Graphics question

Thorkune

I currently have a Dell laptop with Intel i3 2.3GHZ CPU, 4GB RAM and a Intel 3000HD video card and I can play most MMO's on low/mid settings. I now have access to a brand new laptop that a friend of mine just bought, but won a better one in a contest. Here is the specs on it. How will it do with some of the newer MMO's and RPG's?

 

• Includes Inspiron M731R (5735) i5735-322sLV laptop, six-cell lithium-ion battery and AC adapter
• 1.7GHz AMD quad-core A8-5545M processor with 4MB cache
• 17.3" diagonal HD display with 1600x900 resolution
• 8GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM
• 1TB 5400 RPM hard drive
• DVD+/-RW drive
• Wireless-N Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth wireless technology
• AMD Radeon HD 8510G graphics
• Waves MaxxAudio
• 0.92 megapixel 1280x720 HD webcam with digital microphone
• Non-backlit keyboard with numeric keypad
• Multi-touchpad with integrated scrolling and gestures
• 10/100 ethernet
• 8-in-1 media card reader
• Two USB 3.0 ports
• Two USB 2.0 ports
• HDMI 1.4a, ethernet ports
• Security slot
• Windows 8.1

Thorkune

I can't find any good google info concerning this card

Quizzical

You don't seem to realize this, but both laptops are using integrated graphics.

Both laptops will be hit and miss for gaming.  But the games that they struggle with will be different, with neither clearly the superior option.

On the CPU side, in programs that scale well to four cores, the laptops will be close to even.  The AMD laptop has four cores rather than two, but they're much slower cores.  In programs that rely heavily on single-threaded CPU performance, the Intel laptop will win by a lot.  CPU core scaling in games is very much a mixed bag, and games will be all over the map here.

On the GPU side, AMD wins by a mile.  There are two fundamentally different problems with the Intel graphics.  One is that they're simply slow, and the AMD chip will offer much better graphical performance.

The other is that your current chip dates to back when Intel basically didn't care much if games worked on their GPU, and didn't bother to support any recent graphical APIs.  For games that use old APIs, the lack of modern API support won't matter, but in games that take advantage of more modern GPU features, you may have some options hard disabled by the Intel drivers, or the game may even refuse to run at all.  Even if the drivers nominally support the game, Intel video drivers have traditionally been very problematic, and AMD drivers are much better.  Everything should run on the AMD graphics chip; it's only a question of whether it runs fast enough.

One other thing worth mentioning is that the AMD laptop is much lower power, with a 19 W TDP for the CPU/GPU chip, compared to 35 W for the Intel laptop.

Thorkune

Originally posted by Quizzical

You don't seem to realize this, but both laptops are using integrated graphics.

Both laptops will be hit and miss for gaming.  But the games that they struggle with will be different, with neither clearly the superior option.

On the CPU side, in programs that scale well to four cores, the laptops will be close to even.  The AMD laptop has four cores rather than two, but they're much slower cores.  In programs that rely heavily on single-threaded CPU performance, the Intel laptop will win by a lot.  CPU core scaling in games is very much a mixed bag, and games will be all over the map here.

On the GPU side, AMD wins by a mile.  There are two fundamentally different problems with the Intel graphics.  One is that they're simply slow, and the AMD chip will offer much better graphical performance.

The other is that your current chip dates to back when Intel basically didn't care much if games worked on their GPU, and didn't bother to support any recent graphical APIs.  For games that use old APIs, the lack of modern API support won't matter, but in games that take advantage of more modern GPU features, you may have some options hard disabled by the Intel drivers, or the game may even refuse to run at all.  Even if the drivers nominally support the game, Intel video drivers have traditionally been very problematic, and AMD drivers are much better.  Everything should run on the AMD graphics chip; it's only a question of whether it runs fast enough.

One other thing worth mentioning is that the AMD laptop is much lower power, with a 19 W TDP for the CPU/GPU chip, compared to 35 W for the Intel laptop.

Thanks Quizz...I can get that laptop for $200 and it is literally 2 days old. I just wanted to make sure it was better than my current one, as far as gaming is concerned, before I bought it. 

Cleffy

O.O getting it from a friend? At $200 its practically a steal.

Quizzical

If your friend doesn't want it, he might try to see if he can return it for a refund.  Even if there's a restocking fee or some such, he's likely to get a lot more than $200 back.

syntax42

As far as gaming laptops go, you won't find much better than that without getting into discrete GPUs.  Those laptops typically cost a LOT more.  Don't be too concerned about the lower CPU performance than Intel.  It rarely results in slower framerates, and usually, turning down certain detail settings can resolve it.

With the AMD APU, you can turn on a lot more shader effects than with an Intel GPU, and still have a decent framerate.  I have played Rift, SWTOR, and WoW on my A8-4500M.  It worked well enough to play the majority of content with decent visual effects.  It struggled in very crowded areas and if there were a lot of certain light effects, but that is about 1% of the gameplay.

Thorkune

Originally posted by Quizzical
If your friend doesn't want it, he might try to see if he can return it for a refund.  Even if there's a restocking fee or some such, he's likely to get a lot more than $200 back.

He got it as a family college gift and is letting me have it as a favor if I want it. I am sure the $200 will go for beer lol. Believe me, he doesn't need the money anyway.

Thorkune

Originally posted by syntax42

As far as gaming laptops go, you won't find much better than that without getting into discrete GPUs.  Those laptops typically cost a LOT more.  Don't be too concerned about the lower CPU performance than Intel.  It rarely results in slower framerates, and usually, turning down certain detail settings can resolve it.

With the AMD APU, you can turn on a lot more shader effects than with an Intel GPU, and still have a decent framerate.  I have played Rift, SWTOR, and WoW on my A8-4500M.  It worked well enough to play the majority of content with decent visual effects.  It struggled in very crowded areas and if there were a lot of certain light effects, but that is about 1% of the gameplay.

Thanks

Quizzical

Originally posted by syntax42

As far as gaming laptops go, you won't find much better than that without getting into discrete GPUs.  Those laptops typically cost a LOT more.  Don't be too concerned about the lower CPU performance than Intel.  It rarely results in slower framerates, and usually, turning down certain detail settings can resolve it.

With the AMD APU, you can turn on a lot more shader effects than with an Intel GPU, and still have a decent framerate.  I have played Rift, SWTOR, and WoW on my A8-4500M.  It worked well enough to play the majority of content with decent visual effects.  It struggled in very crowded areas and if there were a lot of certain light effects, but that is about 1% of the gameplay.

Actually, it's pretty simple to get a faster laptop without a discrete video card.  Just take the same chip and clock it higher.  That's a ULV version of Richland, clocked down to fit inside of a 19 W TDP.  The A10-5750M is the same chip but clocked higher for a 35 W TDP.  Higher clock speeds add thickness and weight and reduce the battery life if you're trying to play games on the battery, but they also had quite a bit of performance.

Ridelynn

---

Originally posted by Quizzical
Originally posted by syntax42 As far as gaming laptops go, you won't find much better than that without getting into discrete GPUs.  Those laptops typically cost a LOT more.  Don't be too concerned about the lower CPU performance than Intel.  It rarely results in slower framerates, and usually, turning down certain detail settings can resolve it. With the AMD APU, you can turn on a lot more shader effects than with an Intel GPU, and still have a decent framerate.  I have played Rift, SWTOR, and WoW on my A8-4500M.  It worked well enough to play the majority of content with decent visual effects.  It struggled in very crowded areas and if there were a lot of certain light effects, but that is about 1% of the gameplay.

Actually, it's pretty simple to get a faster laptop without a discrete video card.  Just take the same chip and clock it higher.  That's a ULV version of Richland, clocked down to fit inside of a 19 W TDP.  The A10-5750M is the same chip but clocked higher for a 35 W TDP.  Higher clock speeds add thickness and weight and reduce the battery life if you're trying to play games on the battery, but they also had quite a bit of performance.

---

A 35W Richland vs a discrete GPU... I think you missed the point Quiz.

Righteous_Rock

It was a gift or won in a contest or stolen?

Thorkune

Originally posted by Righteous_Rock
It was a gift or won in a contest or stolen?

The one I am buying from him was a gift. He won a better one. Why assume the worst in people? 

Anyway...Thanks to all that gave me GOOD advice