So what's the difference?
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Thread: So what's the difference?

  1. #1
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    So what's the difference?

    I have the opportunity to acquire a gaming laptop that will have the new Ivy Bridge Intel chip. Now, I know that the chip's graphics processing power will be considerably better than the Sandy Bridge, but how does that play into the dedicated graphics card? Is this chip going to say "Oh...I can do that MUCH better!" or "Let's share this job, OK?" and negate or otherwise automatically stifle the graphics processing power of the card? I've been looking all over and can't seem to find any definite answer for this one. Anybody have an inside scoop on this? I know that Intel has been biting at the bit for some time to get into the graphics rendering market, even to the point of shutting out GPU makers. Wouldn't surpise me if they put a command on this chip for it to render the graphics first, then hand over what's left to the dedicated card. If this is the case, it ain't good.
    Last edited by bistro; April 21st, 2012 at 03:20 PM.
    Desktop: Intel i7 960 CPU @ 4.0GHz, EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI mobo, 12GB Corsair Dominator-GT 2000 DDR3 RAM, Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB Solid State Drive, Two WD 2TB SATA drives, 2x EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked graphics cards in SLI, Coolermaster HAF X full tower case, OCZ ZX 1250w PSU, Corsair H100 CPU Cooler
    Laptop: MSI GT60-004US, 2x Seagate Momentus XT 750GB SSD Hybrid drives in RAID 0, 16GB DDR3 1600 RAM, GeForce 670M 3GB graphics card, Networks 'Killer' N-1103 WLAN card

  2. #2
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    As I understand it, the integrated graphics is used while posting on VDr, or writing the long-awaited Bistro autobiography in Word, because it saves power and makes the battery life better. Then as soon as you decide that's enough typing for the day, and decide to have a nice relaxing killing spree in WoW, it kicks in the dedicated graphics card, and disconnects the onboard

    I must confess I'd never thought about how it decides which chip it needs to use, and if anyone knows the answer I would be intrigued to find out.
    Nick.

  3. #3
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    It's either one or the other,some motherboards aren't capable of using the on die graphics capability.
    Last edited by wonderinguy34; April 21st, 2012 at 09:35 PM.
    Win 7
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  4. #4
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    Well now...this is interesting. The plot thickens.....


    Then the real question is: What is the trigger that makes the chip decide to hand over the reins to the graphics card?



    BTW...I think I still have that original biography somewhere.....but I've received threatening letters from several countries to keep it suppressed.

    (Besides....the Athlonians are an extinct race now anyway)
    Desktop: Intel i7 960 CPU @ 4.0GHz, EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI mobo, 12GB Corsair Dominator-GT 2000 DDR3 RAM, Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB Solid State Drive, Two WD 2TB SATA drives, 2x EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked graphics cards in SLI, Coolermaster HAF X full tower case, OCZ ZX 1250w PSU, Corsair H100 CPU Cooler
    Laptop: MSI GT60-004US, 2x Seagate Momentus XT 750GB SSD Hybrid drives in RAID 0, 16GB DDR3 1600 RAM, GeForce 670M 3GB graphics card, Networks 'Killer' N-1103 WLAN card

  5. #5
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    OK...finally found a report on this. The new Ivy Bridge chip has around a 40% increase in graphics power over the previous Sandy Bridge mobile CPUs. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the graphics card sports the Nvidia Optimus technology. Basically the Optimus technology can switch the graphics-rendering from the card to the CPU whenever the demand drops (i.e. going from gaming to office apps). The Ivy Bridge is especially great for notebooks with just integrated graphics because now they can play the newer games at a little higher game settings (from super Low to around Medium or even High) and still have pretty decent gameplay; depending of course on the particular game's demands. Those notebooks with Ivy Bridge AND a graphics card with Optimus save a bit on battery power because the power demand on the card is lessened when rendering apps....can gain as much as an extra hour of battery time. But if you choose to do so, supposedly there are settings in the Nvidia Control Panel where you can force the card to handle ALL the graphics. We'll see....

    I just ordered the MSI GT60 0NC-004US gaming laptop:

    Ivy Bridge Core i7-3610QM CPU
    2x Seagate Momentus GT 720GB Hybrid (8GB SSD each) in RAID 0
    16GB 1600 RAM (comes w/ 12GB standard, but the extra 4GB was free).
    6x Blu Ray reader/8x DVD burner
    Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M 3GB VRAM graphics card
    720P HD built-in webcam
    Bigfoot "Killer" N-1103 WLAN
    Programmable color backlit keyboard by SteelSeries
    Dynaudio sound (including a subwoofer...can you believe that?)
    1x angry bank manager

    Should be getting it in about a week.
    Last edited by bistro; April 26th, 2012 at 01:21 PM.
    Desktop: Intel i7 960 CPU @ 4.0GHz, EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI mobo, 12GB Corsair Dominator-GT 2000 DDR3 RAM, Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB Solid State Drive, Two WD 2TB SATA drives, 2x EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked graphics cards in SLI, Coolermaster HAF X full tower case, OCZ ZX 1250w PSU, Corsair H100 CPU Cooler
    Laptop: MSI GT60-004US, 2x Seagate Momentus XT 750GB SSD Hybrid drives in RAID 0, 16GB DDR3 1600 RAM, GeForce 670M 3GB graphics card, Networks 'Killer' N-1103 WLAN card

  6. #6
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    Very nice

    Though one does have to feel sorry for Mrs Bistro, she probably won't see you until sometime next year
    Nick.

  7. #7
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    You got THAT right...I'll probably take a trip up and down the entire U.S. Eastern Seaboard for the next year to grab every network in every coffee shop.
    Desktop: Intel i7 960 CPU @ 4.0GHz, EVGA Classified 4-Way SLI mobo, 12GB Corsair Dominator-GT 2000 DDR3 RAM, Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB Solid State Drive, Two WD 2TB SATA drives, 2x EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked graphics cards in SLI, Coolermaster HAF X full tower case, OCZ ZX 1250w PSU, Corsair H100 CPU Cooler
    Laptop: MSI GT60-004US, 2x Seagate Momentus XT 750GB SSD Hybrid drives in RAID 0, 16GB DDR3 1600 RAM, GeForce 670M 3GB graphics card, Networks 'Killer' N-1103 WLAN card

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