Thinkpads Forum

I am an architecture student going into my third year of study in September, and I will need a new computer before then. My T500 has crapped out out on me too many times over the last year (first the wireless card died, which was replaced under warranty, then recently the discrete graphics card died and isn't under warranty), which is terribly disappointing considering all the claims for years of reliability. The integrated graphics on the T500 are not up to par for all the 3d modeling I do (programs listed later)

[a side question, is there any way to replace the discrete graphics, an ATI 3650 mobility, which died? From what i've read it would take a full mobo replacement and hundreds of dollars. If I can get my t500 up to full speed again that would resolve this whole new computer business outright]

I'm thinking about jumping on the current Memorial Day sale of the X220. But the only performance area I'm wary is the graphics performance. Has anyone tested its HD3000 integrated graphics with the following programs, or think it will be up to par:

Rhino (3d modeling, pretty heavy use)
Google Sketchup
Google Earth
Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign)
Autodesk Revit / AutoCAD

I hear that modern integrated graphics are much more powerful than before, especially due to the new Sandy Bridge i5 processor in the x220. I don't need supreme performance (ala the more expensive and bulky w520) but it should be able to run each program on its own quite smoothly. Also I'm more concerned with smooth operating performance than long rendering times, as this is more of what we do (most renderings are basic rhino / sketchup exports taken into photoshop)

I will be hooking it up to an external monitor @ 1680*1050, will the performance be affected by having to also render the external monitor?

The HD3000 is supposed to be almost equivalent to the HD3650 in terms of power, but it lacks driver support.

i've been using autodesk inventor 2012 with my i5-2520M X220 and it's been working great.   the largest assembly i have on-hand right now is about 30 parts and it pans/zooms/orbits quite smoothly.   real view looks just as good as on my thinkstation with an nvidia FX 4800.

adobe CS5 is no problem at all. autocad mechanical 2012 and google sketchup 8 both work equally as well. i haven't tried revit or rhino as those aren't apps i use.

i'd recommend it as long as you don't expect miracles from an ultraportable.   it's not going to be as ideal as a proper workstation graphics card but it's certainly good enough for low- to mid-level CAD tasks.

two recommendations would be to get 8GB of DDR3 1333MHz memory and a good SSD.   the intel 320-series is currently the most reliable offering in my opinion.

Hmm, good to hear the performance is snappy; Any word on using it to power the external monitor as well?

The SSD option, as well 8gb DDR3 are beyond my budget unfortunately. I'm a poor college student.. this laptop is already pushing it price wise, but a solid computer is really essential to my studies.

i haven't used it with an external display yet.   my 30" is permanently affixed to the thinkstation and the second DVI-I input can only do 2048x1536 max analog or 1920x1200 max digital.   i suppose i could try it at 1920x1200 via the displayport output adapter to DVI... i just haven't been motivated.   VGA is also a possibility since 2048x1536 is a larger picture to drive.

i recommend adding memory simply because more memory can then be shared by the integrated GPU.   at a minimum i'd recommend 6GB if you can swing it.   the cost of one semester's books will certainly be more than what you spend on memory.   it's been a decade since i was in college and i doubt books have gone down in price.

if you're even remotely considering the i7-2620M, save yourself the cash and get the i5-2520M instead.   GPU performance between the two is identical and the i5 proc will render 90% as well for far less money.

Apparently, using 1833MHz RAM helps out the integrated graphics processor significantly, although I'm not sure whether the dual-core chipsets can leverage that kind of RAM.

erik wrote:i haven't used it with an external display yet.   my 30" is permanently affixed to the thinkstation and the second DVI-I input can only do 2048x1536 max analog or 1920x1200 max digital.   i suppose i could try it at 1920x1200 via the displayport output adapter to DVI... i just haven't been motivated.   VGA is also a possibility since 2048x1536 is a larger picture to drive.

i recommend adding memory simply because more memory can then be shared by the integrated GPU.   at a minimum i'd recommend 6GB if you can swing it.   the cost of one semester's books will certainly be more than what you spend on memory.   it's been a decade since i was in college and i doubt books have gone down in price.

if you're even remotely considering the i7-2620M, save yourself the cash and get the i5-2520M instead.   GPU performance between the two is identical and the i5 proc will render 90% as well for far less money.

Question: Will that work smoothly to hook up X220 to DELL u2711 (2560x1440) via displayport? Not sure yet if the current driver of HD 3000 supports that resolution.

Cheers!

2560x1600 and 2560x1440 are supported by the intel HD3000 over displayport.   it also allows custom resolutions if necessary.   if the u2711 has a native displayport connection then 2560x1440 should be no problem.

erik wrote:
if you're even remotely considering the i7-2620M, save yourself the cash and get the i5-2520M instead.   GPU performance between the two is identical and the i5 proc will render 90% as well for far less money.

Does the i5 processor X220 have a USB3.0 port?

No.

erik wrote:2560x1600 and 2560x1440 are supported by the intel HD3000 over displayport.   it also allows custom resolutions if necessary.   if the u2711 has a native displayport connection then 2560x1440 should be no problem.

Has anyone tried this yet on an X220? I'd be interested how these apps get on at that resolution.

Cheers,

S

I haven't tried a U2711 yet, but no problems on 1920x1200 (as expected).

Re GPU power and so on, FYI my system benchmarks as:

PCMark Vantage 12071
3DMark06 5364

These seem to be pretty good for an integrated GPU on an ultraportable.

Hope this helps,

S

p.s. I'll report back when the U2711 arrives.