The Sandy Bridge Review: Intel Core i7-2600K, i5-2500K and Core i3-2100 Tested
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 3, 2011 12:01 AM ESTResolution Scaling with Intel HD Graphics 3000
All of our tests on the previous page were done at 1024x768, but how much of a hit do you really get when you push higher resolutions? Does the gap widen between a discrete GPU and Intel's HD Graphics as you increase resolution?
On the contrary: low-end GPUs run into memory bandwidth limitations just as quickly (if not quicker) than Intel's integrated graphics. Spend about $70 and you'll see a wider gap, but if you pit Intel's HD Graphics 3000 against a Radeon HD 5450 the two actually get closer in performance the higher the resolution is—at least in memory bandwidth bound scenarios:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 stresses compute a bit more at higher resolutions and thus the performance gap widens rather than closes:
For the most part, at low quality settings, Intel's HD Graphics 3000 scales with resolution similarly to a low-end discrete GPU.
Graphics Quality Scaling
The biggest issue with integrated and any sort of low-end graphics is that you have to run games at absurdly low quality settings to avoid dropping below smooth frame rates. The impact of going to higher quality settings is much greater on Intel's HD Graphics 3000 than on a discrete card as you can see by the chart below.
The performance gap between the two is actually its widest at WoW's "Good" quality settings. Moving beyond that however shrinks the gap a bit as the Radeon HD 5450 runs into memory bandwidth/compute bottlenecks of its own.
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Didn't turn out well did it?BSMonitor - Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - link
You'd spend $80 on a 6-core MB ?? LOLIf you buy a 6-core Phenom, likely you'll be in th 140-180 range for a decent MB..
Funny how the cheapers rationalize their cheapness.
zipzoomflyhigh - Tuesday, January 4, 2011 - link
That's not true at all. Most $40-50 AM3 mobo's support X6. If you don't game or overclock, you don't need extra pci-e lanes and extra cooling. Especially for a workstation.Oxford Guy - Monday, January 3, 2011 - link
Yeah, I'm stoked about the new low-level DRM.This is sure to run it fast.
talevski - Thursday, January 6, 2011 - link
i think that amd 880g mainbord with cpu araound 90 dolars plus some 55xx series gpu can do better in terms of encoding decoding video playback games etc. and all that without alot of money spend on inetl new socekets wich you have to trow away when they make the next cpu.So please corect me if i am wrongto anandtech&co
pshen7 - Tuesday, February 22, 2011 - link
The charts and the numbers say it all. This is definitely worth an upgrade for me!Peter Shen, founder Koowie.com
Shifu_V - Saturday, April 16, 2011 - link
Hi everyone, i dicided to build a PC but made an 1 error getting the i7 2600 if anyone is interested in buying one please let me, it's brand new sealed in it original contents.and i dont mind trading it in for a i7 2600k.
and i will match the price maybe even better
My email:vinay_chauhan20042000@yahoo.co.uk
Skott - Monday, January 3, 2011 - link
I'm wondering how supply will be on release day? Often we see new components with low supply and online stores start price gouging from day one. New Egg is particularly known for such. Lets hope supply is very good off the bat. That 2600K looks really appealing to me.evilspoons - Monday, January 3, 2011 - link
One of the local computer stores had Sandy Bridge parts up for sale last week, but they're all gone now save for a few Asus P8P67 standard, pro, and deluxe boards.I wasn't able to see what kind of money they were asking.
This review has convinced me that once the 2600K shows up again it's all I'll need. I was going to wait for socket 2011 but damn, the 2600 is already more than twice as fast in everything than my poor ol' Q6600.