Intel hd vs nvidia 320m

[notw618]

which is better and why?

I'm wondering because i currently have an hp laptop, and the only thing i am not satisfied with is my graphics performance.
i would like to upgrade to a macbook pro, but i don't want to buy the very expensive 15" model.

i use the graphics for GIMP mainly.

 

[mikeo007]

The 320m is much better, 3-4 times faster on average. It's better because it's built by a GPU company, rather than a processor company. Seriously though, it's more advanced technology, a faster clock speed, more shader cores and just a more efficient architecture. It's not a graphics powerhouse, and can't be compared to a modern dedicated GPU, but I would say it's one of the best (if not the best) integrated solutions out there.

 

[notw618]

thank you.

thank you for your response, that's what i figured pretty much.
question 2 is if i did purchase the lease expensive 15" mbp would i see a great graphics improvement over the base 13"?

 

[jjahshik32]

320m by a mile!

To give you an example using 3dmark06 as a benchmark:

Nvidia 9400m (much faster than the intel GPU) and it scores a 1500-1800 in 3dmark06.

Nvidia 320m scores around 4300-4600 in 3dmark06.

Keep in mind that the intel gpu is much slower than the nvidia 9400m.

 

[Sefk]

thank you for your response, that's what i figured pretty much.
question 2 is if i did purchase the lease expensive 15" mbp would i see a great graphics improvement over the base 13"?

Yes (around 2x the performance)

 

[jjahshik32]

Having tested the nvidia 9400m (mac mini) and the nvidia 320m (13" macbook pro) and testing using a plex player and big mkv files and overall usages under OSX, I concluded that the 320m is easily 3x faster than the 9400m in the real world usages. Sometimes I swear that it feels like 4x faster.

Basically I had the 17" i7 2.66GHz macbook pro (had it for about 2 months but sold it to pocket extra cash) and that macbook pro had a 330m and under overall usages in OSX I dont feel a difference between the 330m and the 320m, honestly.



Go for it man, you will not be disappointed!!

 

[mikeo007]

320m by a mile!

To give you an example using 3dmark06 as a benchmark:

Nvidia 9400m (much faster than the intel GPU) and it scores a 1500-1800 in 3dmark06.

Nvidia 320m scores around 4300-4600 in 3dmark06.

Keep in mind that the intel gpu is much slower than the nvidia 9400m.

9400m and Intel HD are pretty comparable in speed if you're just using 3dmark06 scores.