T510 noise - difference between integrated/discrete graphics

[WojtekJ]

Hi!
Could anybody tell me if there's a big difference in noise and heat emissions between T510 with integrated and T510 with discrete graphics card?
Maybe some of you have heard both units, can compare them and could write some conclusions? I'd be really grateful.
I want to buy a new T510 for my father who will not play games and probably won't ever use discrete's graphics card advantages - he normally uses laptop in the office (word, excel) and for Internet, music, movies and photographs at home ...
Honestly, I can't find any benefit of choosing discrete graphics card in this situation - moreover, I suppose the discrete graphics card heats up the laptop's case and changes it's volume.
I can buy new T510 with nVidia much cheaper than T510 with Intel HD Graphics - but the noise emission is quite important for us - that's why I'm not sure what to do ...
Regards!

[Mutnat]

Must be some kind of a sale/promotion on the one with discrete graphics? Normally it is a bit more $ than the integrated option.

For the scenario you've described, the Intel HD graphics are ideal. I've never seen the discrete option in person so can't comment on it's relative noise. But in terms of fan noise, the T510 with integrated is very quiet. Many of us have a whining noise ("CPU Whine") from the CPU area though. But you could end up with that with either graphics option.

[aau007]

I can tell you this much.

T510 with Intel HD is rated to run up to 6.2hrs/10.4hrs with 6/9 cells battery.
T510 with discrete, however, is rated at 4.7hrs and 7.8hrs respectively.

When computer draws more power, in this case the T510 with discrete graphics, it will generate more heat. More heat in TP means the fan will be used more often and blow stronger more often. TP fans are temperature controlled and vary in speed depending on internal temperature.

[Mutnat]

Oh that reminds me, there is a difference in the heatsink supplied. I think it's copper with discrete and aluminum with integrated. Don't quote me on that, but it's definitely different.

[WojtekJ]

Must be some kind of a sale/promotion on the one with discrete graphics? Normally it is a bit more $ than the integrated option.

I have two options:

• I configure the laptop by myself on lenovo.com (saving 10% on Lenovo CPP discount) :
  Thinkpad T510, Intel Core i5-520M Processor (2.40GHz, 3MB L3, 1066MHz FSB), Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64, 15.6" HD+ Anti-Glare Display with LED Backlight and WWAN Antenna, Intel HD Graphics with Always On USB, 4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (2 DIMM), UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) with Fingerprint Reader, Camera, 2.0 MP, 250 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm, Multi Recorder Optical Drive (12.7mm), Express Card Slot & 5 in 1 Card Reader & Smart Card Slot, 6 cell 2.6Ah Li-Ion Battery - Dual Mode, Country Pack North America with Line cord & 65W AC adapter, Bluetooth w/ antenna , Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250, Integrated Mobile Broadband (Gobi 2000 3G with GPS), Open SIM Card for Verizon: USA, 3Yr Basic Warranty Extension
  and pay more or less 1875 USD with taxes, duties, shipping, etc.
• I buy a quite similar laptop (..., NVIDIA® Quadro® NVS3100M, PCI Express® x16, 512MB memory, 2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory, 320GB8 (7200 rpm) / SATA 3.0Gb/s, Express Card Slot & 5 in 1 Card Reader, Lithium Ion 9-cell, up to 7.8 hr, 11a/b/g/n wireless4, PCIe Half Mini Card, Intel Centrino® Advanced-N 6200, 2x2 ), then add 2 GB of RAM and the second, non-original, 6-cell battery
  and pay more or less 1685 USD (while buying it from Lenovo reseller, who import laptops from USA and sells them much cheaper than Lenovo here in Europe).

Conslusion : I pay almost 200 USD less for better graphics, bigger, faster and louder hard disk, worse wireless card (without WiMAX) and two batteries (6-cell and 9-cell) instead of one 6-cell battery.
Faster HDD and better graphics card are not really important for the user, I can say nothing about WiMAX now (he'll use broadband 3G modem, so it can be useless) and the battery is not something very important here neither - the computer will be plugged in almost all the time ...

For the scenario you've described, the Intel HD graphics are ideal. I've never seen the discrete option in person so can't comment on it's relative noise. But in terms of fan noise, the T510 with integrated is very quiet. Many of us have a whining noise ("CPU Whine") from the CPU area though. But you could end up with that with either graphics option.

I can tell you this much.
When computer draws more power, in this case the T510 with discrete graphics, it will generate more heat. More heat in TP means the fan will be used more often and blow stronger more often. TP fans are temperature controlled and vary in speed depending on internal temperature.

Exactly, I believe the same - there's no real need to buy discrete graphics in this case and integrated graphics should make laptop quieter - the only thing that I don't know is if the difference is big or not ...
I've read some articles about T510 and reviewers usually stated that there's a noticeable difference between T500 with ATI and T510 with nVidia in a matter of loudness and heat emission - that's why I suppose that T510 with integrated graphics card should be much quieter and colder then the unit equipped in nVidia graphics.

Oh that reminds me, there is a difference in the heatsink supplied. I think it's copper with discrete and aluminum with integrated. Don't quote me on that, but it's definitely different.

What a pity T510 doesn't allow us to switch between integrated/discrete graphics mode like T500 did ...

[jasonjason]

I'm in a similar situation. Can get discrete cheaper than integrated, but don't need graphics capability, but DO need longer battery life. From the quote above, looks like the difference in battery life would be significant. Anyone with experience on how Discrete/Integrated affects their T4x0/T5x0?

Also, it appears that the discrete and integrated have different hardware configurations (cooling for one). Would it be possible to buy the setup with the discrete and swop out for an integrated card?

Thanks.

[aau007]

I have experience with a T410s with switchable graphics. When you are on battery and you force the computer to discrete graphics, it cuts down the battery life at least 20%. With a fully charged 6 cells battery running max performance, the indicated battery life was about 1:45 hrs. Lowering the brightness would probably have gotten me closer to 2 hrs.

T410s models are either switchable or Intel HD graphics. T410 and T510 are discrete OR Intel HD.

[jasonjason]

Thanks 007, that's what I thought. Very painful to have a sweet configuration that just doesn't really fit my needs, but 20% is significant batt loss.

So no way to swop out the graphics card from discrete to integrated then?

My options are T410 with discrete, W510 with discrete, both at good price, or T510 integrated at market price (quite a bit more ex), with the 15" being preferred, but now I read accounts that the T510 battery life isn't that much more than the W510 either.

[aau007]

jason,

I don't have any better advice for you. Price aside, it is always a trade off between performance and battery life.

Suggestion: Buy the discrete graphics and use the extra money to get a second battery, if you don't mind the extra weight. Remember, you can always buy more batteries or plug it in but you cannot buy more graphics performance once you settled.