Dedicated graphics necessary?

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alkit

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Hi,

Currently got a i5-4200U, 12GB RAM, 256GB SSD laptop.

At any given time, I have 10 excel documents open, and around 40 chrome tabs open. Also sometime leave a CCTV viewing app open. I also have multiple gmail windows pen with numerous extensions in each window.

My machine often goes to 100% cpu usage with CCTV open. Without it, it is anywhere between 30%-100%, but my browser scrolls very slowly and pressing buttons is majorly delayed.

I would like to upgrade to a machine with an "i7 HQ" (eg i7-6700HQ) processor as I think this will help majorly.

The only question I have is whether dedicated graphics is necessary for my use? Will I see any benefit of dedicated graphics?

Thanks in advance
 
I don't think a dedicated graphics card will help that much to be honest.

Isn't it easier to just have less tabs open?

Do you really need a laptop or could you use a desktop? If you can use a desktop, I'd suggest an AMD Ryzen 7 with 32GB of RAM. Even with all that stuff open, it should fly.

You need a more powerful CPU and more RAM. Open up the task manager and find out how much memory you are using. I'd guess you are maxing out your memory.
 
Unless your CCTV app has the needed hardware acceleration it's not going to do a thing, i7 with more RAM is what you need.
 
alkit said:
Had CCTV software closed for the past 2 weeks, still get slow downs :(
Click to expand...

I regularly have 40 browser windows open and any slowness usually comes from memory leaks. Have you tried Chrome in safe mode? Have you tried another browser?
 
I have used both an old i5-540M (Passmark: 2468) with Intel HD graphics laptop as well as a newer i7-3632QM (Passmark: 7004) with integrated AMD Radeon 7670 GPU. The i7 based laptop handles multiple Chrome tabs and Office applications much better than the i5. The 4200U (Passmark: 3271) is a low powered ultrabook type processor designed for increased battery life so it is not surprising that it struggles with that workload. An i7-6700HQ (Passmark: 8138) should be a major performance upgrade over the 4200U.

If you are planning to do any graphics intensive web design or run multiple android applications such as Whatsapp using an emulator (Nox (req. OpenGL 2.0), Memu (OpenGL 2.0), AMIDuOS (OpenGL 3.0)) then you should benefit from a dedicated graphics card. The integrated Intel GPUs do not support standards like OpenGL and OpenCL as well as AMD/NVidia devices.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/graphics-drivers/000005524.html

Personally I would check the Carbonite/MyBroadband forums regularly to see if I could find a decent secondhand unit with the desired specs in your price range.
 
Last edited:
Jake45 said:
I have used both an old i5-540M (Passmark: 2468) with Intel HD graphics laptop as well as a newer i7-3632QM (Passmark: 7004) with integrated AMD Radeon 7670 GPU. The i7 based laptop handles multiple Chrome tabs and Office applications much better than the i5. The 4200U (Passmark: 3271) is a low powered ultrabook type processor designed for increased battery life so it is not surprising that it struggles with that workload. An i7-6700HQ (Passmark: 8138) should be a major performance upgrade over the 4200U.

If you are planning to do any graphics intensive web design or run multiple android applications such as Whatsapp using an emulator (Nox (req. OpenGL 2.0), Memu (OpenGL 2.0), AMIDuOS (OpenGL 3.0)) then you should benefit from a dedicated graphics card. The integrated Intel GPUs do not support standards like OpenGL and OpenCL as well as AMD/NVidia devices.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/graphics-drivers/000005524.html

Personally I would check the Carbonite/MyBroadband forums regularly to see if I could find a decent secondhand unit with the desired specs in your price range.
Click to expand...

This was a big help. Thanks!
 
Soul Assassin said:
Unless your CCTV app has the needed hardware acceleration it's not going to do a thing, i7 with more RAM is what you need.
Click to expand...

this +1

but since its laptop, will be pretty difficult sourcing an i7 that fits.

another thing you can try, run the CCTV thru a desktop, then just remote into it RDP from your laptop...for vice versa

I have a powerful-ish desktop that runs games and intensive stuff, and a light weight laptop that remotes into it...even when i'm not at the house...pretty useful
 
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