Question for H61/H67 Board - Onboard Video

[lopri]

I'm considering a small box using i3-CPU's on-board GPUs for someone else's build. There have been nagging issues that have kept me from using these Intel IGPs after much frustration of previous generation IGPs. Reviews seem positive on these HD2000/3000 but frankly I do not trust them at all - after all, even G35/G45 reviews were quite glorious if you recall. Clarkdale wasn't an exception, either. They're what I'd call a "glorified RAMDAC" and I did swear myself I would never buy another Intel IGP board again at the time.

But with so much hype around the new Sandy Bridge's improved IGPs, I might give it another chance. But I would like to know the following before pulling the trigger:

1) 2560x1600 support - This was supposed to work even in G45 and Intel has been advertising it for some time but I never got it to work in the past on Intel IGPs, even after purchasing ADD2 cards off ebay (which was supposed to work in tandem with G45 for 2560x1600 support). I mean, even Mac Mini supports 2560x1600 for pete's sake. I find it puzzling why reviews can't confirm/deny it once and for all. All they have to do is simply plug in a dual-link dvi cable?

2) GPU acceleration in HTML5 and Flash. Particularly HTML5. Please check the following links. (Will likely need IE 9.0 and/or FireFox 8.0)

http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Performance/FishIETank/
http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Default.html

I'd like to know if GPUs are being utilized for various demos, freeing CPUs for other tasks. Using GPU-Z and Task Manager, you could tell that each demos is capable of pushing a single core (or even a dual-core) to near 100% usage without GPU acceleration, and without GPU support the whole desktop becomes extremely sluggish.

There are other things I would take into consideration if this system were to be mine, but I don't think those would matter for the intended usage for the user.

Please please give your first hand account (i.e. used it yourself, or seen it working yourself) instead of some obscure reviews or second-hand hearsay with Intel powerpoints. I already know about those. I would think these are simple yes/no questions.. and that's what I'd prefer.

Thank you much in advance.

 

[lopri]

No one uses the HD2000/3000? The 2nd test can be done without a 2560x1600 screen. Demos like "Particle Acceleration" and "Touch Effect" are prime candidate for GPU acceleration and can easily be measured by opening up GPU-Z and check GPU load. Or by CPU load. To make it easier you can confine IE or Firefox to a single core by assigning processor affinity using Task Manager, which will let you see CPU usage more clearly. (they look to be single-threaded by my observation)

 

[Taft12]

I use the HD2000 on a i3-2100 but don't have a 30" monitor.

However both Gigabyte and Asus spec pages for Z68 boards say the maximum resolution is 1920x1200 for the DVI port. I just don't think the Sandy Bridge GPU's are dual-link DVI capable.

 

[lopri]

Thank you, Taft12. What's happening, I think, is the GPU itself have a capability of 2560x1600 but mobo makers are not enabling it for whatever reason. DVI should be relatively easy to check by counting the pins, and I'm guessing most boards are equipped with single-link DVI port. I was hoping either 1) some boards do take advantage of dual-link DVI, or 2) DisplayPort can do 2560x1600.

It is very strange because mobo manufacturers had no problem equipping dual-link DVI on old AMD/NV boards. And HD2000/3000 are supposed to be vastly superior to previous Intel IGPs.

Did you by any chance try those HTML5 pages? Again, thanks for your response.

 

[paperwastage]

Thank you, Taft12. What's happening, I think, is the GPU itself have a capability of 2560x1600 but mobo makers are not enabling it for whatever reason. DVI should be relatively easy to check by counting the pins, and I'm guessing most boards are equipped with single-link DVI port. I was hoping either 1) some boards do take advantage of dual-link DVI, or 2) DisplayPort can do 2560x1600.

pins might match out, but might just be a physical dual link port but not electricially capable.

dual link = you need more CPU traces to the IGP = more expensive. why not cut cost if its a niche part?

 

[lopri]

I went to the Egg and did some search on H61/67 boards, and was very surprised to see every single one of them comes equipped with physical dual-link DVI adapters. So in your opinion, they are there for aesthetic reasons?

 

[paperwastage]

^ back at your question, recently completed a Z68 build... not exactly a H61/67, but just some info... found it in the manual of the mobo

Board: ASRock Z68 Pro3-M mATX

Contains VGA, DVI, HDMI, Displayport

Can only use at most 2 of the above combination

Supports HDMI 1.4a Technology with max. resolution up to
1920x1200 @ 60Hz
- Supports DVI with max. resolution up to 1920x1200 @ 60Hz
- Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 2048x1536 @
75Hz
- Supports DisplayPort with max. resolution up to 2560x1600
@ 60Hz

So I guess, look through some H61/67 boards that you seem to like, and look at their manuals