Integrated HD 2000 - Actually Impressive

[shadowofomioc]

I know for most this is going to make you laugh. But I just built my first system from scratch utilizing an I5-2400 @ 3.1ghz, overclocked with my Gigabyte Z68 mobo to 3.9Ghz(max allowable ) and I have to say ... the integrated chip actually has me pretty impressed. I did not have the budget to include a GPU ( working on it! ) unfortunately.

I have been a little shocked though with what I'm able to play, at reasonable ( aka playable ) levels on my 1600x900 monitor. The most shocking, by far, was Shogun 2 running like it does.

1600x900, no AA, Medium details, Ultra unit sizes, shadows, fog, high unit textures/shaders, etc. Runs at 20-30FPS depending on what type of battle is going on. Just fought an epic ambush battle with 6k+ units on screen going at it and it stayed around 20FPS. Like I said, its integrated! It also makes me a little angry that I went with the 149$ deal at Microcenter on the 2400 and did not jump to a 2500 or 2500k for HD 3000. I'm really curious what I could have done with the 3000 integrated graphics.

I am also playing one of my favorite PC games Torchlight with everything turned to max, AA and everything staying at 30FPS. Playing Sims 3 with generous levels turned up. Playing all the popcap games and whatnot easily at super speeds. L4D playing with AA turned on and many other features turned up at 20-30FPS depending on the situation, etc. etc. So, pretty darn impressive for integrated.

Now, just to get that dedicated GPU! lol. Looking at the 5670 or 6670 at the moment. Thats as high as my family budgeting will allow unfortunately. But, if integrated can do this, I shudder to think what this system will do with a dedicated GPU. Can't wait!

 

[blade061188]

If you are getting playable FPS with integrated gfx, wait on that GPU.

A 5670/6670 is a pretty weak card. You would be better off waiting and saving some money so you see a real performance increase.

I recommend waiting and saving your money for a better discrete GPU. Especially if you are able to play the games you want with reasonable FPS with what you have. A 5670/6670 isn't going to increase your performance too much

 

[shadowofomioc]

For the sake of playing Skyrim sooner then later I was thinking about getting a dedicated GPU possibly next week.

I wanted to play Skyrim on the PC and not PS3. Depends though on when I see saw gameplay footage and comparison between PS3 version and well running PC version. Should be a good difference. I see Oblivion still on my bros PC and its leagues beyond anything a console can do. Thanks to tons more RAM in the PC and able to do MSAA and everything.

Thinking the 6670, from what I've read of the card and its capabilities, should do well with my resolution capability. I see Crysis 2 benchmarks even at 1080p where the 6670 can handle it fine.

6670 is definately alot more powerful though then the integrated, even with it giving me good results. That is the main reason I did not worry about my GPU while building my computer. I just went with a great motherboard and CPU and just held off on the GPU until a bit later. The integrated does a 5.6 rating on WEI. So not bad. But definately, for a gamer, teasing me a bit lol.

 

[blade061188]

I was just saying, if you can afford to bump up a little bit go with a 6770 or a 5770. They both offer better performance than the 5670/6670 and are only a little bit more expensive (if you find one on sale)

Like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161387

 

[shadowofomioc]

Like I said I'm a family guy. The difference between 75$ and 110$ is pretty large lol. Sadly.

If I could wait, I would wait. But ... well I'm extremely impatient. Especially for Skyrim. This generation is void of RPG's so when a big one comes out, I need to play it.

The 6670 will likely run the game on my system at atleast 30FPS with high settings so that is just fine for me lol.

 

[akopp21]

Anything below a 6770/5770 isn't worth getting for games. You would be much better off saving up until you can at least get something on that level.

 

[blade061188]

Read this before you buy anything

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074.html

 

[nordlead]

the non-k 2500 is HD2000. You need the 2500k to get HD3000. Anyways, yea integrated graphics are getting pretty impressive. I'm currently stuck on integrated graphics around the level of the HD2000 while I wait for a replacement motherboard for my main PC. I'm running my games at 720p and they are definitely playable.

Anyways, I agree that you'll probably want a 6770 over the 6670. it is a big jump in performance. The 66xx and lower are considered entry-level cards, and the 67xx are mid-range cards. Sure it can be tough to wait, but the 6770 will last you longer before an upgrade than a 6670.

 

[shadowofomioc]

So weak nowadays is being able to play Crysis 2 at my monitor resolution @ 30FPS with High Details? Seems pretty fair for me, especially for WEAK lol.

Crysis 2 I am expecting to be the high end benchmark for video cards. With of course Battlefield 3 taking that over sometime soon. So you can definately take that games benchmark of your card, and push your FPS up on any other game from there on a good bit. For example, the 6670 benchmark on this site shows a +10 FPS increase on pretty much every other game outside of Crysis 2.

So ... what about a Geforce GTX 260? I see one of those on Newegg for 99$ as well. Is that much more powerful then the 6670?

 

[blade061188]

The GTX 260 will perform at about the level as the 6770. But It won't have support for Direct X 11.

Use this chart to find out roughly how good a graphics card is:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fastest-graphics-card-radeon-geforce,3067-7.html