My Findings: HD4000 Graphics Single channel vs Dual channel

[max347]

Figured I would post this here for anyone else curious.

I bought a 2x4gb kit of ram to put in my T430 (stock=1x4gb). I knew there would be a small gain from going to dual channel, but I was not expecting this!

http://youtu.be/v63dHvE3xBI

There is my video with the results. Long story short, 4300 with 1x4gb, 6200 with 2x4gb. I think the gain is from going to dual channel with the integrated graphics, not simply from adding 4gb of ram. I will be doing a test with 2x2gb later in the week to confirm.

I know there are a bunch of articles (especially here on AT) but I figured I would give my personal experience.

My Steam account is much happier now!

 

[f1sherman]

/disappoint

Thought you was gonna run some gaems :\

 

[max347]

Sorry about that! I guess I can see where that would be useful, lol.

But here are some numbers-
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000.69168.0.html

In my experience, hd4000 graphics are good enough for all my steam games and diablo 3. For new FPS games, it will leave you wanting. However, yes it will play crysis, lol.

 

[Obsoleet]

Interesting results. I use a HD4000 in my laptop as well. Good enough for laptop resolution, and in a (moderately unhappier) pinch, would be fine for my desktop.

Planning on going all APU/iGPU going forward. My eye is on the A10-5800 (or better when released), and HD4000 for laptop.

If the A10M were a little cheaper, I'd abandon Intel's HD4000 for mobile, but honestly price/performance/heat/power the HD4000 is right where I want it.
Not that there's anything wrong with the AxM (Trinity) series, just not my choice for mobile.

 

[Obsoleet]

Some Civ5 & Skyrim single vs dual here http://www.itsjustwhatever.com/2012...l-memory-for-your-hd4000-integrated-graphics/

That's a tremendous bump.

I just ordered another stick of RAM for my laptop. I've been running in single channel and it's been OK for LoL & KF. It will be interesting to feel the difference, 10FPS is a big deal at that level.

 

[SPBHM]

here you can see how mobile HD 3000, HD 4000 and Trinity reacts to single/dual channel
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/872-6/perfs-jeux-f1-2011-civilization-v-battlefield-3.html

 

[ShintaiDK]

Its just crazy that this kind of self molesting by the OEMs still happens.

 

[PingSpike]

Its not really a surprise. Memory bandwidth is one of the main reasons integrated graphics have traditionally sucked ass, probably the hardest one to get around too. Any improvement in that area reduces the main performance bottleneck.

 

[f1sherman]

Increasing BW is more like raising the top in which overclocking GPU clock gives significant and meaningful (often linear) performance increase.

 

[max347]

Yeah I am not sure how I feel on the OEM part. My Elitebook came with 2x2gb- better integrated performance, but to upgrade I'd have to replace both sticks. This thinkpad came with only one installed, under the keyboard no less (so I only had to open the bottom panel and pop one in), but literally halves the performance.

Anyway, just a cool note in case anyone was on the fence about spending the money

 

[FalseChristian]

How does the Intel 4000 compare to 1 of my GTX 460 1GB?

 

[SPBHM]

How does the Intel 4000 compare to 1 of my GTX 460 1GB?

your GTX 460 have 256bit DDR5, 336 "cores",
the HD 4000 is clearly slower than a GT 430, with the same architecture but 128bit DDR3, 96 "cores", so... you know, the difference is huge.

 

[max347]

How does the Intel 4000 compare to 1 of my GTX 460 1GB?

Well, what 3dmark score do you get?


If you are talking about a desktop gpu version of the card, then it is probably 3-4 times faster. But in real world performance, there is really no comparison. A desktop dedicated card will obviously destroy these laptop integrated graphics.