AMD or Intel Graphics

[Guest]

I was just wondering, for future references, which laptop processor would have the best performance and the best graphics for games such as Civilization V and The Sims 3, an AMD A8 or A10 or an Intel Core i5?

 

[fudoka711]

Both are cpu bound games, but you should definitely have a decent enough gpu as well. The AMD A10 APU would be your best bet because its gpu is still better than intel HD graphics.

 

[Guest]

Okay thanks for the help this will definitely help me out when picking out a laptop in the future.

 

[jaguarskx]

Currently the three most powerful graphic cores are as follows (in order):

Radeon HD 8650g - Richland Generation A10 APUs
Radeon HD 8610g - Richland Generation A10 APUs
Intel HD 4600 - Haswell Generation Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs (except "u" model CPUs).

Regarding the HD 4600, the actual performance depends on which CPU you buy, but they should be within 100MHz of each other so there should not be much difference. Intel Haswell generation laptop CPUs have two different integrated graphics cores, the Intel HD 4400 and the Intel HD 4600. The slower HD 4400 is found only in the "u" model CPUs like the i5-4200u. "U" means ULV (ultra low voltage) who's CPU have lower power consumption, but also lower performance. All ultrabooks use a "u" model CPU to cut down on power consumption and improve battery life.

AMD and Intel release new CPUs every year (AMD called CPUs with integrated graphics "APUs"). ADM just released the Kaveri generation APU last month on the desktop. The integrated graphics only improved about 10%, the laptop version should be released by summer I think. Intel should also be releasing the Broadwell generation desktop / laptop CPUs this summer. Broadwell will mean lower power consumption and increased graphics performance.

Based on Intel's track record ever since they released the Intel HD 3000 graphics core, Broadwell should bring about a 30% increase in graphics performance. They will still be behind AMD, but consider that Intel graphic performance before they released the HD 3000 was basically a joke (the GMA series).

I have actually played with the Intel HD 4400 on my uncle's laptop (fixing it for him when he went away on vacation). I decided to play STO (Star Trek Online) because the game does not actually "install" itself in Windows; meaning it does not write anything to registry. I simply copied the directory from my desktop to the laptop and fired it up. It plays okay on medium graphics at 1600x900 resolution. I decided to drop it low graphics to get better frame rates. I could drop it down to minimum graphics if I want even more frame rates, but low provides pretty good performance and also pretty decent graphics.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the help.