Is this really integrated graphics?

[greatman05]

Tell me why this laptop:
http://www.compusa.com/products/pro..._code=341478&Pn=Satellite_A105_S4284_Notebook

can run the Sims 2 with SMOOTHNESS! I watched the fly-in screen with the Pleasantview neighborhood, and it was a smooth as a desktop I have with a GFX5200. WHY IS THIS? I thought the GMA 950 was as slow as other integrated graphics solutions...

 

[nickslick74]

Yup, integrated graphics. Newer than a GFX5200 and it has the core duo (not C2D) so that is why it runs as well as your desktop.

 

[MetalX]

Also, GFX5200 is worse than some integrated graphics solutions.

 

[greatman05]

Really? Well, um, how would the GFX5200 compare against the listed solution above?

 

[nickslick74]

Your home computer with a celly against that laptop? Laptop graphics wins.

 

[greatman05]

But how? I thought Desktops were more powerful than laptops... And the comp I use at my grandma's house is System #2 in my profile, and the laptop is actually hers...

 

[nickslick74]

That not always the case now. The processor in the laptop is probably fairly close in performance to the 3500+. There are a lot of other things to factor in, too. Like installed software. Norton and McAfee are big system hogs. Graphics wise the 950 and the 5200 are pretty close, especially if the 5200 uses a 64bit bus.

 

[greatman05]

Oh....I got rid Of McAfee and Norton and Now use AVG and Zonealarm (I set them to not auto-start). So what prevents the 845G and 865G from being fast?

 

[Boogityboo04]

If you have a nice processor, the 845G and 865G will actually perform relatively well. I played the Sims 2 just fine on and 845G for quite a while before I got a 7600GT.

 

[greatman05]

What if you have a Celeron on an 845G/865G?

 

[Boogityboo04]

The performance will be terrible regardless of your graphics card. Celerons just aren't gaming processors.

 

[Sharkfood]

Two things about the Intel GMA 950 series:
1) For Direct3D, it reports as not having true hardware T&L, so this will be performed on your CPU. Even crummy Geforce2's have hardware T&L on the videocard. This will render 3d geometry performance to be directly related to your CPU's integer/floating point math power (i.e. Celeron's weakest link).
2) As it's integrated, it shares the memory bus with your CPU. Low bandwidth mainboards/configurations will obviously slow the whole shootin' match down (.. literally..).

As an interesting aside, I recently screwed together a budget gamer system with GMA 950. It actually played games quite well! WoW was like 25-30 fps and Sims 2 plays smoothly/good framerate!

It of course had dual-channel, OCZ DDR2 memory with ~5000mb/s bandwidth and CAS3 timings. CPU to FSB was about 4:5 also so the memory bus had a little more than the CPU could use also.

 

[Tedster]

read the how to speed up your computer guide in the GUIDES forum.

 

[greatman05]

So a Celeron matched with a PCI FX5500 (the only thing the system supports since it has no AGP slot) would give me...