It is only known that they are based on the NVIDIA Kepler microarchitecture and are characterized by support for: internal PCI Express 3.0 bus (except for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 720M model, which is tied to the PCI Express 2.0 standard); DDR3 video memory (all models) or optional GDDR5 (only NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M, GeForce GT 745M and GeForce GT 750M) NVIDIA GPU Boost 2.0 technologies to automatically increase the maximum clock speed when the load level increases; NVIDIA Optimus technology, which allows the system to automatically select the source for processing video data (mobile video card or integrated graphics core), taking into account the level of the current load and the battery charge; instructions OpenGL 4.3, OpenCL 1.2, DirectX 11; technologies Blu-Ray 3D, 3D Vision, FXAA. The relative performance level of the new NVIDIA GeForce series GPUs700M vs. Intel HD Graphics 4000 in Crysis 2 Benchmark

Ivy Bridge processors are already the second version of Intel's microarchitecture, characterized by a hybrid design that combines computational cores with a graphics one in a single semiconductor chip. Compared to the previous version of the microarchitecture, Sandy Bridge, the changes have taken place dramatically, and they primarily concern the graphics core. Intel even had to give special clarifications about the violation of the "tick-tock" principle: Ivy Bridge was supposed to be the result of transferring the previous design to a new, 22-nm technological process, but, in fact, in terms of graphics capabilities, there was a very significant step forward. That is why we have reviewed the new video core included in Ivy Bridge as a separate material - the number of all kinds of innovations is extremely large, and the improvement in 3D performance is quite serious.

An excellent idea of how significant the changes that have occurred can be obtained by simply comparing the semiconductor crystals of Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge.

Sandy Bridge - area 216 sq. Mm; Ivy Bridge - area 160 sq. Mm

However, both AMD's and Intel's approach is the same. The market share of discrete graphics is steadily declining, giving way to new generations of integrated graphics, which have now acquired support for DirectX 11 and received performance higher than a number of budget graphics cards. In this article, we will look at the graphics accelerators Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Intel HD Graphics 2500 implemented in Ivy Bridge and try to evaluate which discrete video cards lost their meaning with the advent of Intel graphics of the new generation.

⇡ Intel HD Graphics 4000/2500 Graphics Architecture: What's New

Ivy Bridge generation HD Graphics architecture

Although the innovations in the microarchitecture of the graphics core do not seem very significant at first glance, in total they result in a noticeable increase in 3D performance, which is estimated by Intel itself as twofold. By the way, the next generation of HD Graphics accelerators, which will be built into Haswell processors, will have to offer about the same increase. The number of executive devices in them will grow to 20, and the fourth level cache will be included in the struggle to reduce latencies when the graphics core is working with memory.

As for the Ivy Bridge graphics, increasing its performance was far from the only goal of the engineers. In parallel with it, the formal specifications of the new graphics core have been brought in line with modern requirements. This means that HD Graphics 4000 finally has full support for Shader Model 5.0 and hardware tessellation. That is, now Intel graphics are fully compatible "in hardware" with the DirectX 11 and OpenGL 3.1 APIs. And of course, the HD Graphics 4000 will not be a problem in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system - the necessary drivers are already available on the Intel website.

Intel also added to the new graphics core and the ability to perform it by means of computational work, for this, the new generation of HD Graphics has support for DirectCompute 5.0 and OpenCL. In Sandy Bridge processors, these APIs were also supported, but at the driver level, which redirected the corresponding load to the computational cores. With the release of Ivy Bridge, full-fledged GPU computing has become available on systems with Intel graphics.

Considerable progress has also been made on the Quick Sync technology, which is designed for fast hardware encoding of video into AVC / H.264 format. Commissioned at Sandy Bridge, it was recognized as a colossal breakthrough a year and a half ago. Thanks to it, Intel processors have moved to the first places in the speed of high-definition video transcoding, for which a separate hardware unit is now allocated, which is part of the graphics core. With HD Graphics 4000, Quick Sync gets even better with an improved media sampler. As a result, the updated Quick Sync engine provides approximately 2x the speed of transcoding to H.264 compared to its previous Sandy Bridge version. At the same time, within the framework of the technology, the quality of the video output by the codec has also improved, and ultra-high resolutions of video content, up to 4096x4096, are now supported.

However, Quick Sync still has its weak points. Currently, this technology is used only in commercial video transcoding applications. There are no popular free utilities that work with this technology on the horizon. Another drawback of the technology is its close compatibility with the graphics core. If your system uses an external graphics card that generally disables the integrated graphics, you cannot use Quick Sync. True, a solution to this problem can be offered by a third-party company LucidLogix, which developed the Virtu graphical virtualization technology.

⇡ Intel HD Graphics 4000 vs Intel HD Graphics 2500: What's the Difference?


Intel HD Graphics 4000	Intel HD Graphics 2500

It should be noted that, as before, in different third-generation Core processors, the graphics core can operate at different frequencies. For example, Intel is more concerned with integrated graphics performance when it comes to mobile solutions, and this is reflected in frequencies. In general, Ivy Bridge mobile processors have an HD Graphics 4000 core, operating at a slightly higher frequency than in the case of their desktop modifications. In addition, the difference in the frequency of the integrated graphics can be caused by the limitations in the heat dissipation of different CPU models.

CPU	Kernels / threads	L3 cache, MB	Clock frequency, GHz	TDP, W	HD Graphics Model	Execute. devices	Max. graphics frequency, GHz	Min. graphics frequency, MHz
Desktop processors
Core i7-3770K	4/8	8	Up to 3.9	77	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i7-3770	4/8	8	Up to 3.9	77	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i7-3770S	4/8	8	Up to 3.9	65	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i7-3770T	4/8	8	Up to 3.7	45	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i5-3570K	4/4	6	Up to 3.8	77	4000	16	1,15	650
Core i5-3570	4/4	6	Up to 3.8	77	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3570S	4/4	6	Up to 3.8	65	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3570T	4/4	6	Up to 3.3	45	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3550	4/4	6	Up to 3.7	77	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3550S	4/4	6	Up to 3.7	65	2500	6	1,15	650
Core i5-3475S	4/4	6	Up to 3.6	65	4000	16	1,1	650
Core i5-3470	4/4	6	Up to 3.6	77	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3470S	4/4	6	Up to 3.6	65	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3470T	2/4	4	Up to 3.6	35	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3450	4/4	6	Up to 3.5	77	2500	6	1,1	650
Core i5-3450S	4/4	6	Up to 3.5	65	2500	6	1,1	650
Mobile processors
Core i7-3920XM	4/8	8	Up to 3.8	55	4000	16	1,3	650
Core i7-3820QM	4/8	8	Up to 3.7	45	4000	16	1,25	650
Core i7-3720QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.6	45	4000	16	1,25	650
Core i7-3667U	2/4	4	Up to 3.2	17	4000	16	1,15	350
Core i7-3615QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.3	45	4000	16	1,2	650
Core i7-3612QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.1	35	4000	16	1,1	650
Core i7-3610QM	4/8	6	Up to 3.3	45	4000	16	1,1	650
Core i7-3520M	2/4	4	Up to 3.6	35	4000	16	1,25	650
Core i7-3517U	2/4	4	Up to 3.0	17	4000	16	1,15	350
Core i5-3427U	2/4	3	Up to 2.8	17	4000	16	1,15	350
Core i5-3360M	2/4	3	Up to 3.5	35	4000	16	1,2	650
Core i5-3320M	2/4	3	Up to 3.3	35	4000	16	1,2	650
Core i5-3317U	2/4	3	Up to 2.6	17	4000	16	1,05	350
Core i5-3210M	2/4	3	Up to 3.1	35	4000	16	1,1	650

Today, the 4400 is one of the best graphics accelerators for creating an entry-level multimedia station or office PC. This model belongs to the Intel HD Graphics line. Reviews about this product, its specifications and capabilities will be discussed in some detail.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: reasons for the appearance

Intel HD Graphics 4000 was released to reduce the cost of entry-level PCs. In reviews of this device users report extremely low performance levels. It is an integrated solution that addresses simpler tasks. This list includes video playback, office applications and the most basic toys. In this case, the cost reduction is achieved due to the fact that there is no need to purchase an entry-level discrete video card. If we compare this accelerator with earlier integrated graphics solutions, then transferring the central processing unit to a semiconductor crystal has a beneficial effect on the level of performance. In this case, the layout motherboard is greatly simplified. This significantly reduces its cost.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: market segment for this accelerator

Intel HD Graphics 4000 is focused on solving the most basic tasks. Users in their reviews confirm this information. This accelerator perfectly copes with office applications such as Excel and Word. The adapter also allows you to output the image to a TV or monitor in HD quality. It will also run the simplest computer games. This list also includes obsolete applications of this plan. So, for example, HeroesIII will definitely work in any version. For more demanding PC games, you will need to purchase a discrete graphics adapter.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: processors with such an accelerator

Intel HD Graphics 4000 was part of the fourth generation Corei3 CPU. These chips belonged to the middle price category. They included two cores, and data could be processed in four program threads.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: operating mode

Intel HD Graphics 4000 supports an impressive list of display modes. In their reviews, the owners of the device indicate that in this list all current monitor resolutions are present. The accelerator can operate in lower resolution modes, but the frequency will still be limited to 60 Hz. This will be enough for comfortable work.

Intel HD Graphics 4000 Technical Specifications

For Intel HD Graphics 4000, clock speeds are capped at 350 MHz and 1.1 GHz. According to user reviews, we can conclude that the device has a low power consumption. The video chip, depending on the load, can dynamically change its clock frequency... This indicator also affects the degree of heating of the semiconductor crystal. The higher the temperature, the lower the frequency, which means the slower the performance of the graphics system. In this case, the crystal itself is manufactured according to the 22 nm technological process. The maximum number of connected monitors in this case is three.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: memory

All graphics cards Intel series HD Graphics are geared towards RAM that meets the DDR3 specifications. The owners of the device in their reviews indicate that a part of the RAM installed in the computer system is allocated for the needs of the accelerator. For the hero of this review, the maximum amount of RAM is 2 GB. It should be noted separately that the frequencies of conventional RAM modules are lower than those used in discrete video cards. As a result, any accelerator will be inferior in performance to the external one. This is without taking into account the frequency formulas of the chip itself and some architectural features.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: drivers

It will be impossible to unleash the full potential of any IntelHDGraphics accelerator without specifically installed drivers... User reviews of the video card indicate that without installing drivers, it turns into a standard VGA card with a resolution of 1024 × 768 at best. If you install an operating system, you will definitely need to install special video accelerator drivers in the control panel. In this case, the picture will be displayed on the monitor screen with a resolution of up to 4096 × 2304.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: performance boost and overclocking

This video card model has overclocking capability. However, this manipulation, at best, will allow you to achieve an additional 5% performance. In this case, the computer will still belong to the entry-level solutions. In such a situation, the requirements for the complete set of a personal computer increase significantly. In this case, you will need a power supply with a power reserve, an improved crystal cooling system and an advanced motherboard.

Intel HD Graphics 4000: competing solutions

Intel HD Graphics 4000 has been recognized as the most powerful graphics accelerator of the previous generation. This accelerator was part of chips based on the third generation Core architecture. It had an improved frequency formula. This graphics solution could operate in the frequency range 650 MHz-1.15 GHz. The frequency range of Intel HD Graphics 4400, in turn, is - 350 MHz - 1.1 GHz. In their feedback, users emphasize the higher level of performance of the latest solution. In this case, the answer lies in a large number of execution units. The Intel HD Graphics 4600 accelerator provided a slightly higher level of performance. These video cards have an identical frequency formula, however, a larger number of information processing units provides greater performance.

Intel HD Graphics 4000 Reviews

The hero of our today's review has a performance level lower than that of the same Intel HD Graphics 4600. In turn, the owners' reviews indicate that in terms of performance, the difference between integrated solutions is not so noticeable. For tasks that are focused on this decision, the level of performance is quite enough. If you need to run more demanding applications, then you cannot do without using a full-fledged discrete graphics card.

Conclusion

Intel HD Graphics 4000 can rightfully be called one of the best integrated graphics accelerators. In user reviews, you can find the opinion that this model has a high level of energy efficiency and good performance when solving simple tasks. But for something more possibilities of this product will not be enough. It is not intended for this. Today there are already sixth generation chips based on the Core architecture with faster integrated video accelerators. However, even their capabilities will not be enough. To run Photoshop and computer games normally, you will have to purchase an external accelerator. In other cases, the difference between integrated products is not so noticeable.