When the hell are we going to see HQ Iris Pro CPUs in Laptops?

[imported_gxtoast]

It would be good to see high-performance laptops that aren't targeting gamers, but instead contain top-end HQ Iris Pro parts in thin-and-light 15 and 17 inch Ultrabooks.

High-powered Ultrabooks with excellent high-res IPS screens, great keyboards and trackpads, up to 32GB RAM and bristling with advanced features and loads of connectivity.

Getting rid of dedicated graphics means making more space and much less heat. This is what will give us truly lightweight powerhouses.

Tired of seeing the same old formula in sizes above 14 inches.

 

[Throckmorton]

I don't see the point of integrated graphics except cost saving. When you're not doing demanding stuff a GPU uses very little power.

 

[imported_gxtoast]

The overall weight and size of the chassis can be reduced when using an integrated GPU. This means that a chassis does not need to be designed to accommodate a higher TDP and can be made thinner and lighter.

I don't want to carry around a 2.5kg 15" laptop. Only an integrated GPU can give us something lighter.

 

[jpiniero]

Unless you are interested in the Haswell Macbook Pro, I think you are going to be disappointed.

 

[imported_gxtoast]

I agree that workstation-class laptops, like the DELL Precision line, probably won't have an iGPU-only option. However, it is possible that a DELL XPS 15 variation could ship with this configuration.

I need 32GB RAM and I doubt any XPS 15s will support more than 16GB RAM, so that makes the XPS no good for me, unfortunately. An XPS 15 with iGPU, 32GB RAM, bigger battery and maybe two mSATA drives...

 

[sushiwarrior]

The overall weight and size of the chassis can be reduced when using an integrated GPU. This means that a chassis does not need to be designed to accommodate a higher TDP and can be made thinner and lighter.

I don't want to carry around a 2.5kg 15" laptop. Only an integrated GPU can give us something lighter.

I would kind of disagree. The weight of the chassis can be reduced by using an iGPU, but at the cost of performance. For one thing, Iris' performance is on the level of a GT630/640, while using a massive die with a bunch of ESRAM cache. Given the cost, I honestly don't think it gives any benefit for power/performance ratio other than being all in one die.

 

[imported_gxtoast]

Yes, but Iris' lack of punch only becomes an issue if we want to play games. I'm talking about a high performance thin and light that could eat VMs and other compute/RAM intensive tasks for breakfast, while driving multiple high-res monitors without any worries.

I kinda think that there is enough gaming laptops around, and also enough standard laptops around that have dedicated graphics.

 

[ShintaiDK]

It depends on the OEMs. I prefer Lenovo T series myself. But the laptops with the latest CPUs are usually 6-9 months "late" there, while others got them from day 1 like Apple.

The benfit of Iris Pro vs a 640M/650M is quite obvious. The 650M alone adds around 35W TDP, plus cooling, plus bigger battery, plus bigger chassis etc.

 

[Sheep221]

I don't see the point of integrated graphics except cost saving. When you're not doing demanding stuff a GPU uses very little power.

That's the point of that, that iGPs under load don't consume so much power instead of separate ones. That is for increasing battery duration.

 

[imported_gxtoast]

I would buy an Ultrabook class 17" that had 32GB RAM, an i7-4850HQ, and two mSATA SSDs, that weighed less than 2.5kg and was as thin as the rMBP 15.

 

[aigomorla]

the type of prowess your asking for would only have a battery life of less then 1h.

are u aware of that?

The display is the most resource hog unless u have a GTX in your laptop.
I never understood people who got 17inch ultra books which were near paper thin that required it being attached to an outlet all the time.

 

[sushiwarrior]

That's the point of that, that iGPs under load don't consume so much power instead of separate ones. That is for increasing battery duration.

I can't really agree with that, an IGP essentially consumes the same amount of power, it just is on the same die as the CPU and it doesn't have dedicated VRAM which I suppose saves a little bit of power... AFAIK, there is nothing inherently "lower power" about the GPU being on the same die as the CPU vs. on a separate die.

 

[imported_gxtoast]

Just bear in mind, Guys, that a discrete GPU might consume anywhere between 50 and a 100 watts *in addition* to the CPU's 47 watts. A Haswell i7-4850HQ will consume a maximum of 47 watts with the integrated GPU running close to maximum.

Think about it.

Without the dedicated GPU the designers can simplify the motherboard, cooling paths, cooling fans, size of exhaust vents, size of intake vents, thickness and weight of the chassis. Look at how enormous the Alienware 17 is, just so it can accommodate that phat GPU.

Hell, maybe we don't even need an HQ to properly drive a couple of Full HD displays.

With Haswell's dramatically improved idle and sleep state power management, and the right components used in the rest of the platform (Anand talks about this in one of his Haswell articles), we could see a very efficient high-performance thin and light 15 and 17 inch form factor.

Razer's new 14" Blade and 17" Blade Pro are already pretty close to this design goal. They just need to bring out a workstation version with only an iGPU, an extra SSD, and two more slots to support at total of 32GB RAM.

I would buy this in a flash, and I think there might be more than a few others who would as well:
http://www.techradar.com/au/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/razer-blade-1155531/review
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7119/razer-blade-14inch-gaming-notebook-review/6

Pricing aside, the design aspirations are in the right place. That is for sure.

 

[Sweepr]

The first one will be 14.1" Galago UltraPro, a U$995 laptop with Iris Pro and a 1080p IPS display: https://www.system76.com/laptops/model/galu1

Sometime in Q4 launching together with Windows 8.1 theres the 13.3'' ASUS Zenbook Infinity with that 28W ULT version of Haswell (regular Iris, not Iris Pro.. but twice as fast as previous ULV HD4000).

 

[imported_gxtoast]

Nice. Thanks, Sweepr.

That's a Clevo chassis, isn't it? Maybe System76 have modified it, because it looks better than what I've seen in the past. In fact, it seems to have all the right connections, great configuration and specifications.

I don't see why they couldn't bring out a 15.6" version with an extra two RAM slots. Q4 is unfortunately outside my purchase window

 

[Sweepr]

Nice. Thanks, Sweepr.

That's a Clevo chassis, isn't it? Maybe System76 have modified it, because it looks better than what I've seen in the past. In fact, it seems to have all the right connections, great configuration and specifications.

I don't see why they couldn't bring out a 15.6" version with an extra two RAM slots. Q4 is unfortunately outside my purchase window

A 15.6'' version would be nice. This 14.1'' model is shipping in mid to late July according to their website.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Nice. Thanks, Sweepr.

That's a Clevo chassis, isn't it? Maybe System76 have modified it, because it looks better than what I've seen in the past. In fact, it seems to have all the right connections, great configuration and specifications.

I don't see why they couldn't bring out a 15.6" version with an extra two RAM slots. Q4 is unfortunately outside my purchase window

Iris Pro based CPUs don't officially launch until Q3, and we just entered Q3. That's part of the reason the Macbook Pro with Haswell isn't here either.

I'm assuming you'll see more in August. MSI also has Iris Pro based Laptop coming.

The question is though: If you are not gaming, why do you need a Iris Pro one, rather than HD 4600 based quads already available now?

 

[imported_gxtoast]

Good points, IntelUser.

When I originally checked with Intel ARK about timing, their site stated Q2, along with the rest of the Haswell MX parts. However, this was updated a few weeks ago with a Q3 release. When I started this thread I knew this, but I think I wanted more information about what products to expect with this CPU and when they might be, at least, announced.

I'm about to buy three mobile computers (and don't want to buy last generation):
1. High performer to support nested Hypervisors (Hyper-V and ESXi inside Workstation 9, each containing VMs, and cloud server and network labs (lighter weight and preferably with 32GB RAM);
2. Retina MacBook Pro 15 for my son at University, and to support audio mixing;
3. Tablet convertible with active digitizing stylus to support PDF (technical books) annotation and note taking (active reading), with a minimum of 1080 FHD and at least 13" in size.

Regarding Pro or HD video, I think that we will see more high-performance iGPU laptops with Pro than with HD parts. The current trend is to use dGPU parts with HD parts, typically with nVidia Optimus type tech. If an OEM brings out a lighter-weight dual SSD equipped 4900MX laptop with 32GB RAM I would be as excited as if it was a Pro equipped laptop. The space occupied with a graphics card (and the required air-flow paths) could be better used for more RAM slots and an extra mSATA SSD (as well as enabling a smaller design).

Surprisingly, even the new Haswell DELL Latitude 6540 laptop ships with a AMD Radeon HD 8790M dGPU - it's a "business" laptop for Pete's sake. Taking out the dGPU could shave 50 watts off the system.

Maybe it's just far too early to expect buyers to accept a performance laptop without a dGPU. It's just bad timing that I need to purchase now, during this transitional phase.