High-end Ultrabook, Wait for haswell?

[BananaByte]

Hi, i am currently in the lookout for a high-end ultrabook for which i am going to use for casual gaming, movies and browsing, and i've had my eyes on the new Samsung Chronos 770Z5E which seems just perfect for what i require.
But then the problem is that it is released in late March here in Norway and it isn't too long until Haswell is also released (june-july?) so i am wondering if i should get the ivy-bridge model when it is released or i should hold onto my money and wait for haswell (We are speaking of 2000$(It's Norway, where it is alot more expensive plus it's taxes)) But then again i don't know for sure when the 770Z5E with Haswell is released and by then the touch version of the chronos 7-series is also released and probably with haswell.
So should i wait for haswell and touch screen or go for the ivy-bridge without touch? cause i really want an ultrabook now but it is also alot of money on the line.

Responses are much appreciated

 

[jaguarskx]

For movies and browsing either CPUs will be fine. There should not be much of a CPU performance increase; probably 6% assuming the same clockspeed. That increase will not make watching movies or browsing any better. The main performance increase will be in the integrated graphics (iGPU). There will be generally two versions; GT2 and GT3.

GT2 will be a little more powerful than the current Intel HD 4000; the desktop variant is known as the Intel HD 4600. It is estimated that on the desktop the Intel HD 4600 will be anywhere between 15% and 25% more powerful than the Intel HD 4000 However, I don't know about the laptop version, and I haven't seen any info about specific mobile iGPU models.

The GT3 variant will have different models; Intel HD 5000, HD 5100 and HD 5300. They should be more powerful than Intel HD 4000. All mobile CPUs for Ultrabooks will likely have the HD 5000 since it uses the least amount of power. How much more powerful is the GT3 (in general) compared to the Intel HD 4000? Unknown. The obvious benefit of buying any mobile Haswell CPU with a GT3 variant iGPU will be gaming performance.

 

[lxgoldsmith]

^ if there is no performance increase, there will be a battery life increase. taking into account the roumors and the "grain of salt" HD 4600 might make igpu a casual gaming option, but don't expect high gaming performance

 

[jaguarskx]

^ if there is no performance increase, there will be a battery life increase. taking into account the roumors and the "grain of salt" HD 4600 might make igpu a casual gaming option, but don't expect high gaming performance

Unless the battery capacity is reduced to lower the weight of the laptop overall.

The desktop version of the HD 4600 will probably be about as powerful as the Radeon HD 5550. Maybe slightly more powerful. On the laptop side of the equation it will likely be as powerful as the Radeon HD 7640g core which is the 2nd most powerful Trinity graphics core. The Intel HD 5300 graphic core may be equal to or surpass the Radeon HD 7660g which is the most powerful Trinity graphics core.

Keep in mind that AMD is also releasing Trinity's successor called Richland, but I don't know anything about the CPU/iGPU performance increase so far.


Will Intel ever make an iGPU just as powerful as an iGPU from AMD? The answer is it doesn't really matter. What's important is that this competition pushes the performance envelop so integrated graphics becomes more powerful over time. That means a laptop for causal gameplay (where performance is not a high priority) is within everyone's budget.