Which Graphics Card is Better?

[Maya877]

I was wondering which graphics card is better for gaming, the Intel HM76 or the Intel HD 4000? I know they're both not very high end, but with my budget those are my options. (My budget being 700 dollars for a laptop.)

 

[ShintaiDK]

No such thing as HM76. HM77 is a chipset and not a graphics card.

 

[Fx1]

Get an AMD APU based notebook. A8 or A10 if you have enough money.

 

[bystander36]

Get an AMD APU based notebook. A8 or A10 if you have enough money.

That'll depend on what you want to play. The AMD APU is pretty horrendous on the CPU side:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/neverwinter-performance-benchmark,3495-4.html

 

[Maya877]

No such thing as HM76. HM77 is a chipset and not a graphics card.

Oh sorry, I meant chipset for both. On the website it says they're both chipsets, do you know which one is better?

 

[Fx1]

That'll depend on what you want to play. The AMD APU is pretty horrendous on the CPU side:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/neverwinter-performance-benchmark,3495-4.html

Arent MMO's single threaded messes which are totally CPU bound?

 

[bystander36]

They are usually dual core games, but that doesn't change that depending on the game, it may change, which he has to take into consideration. Though that game probably uses at least 3 cores, based on the CPU test later done:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/neverwinter-performance-benchmark,3495-9.html

Notice the difference between the i3 and i5. It likely uses 3 threads at least.

 

[bystander36]

Here is a test with several games benchmarked:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5831/amd-trinity-review-a10-4600m-a-new-hope/6

Not surprisingly, the a10-4600m wins more often, but the hd 4000 wins a couple as well. They've come a long way.

 

[ShintaiDK]

Oh sorry, I meant chipset for both. On the website it says they're both chipsets, do you know which one is better?

Maybe you can list the website. The chipset is irrelevant to graphics performance.

 

[Stuka87]

They are usually dual core games, but that doesn't change that depending on the game, it may change, which he has to take into consideration. Though that game probably uses at least 3 cores, based on the CPU test later done:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/neverwinter-performance-benchmark,3495-9.html

Notice the difference between the i3 and i5. It likely uses 3 threads at least.

Neverwinter Nights is dual threaded only. The CPU graph you listed shows that as well. Any game that is highly CPU bound will run better on an HD4000 in many cases. But thats not because the HD4000 is better, its because the game is poorly coded.

Any game that can use four threads will run better on the APU because the APU is faster in most cases.

Plus for $700, an APU is certainly the better option. You are unlikely to find a quad core Intel laptop for $700 that isnt total junk.

 

[bystander36]

Neverwinter Nights is dual threaded only. The CPU graph you listed shows that as well. Any game that is highly CPU bound will run better on an HD4000 in many cases. But thats not because the HD4000 is better, its because the game is poorly coded.

Any game that can use four threads will run better on the APU because the APU is faster in most cases.

Plus for $700, an APU is certainly the better option. You are unlikely to find a quad core Intel laptop for $700 that isnt total junk.

I'm not sure how the graph shows it is dual threaded? The i3 at nearly the same clock is far behind the i5. That said, you could be right on what is best, but a lot MMO gamers tend to stick to a single game.

 

[Stuka87]

I'm not sure how the graph shows it is dual threaded? The i3 at nearly the same clock is far behind the i5. That said, you could be right on what is best, but a lot MMO gamers tend to stick to a single game.

But its not at the same clock, because of turbo. The quad only using two threads is going to ramp up the clock on the two cores that are working. Maybe it offloads some audio stuff to a 3rd core, but a search on the web shows people saying it only uses two cores. It is an OLD game after all. Just like WoW, which has the same issue.

 

[f1sherman]

D&D Neverwinter is well multi-threaded

 

[bystander36]

But its not at the same clock, because of turbo. The quad only using two threads is going to ramp up the clock on the two cores that are working. Maybe it offloads some audio stuff to a 3rd core, but a search on the web shows people saying it only uses two cores. It is an OLD game after all. Just like WoW, which has the same issue.

Neverwinter is in Open Beta, it is not an old game. It is not even released yet. I think you are thinking about Neverwinter Nights, which is an old RPG.

And 3.3Ghz compared to the i5's 3.7Ghz with boost, should not net over a 40% FPS improvements, core for core.