IGP Gaming Benchmarks
IGP Gaming Benchmarks
In order to get an idea of how the HD Graphics 4000 compares to the competition, we decided to test it a number of other contemporary IGPs. The A6-3650, A8-3850, and A8-3870K are the chips that should pose the greatest challenge since they feature powerful Radeon HD 6000-class GPUs. We also included the Intel GMA HD IGP (both 733Mhz & 900Mhz variants) found in the Clarkdale chips, the Intel HD Graphics 2000/3000 IGPs in the various Sandy Bridge chips (6 EUs @ 850-1100Mhz/ 12 EUs @ 850-1100Mhz/ 12 EUs @ 850-1350Mhz), and AMD's fastest AM3 platform IGP, the Radeon HD 4290 (40 shaders/700Mhz core clock/UMA+SidePort DDR3-1333) found in the 890GX chipset. We also threw in two low-priced discrete GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA, the Radeon HD 5550 GDDR5 (320 shaders/550Mhz core clock) and the GeForce GT 430 DDR3 (96 shaders/700Mhz core clock).
Futuremark 3DMark06
3DMark06 v1.1.0
Graphic Settings: Default
Resolution: 1280X1024
Test: Specific CPU Score and Full Run 3Dmarks
Comparison: Generated Score
The Futuremark 3DMark series has been a part of the backbone in computer and hardware reviews since its conception. The trend continues today as 3DMark06 provides consumers with a solid synthetic benchmark geared for performance and comparison in the 3D gaming realm. This remains one of the most sought after statistics, as well as an excellent tool for accurate CPU comparison, and it will undoubtedly be used for years to come.
Futuremark 3DMark Vantage
3DMark Vantage v1.0.1
Graphic Settings: Entry Preset
Resolution: 1024X768
Test: Specific CPU Score and Full Run 3Dmarks
Comparison: Generated Score
3DMark Vantage is the follow-up to the highly successful 3DMark06. It uses DirectX 10 exclusively so if you are running Windows XP, you can forget about this benchmark. Along with being a very capable graphics card testing application, it also has very heavily multi-threaded CPU tests, such Physics Simulation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which makes it a good all-around gaming benchmark.
Futuremark 3DMark Vantage
3DMark Vantage v1.0.1
Graphic Settings: Performance Preset
Resolution: 1280X1024
Test: Specific CPU Score and Full Run 3Dmarks
Comparison: Generated Score
3DMark Vantage is the follow-up to the highly successful 3DMark06. It uses DirectX 10 exclusively so if you are running Windows XP, you can forget about this benchmark. Along with being a very capable graphics card testing application, it also has very heavily multi-threaded CPU tests, such Physics Simulation and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which makes it a good all-around gaming benchmark.
Crysis
Resolution: 1280x1024
Anti Aliasing: 0
Quality Settings: Low
Global Settings: DX10 / 64-Bit
Test 1: Benchmark_gpu demo
Comparison: FPS (Frames per Second)
Far Cry 2
Far Cry 2 1.02
Resolution: 1280x1024
Anti Aliasing: 0
Quality Settings: Medium
Global Settings: DX9 Enabled
Test 1: Ranch Long Demo
Comparison: FPS (Frames per Second)
Far Cry 2 is the hot new new first-person shooter from Ubisoft's Montreal studio, and the first game to utilize the new visually stunning Dunia Engine, which will undoubtedly be used by numerous future games. Using the included Benchmarking Tool, we ran the Long Ranch demo in DX9 mode at 1280x1024 with all settings set to low.
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead (Latest Update)
Resolution: 1680x1050
Filtering: 0X AA / 0X AF
Graphic Settings: Medium
Shader Detail: Medium
Test 1: HWC Custom Timedemo
Comparison: FPS (Frames per Second)
Left 4 Dead is the latest disorienting, fast-paced zombie apocalypse mega-hit from Valve. L4D uses the latest version of the Source engine with enhancements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation. We tested at 1680x1050 with in-game details set to low. For benching, we used a pre-recorded 20 minute timedemo taken on the No Mercy campaign during The Apartments mission.
World in Conflict
World in Conflict v1.010
Resolution: 1680x1050
Anti-Aliasing: 0X
Anisotropic Filtering: 0X
Graphic Settings: Medium (DX10)
Test 1: Built-in Benchmark
Comparison: FPS (Frames per Second)
One of the detailed and most visually stunning real-time tactical games in recent history, World in Conflict remains a staple in our gaming lineup . For this test we used the in-game benchmarking tool.
X3: Terran Conflict
X3: Terran Conflict 1.2.0.0
Resolution: 1680x1050
Anti-Aliasing: 0X
Anisotropic Filtering: 0X
Graphic Settings: Medium
Test 1: Built-in Benchmark
Comparison: FPS (Frames per Second)
There is no denying that this new IGP is a huge improvement over the one found in Sandy Bridge. When comparing the i7-3770K with the i7-2600K, it is clear that Intel have indeed made some large strides forward in every area of GPU performance. Looking at the 3DMark Vantage Performance Preset's GPU scores reveals that the HD Graphics 4000 is legitimately about 86% more powerful than the HD Graphics 3000. This is raw performance though, and it doesn't necessarily translate into such large gains in actual games. In our gaming suite, the i7-3770K had 20% (in Crysis) to 48%(in Left 4 Dead) higher frame rates than its predecessor, which is good but obviously not quite as impressive as 86%.
Part of this is probably because Intel, understandably, optimized the drivers for more current games than our selection. However, it may also be due to the fact that our IGP gaming benchmarking suite has become a little too CPU-centric. This would explain why the i7-3770K performs so well when compared to the Llano APUs in all the games except Crysis, which is largely GPU-centric and thus works in favour of the APU's strengths.
Speaking of the Llano APUs, that is the really interesting comparison since they are currently King of the Hill when it comes to integrated graphics. First and foremost though, when comparing the i7-3770K to the A8-3870K we must first establish that we are dealing with a 300$ processor versus $150 one. It is a weird comparison since no one is going cross-shop these two chips. There is huge gap in CPU processing power between them, which is an issue because the Llano APUs are already underpowered when compared to their integrated GPU. The Radeon HD 6550D is completely bottlenecked by its lackluster CPU performance. If you take a peek at our
A8-3870K review, you will see the type of numbers that can be achieved by simply overclocking the CPU portion to 3.6GHz and setting some higher memory speeds. If you compare the numbers, even in the games that A8-3870K did the worst in at default clocks, it easily beats the i7-3770K when overclocked. This is because from a pure graphical power point-of-view, Ivy Bridge's IGP performance is nowhere near Llano's. In fact, we would say that Llano's Radeon HD 6550D is about 30-35% faster than the HD Graphics 4000.
Obviously a better comparison is going to be a dual-core/four-thread Core i3 Ivy Bridge variant versus the A8-3870K, since they will both be in the same price range, and we shall do some more in-depth and varied gaming tests once we get our hands on one.
As you will see on the next page, as is the case with Llano, a fair bit of extra performance can also be squeezed out of the HD Graphics 4000 by simply teaming it with a highly clocked DDR3 memory kit.
