GMA 4500MHD vs. X3100 for Gaming

Can anyone weigh in on the performance difference between the two?

I loved my Thinkpad X31 with discrete graphics (albeit Ati Radeon 7000), it could play Warcraft 3! I'm looking to game lightly, hopefully Starcraft 2. No need to tell me that you 'really need discrete graphics if you plan to game'. I want to have the option to game every now and then, but it is not a huge deciding factor in laptop purchase.

 

Here is a good comparison of the X3100 to the X4500. The X4500 is quite a step up from the X3100, but still not much for games. http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=280004

 

What about battery life?

 

I don't think you would want to game with either of these. If you do, everything would have to be on the lowest setting in order to play.

 

Depends on what kind of games you play. I play Civ4 on my P-M Dothan 1.86Ghz + Intel GMA900, and it works perfectly fine on low settings (which is fine for me, I'm more into the gameplay than graphical details). I'm sure the X4500 could handle Civ4 with high settings

And like the OP said, he is looking to play games like Warcraft. In my opinion, any RTS game will run fine on the X4500 at 1280x800 resolution.

 

I wish Starcraft 2 would run on 4500MHD.

 

I'm 90% sure that the X4500 along with a P8400 or P8600 (i.e. a Thinkpad X200) will be able to run SC2 just fine on low settings. Also, it will be DX9 compatible.

 

For a laptop with a switchable graphics on 6 cell batteries like T400 or U330, under normal usage, it could last up to 5 hrs on the integrated graphics (ex 4500HD) while only up to 3 hrs on the dedicated one (ex HD3400 series)

 

When I get home I will attempt to run some benchmarks on my x200 (P8600, X4500HD, 2GB DDR3). I will look at the native resolution (1280x800), multiple detail levels, and check performance/battery life both in max performance, and battery saver (throttled processor) modes.

I will check the following games:
Civilization 4
Half-Life 2
Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
Sins of a Solar Empire

I am reasonably confident that the x200 will run all of these acceptably, but I will check to make sure and post results.

 

I ran a few benchmarks (timedemo) in Half-Life 2, but I was unable to determine an appropriate benchmark for Civ4, Company of Heroes, or Sins.

Half-Life 2 - 1280x800, Anisiotropic, all details high, no-AA

Max Performance (15/15 bright, max speed) - 30 w, 42 FPS
Max Battery (0/15 bright, min speed) - 15w, 33 FPS

It was playable in both settings, and you should be able to get about 5-6 hours of gaming on the max battery setting.

I will add benchmarks for the other programs if I can find an effective objective (rather than anecdotal "it plays fine") benchmark for Civ4, Company of Heroes, and Sins of a Solar Empire.

 

I would keep away from both, as INTEL cannot seem to get solid drivers for either!

 

That is the one game that I care about for the PC right now. I used to be able to play Warcraft 3 on my X31 with decent settings. I hope too that Starcraft 2 will play on the 4500MHD!

Thank you for reporting back. At least we now know it plays some games. Did it work well with Sins of Solar Empire? I'm thinking of getting this game....

 

Company of Heroes actually has a built in performance test. After you setup your graphics options in the top right corner of the screen there will be a button for the performance test. After the test it will give you the maximum, minimum and average frame rates.

 

I don't have the game installed right now, but I will install it and run a benchmark this weekend.