Integrated Intel Graphics Limits

Hello,
One of the main reasons that I am considering the M11x R2 is the battery life of 6+ hours on integrated graphics. With my almost constant 3+ hour plane trips, i was wondering what games could be played on the internal graphics without Optimus needing to switch in, as i was hoping for more than 3 hours of gaming on a plane. And by the way, i sit in economy class, so plugging in is out of the question. Just how limited is the integrated card?
Any help would be greatly appreciated,
~Aaron

 

Old games, or casual games mostly, you can run Civ V...

But 2-2.5 hours is the average of life with the Nvidia card, so you can be probably less than 30 minutes without playing, is not a big deal....

 

The Intel GMA HD is a wee bit better than the Intel GMA 4500MHD.


Both still cannot play 1v1 SC2 without lagging out (around the 6 min mark is when the slowdowns start happening).

 

Alot of planes now have AC access in the armrest. Have you considered buying the airline AC adapter? I know BF2142 single player lagged heavily on my ATI 3200, which is close to the Intel HD.

 

For a fun project tonight i was planning on putting a list together of older games that function well on the intel gpu. I will post a link in here when it is up.

 

Almost all will work. Intel has made some massive changes to their Intel GMA since the days when it wasn't even DX9 compliant (which was every Intel GMA until the X3000/X3100 [even so, it took a much later driver release before it was DX9 compliant]).

At any rate, these lists will help you narrow a few things down (not that either matter, anymore - though Tom's limited list will give some "playability" readouts; Anand's recent SB review will help, too).


Mobile Intel® 945GM Express Chipset Family — Game playability on Microsoft Windows XP*
Feature - Intel GMA HD Graphics Performance | bit-tech.net

 

My R1 was playing NFSW for a short while before I realized the crappy performance was due to the GPU rather than connection.

In other words it did much better than I would have guessed.

 

lol

The Intel GMA 4500MHD (R1) we have is the fastest variant, while the Intel GMA HD (R2) is the slowest variant, of all Intel GMA within each respective's ranks.

The Intel GMA HD has 12 EU, while the Intel GMA 4500MHD has 10. The GMA 4500MHD is clocked at 533mhz, while the GMA HD is clocked at 500mhz.

Overall, both *should* have similar performance, within a few FPS.

 

Interesting, didn't know the changed the intel graphics from the r1/r2 revisions. I take it both will still be able to play HD video (720p) without the use of the SP's in the 335m?

 

The 4500MHD wonderfully in 40mbps+ bluray decoding [I've only tested the 4500MHD, though it stands to reason the newer Intel GMA HD would do just as well]

No nVidia GPU needed - the GMA HD can even do HD Audio bitstreaming, something the 335m cannot do!

 

Unless your flying Business Class you are unlikely to find AC adapters in the seats, you can find out more though via this link: Airline Seating Charts - Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru

I use a power gorilla and recently travelled to Dubai it gave me an extra 4 hours on Intel card card and an extra 2.5 hours for gaming playing RA2 with the dedicated card on top of the battery life on the m11x.

 

Good info there mate!

I don’t have a DTS MA or DD TH decoder but its certainly a nice feature. Can you hear the difference between lossless 2 channel audio through decent headphones compared to lossy DTS or DD,AC3?

 

I cannot heat the difference

Maybe I don't have a good enough source.
Just as a note, bitstreaming will only work on the R2, since the R1 has the nVidia GPU hooked up to the HDMI output, along with the DP output.

 

Shouldn't be a problem since I'm after an R2 Or R3 by the time I leave for my 6 month South East Asia trip (in Feb/March) although I really want one to play with one now