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Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

The Intel HD Graphics (Family) is a processor graphics card which is integrated in the cheap Celeron and Pentium model of the Sandy Bridge generation. It is similar to the Intel HD Graphics 2000 and not with the processor graphics of the older Arrandale dual-core processors (which bears the same name). 

Depending on the processor, the HD graphics offers a different base and Turbo Boost clock speed. Currently there are three different models:

  • Power Saving e.g. Celeron 847: base 350MHz, Turbo 800MHz
  • Celeron e.g. Celeron B810: base 650MHz, Turbo 950MHz
  • Pentium e.g. Pentium B950: base 650MHz, Turbo 1100MHz

Furthermore, the slow CPU performance of some models may influence the games a lot. For example, although the GPU in the Celeron B710 differs not much from the Pentium B950, the gaming performance was clearly worse and many games were unplayable.

As the Intel HD Graphics 3000 and 2000, the processor graphics card is able to use part of the last level cache of the processor (2MB usually for the entry level CPUs). This could be seen as a small amount of very fast dedicated memory.

Altought 2x Antialiasing (AA) is supported, the chip is as fast as when rendering 4x AA. In the Unigine Valley benchmark a similar HD 3000 i7-2637M for example reached the same score with 2x AA and 4x AA.

The feature set compared to the HD Graphics 3000 is also reduced in these entry level CPUs. E.g. Intel Quick Sync (for de- and encoding of HD videos), In Tru 3D, Clear Video HD are usually deactivated.

ManufacturerIntel
HD Graphics Series

HD Graphics 4600 20@400 - 1350MHz

HD Graphics 5000 40

HD Graphics 4400 20

HD Graphics 4000 16@350 - 1350MHz

HD Graphics 3000 12@350-1350MHz

HD Graphics 2500 6@650 - 1350MHz

HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge) 6@350 - 1000MHz

HD Graphics 2000 6@850 / 1100-1350MHz

HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 6@350 - 1100MHz

CodenameSandy Bridge
ArchitectureSandy Bridge
Pipelines6 - unified
Core Speed *350 - 1100 MHz
Shader Speed *350 - 1100 MHz
Shared Memoryyes
benutzt LLC Cache
DirectXDirectX 10.1, Shader 4.1
technology32 nm
Date of Announcement01.05.2011
Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.intel.com/technology/graphics...
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

Benchmarks

3DMark Vantage - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 737     avg: 932.3 (3%)     max: 1057 Points
3DMark Vantage - P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 581     avg: 735.8 (2%)     max: 831 Points
3DMark 06
0% 100%
min: 1027     avg: 2523.2 (9%)     max: 3530 Points
3DMark 05 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 2000     avg: 4690.8 (13%)     max: 5917 Points
3DMark 03 - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 2701     avg: 6189.3 (4%)     max: 7772 Points
3DMark 2001SE - Standard 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 9769     avg: 11443.3 (19%)     max: 13145 Points
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - high, Tesselation (normal), DirectX11 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 5.3     avg: 5.7 (4%)     max: 7 fps
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Score 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 1778     avg: 2617.3 (10%)     max: 3495 Points
SPECviewperf 11 - Ensight 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 0.08     avg: 0.1 (0%)     max: 0.08 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Pro/ENGINEER 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 0.34     avg: 0.3 (2%)     max: 0.34 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Tcvis 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 0.09     avg: 0.1 (0%)     max: 0.09 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Siemens NX 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 0.14     avg: 0.1 (0%)     max: 0.14 fps
Cinebench R11.5 - OpenGL 64Bit
0% 100%
min: 2.68     avg: 6.3 (7%)     max: 7.93 Points
Cinebench R10 - Shading 32Bit
0% 100%
min: 1030     avg: 2571.4 (24%)     max: 3508 Points
Windows 7 Experience Index - Graphics
0% 100%
min: 3.8     avg: 4.5 (57%)     max: 5.1 points
Windows 7 Experience Index - Gaming graphics
0% 100%
min: 5.4     avg: 5.7 (72%)     max: 5.8 points
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
low:
100  fps      Compare
med.:
16.9  fps      Compare
high:
9.5  fps      Compare
ultra:
2.8  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
SimCity
SimCity (2013)
low:
9.7  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider (2013)
low:
14.6  fps      Compare
med.:
7.9  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Dead Space 3
Dead Space 3 (2013)
low:
32.2  fps      Compare
med.:
13.3  fps      Compare
high:
9.4  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
low:
13 14.2 ~ 14 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter
low:
9.5  fps      Compare
med.:
6.5  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Dishonored
Dishonored (2012)
low:
6.9 19.2 ~ 13 fps      Compare
med.:
15.1  fps      Compare
high:
13.3  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
World of Tanks v8
low:
44.4  fps      Compare
med.:
11.8  fps      Compare
high:
9.1  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
Fifa 13
Fifa 13 (2012)
low:
14.8 43.8 55 65.9 66.2 68.3 76.2 80.6 84 96 ~ 65 fps      Compare
med.:
33.1 35 36.2 39.6 41.2 43.9 44.5 51 52 ~ 42 fps      Compare
high:
17.2 17.2 17.5 19.1 19.4 22.9 24 ~ 20 fps      Compare
ultra:
12 12.3 ~ 12 fps      Compare
» With most tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
F1 2012
F1 2012 (2012)
low:
24  fps      Compare
med.:
15  fps      Compare
high:
12  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Torchlight 2 (2012): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2 (2012)
low:
23  fps      Compare
high:
6  fps      Compare
ultra:
2  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Counter-Strike: GO
low:
60  fps      Compare
med.:
30.3  fps      Compare
high:
18.8  fps      Compare
ultra:
9.7  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
The Secret World
low:
11  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Dirt Showdown
low:
27  fps      Compare
med.:
13.4  fps      Compare
high:
8.6  fps      Compare
ultra:
5  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Diablo III
Diablo III (2012)
low:
23 23.1 ~ 23 fps      Compare
med.:
10.9 15 ~ 13 fps      Compare
high:
6.8 12 ~ 9 fps      Compare
ultra:
4.9 11 ~ 8 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Risen 2: Dark Waters
low:
8.8 11 ~ 10 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Mass Effect 3
low:
15 16.3 16.7 22 ~ 18 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
Alan Wake (2012): Not playable with a weaker graphics card. - more...
Anno 2070
Anno 2070 (2011)
low:
18 18.9 19.8 21 21.7 22 22 22 ~ 21 fps      Compare
med.:
8 8 8 9 9.4 9.5 10 ~ 9 fps      Compare
high:
8  fps      Compare
ultra:
4  fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
low:
5.8 13.7 15.2 15.4 ~ 13 fps      Compare
med.:
4.7 7.7 7.8 ~ 7 fps      Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is