I3-2120 w/ Intel HD Graphics 1000 (GT1)??

bo33b

Honorable
Apr 1, 2012
6
0
10,510
I just built a budget PC for a friend:

ASUS P8PH67-V board with HDMI, DVI, & VGA
Intel i3-2120 @ 3.3 Ghz
2x2GB G.Skill DDR3-1333
500GB Western Digital SATA/6Gbps

The board seems nice, even includes USB 3.0, which I thought was cool. I left out any dedicated graphics, thinking the iGPU in the Intel Core i3 was quite capable. Got it booted with Windows 7 x64, loaded all the drivers (in order) from the P8H67-V's accompanying DVD.

Rebooted a few times, examined BIOS a few times, everything looked cool so I loaded up a couple DirectX game demos to get an idea of what a $110 CPU+GPU could swallow....and it CHOKED.

At native 1280x1024 resolution, with quite minimal shadow and alias settings, I was seeing maybe 5 fps - definitely less than 10. I got over my initial shock and bumped it down to 1024x768 with all effects off and still the animation was unwatchable - maybe 20 fps or so.

So, to my question: CPU-Z shows the graphics as "Intel HD Graphics 1000 (GT1)", which conflicts with the spec sheet's HD Graphics 2000, and in fact this branding is non-existent on Intel's site. I tried loading newer drivers from ASUS (same results) and even newer drivers from Intel (same results). I read so many good reviews about 3D performance with these CPUs...am I missing something? Any suggestions aside from buying more hardware?

Many thanks.
 
Solution
The Intel® HD 2000/3000 Graphics only support up to DirectX 10.1. You can see some additional details on the graphics at http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-processor-graphics/ . For a normal non-gaming gaming computer the Intel HD 2000/3000 graphic are fine up to and including light gaming but if you are going to get into some heavy gaming you are going to want to pick up a dedicated video card.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team
It think it's a bug with CPU-Z. You're not the only person who asked this question.

The i3-2120 does indeed have an Intel HD 2000 graphics core. However, it is not much of a gaming card which is why games have been choking. The Intel HD 3000 is basically equal to a Radeon HD 5450 video card which is not much of a gaming card either.

The Intel HD 2000 probably has at best 75% the performance of the Intel HD 3000. You also did not even list what types of games you are trying to play. The best advice is to buy an inexpensive video card if you want to play games.
 

bo33b

Honorable
Apr 1, 2012
6
0
10,510
Thank you for the reply. I feel better knowing it's not the CPU's fault; however my loss of faith in CPUZ is almost as bad. I was trying DirectX 11 games, like DiRT 3 and Oil Rush. Clearly it's more suited to older games; Halo 2 runs fine. Thanks again for the info.
 
The Intel® HD 2000/3000 Graphics only support up to DirectX 10.1. You can see some additional details on the graphics at http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-processor-graphics/ . For a normal non-gaming gaming computer the Intel HD 2000/3000 graphic are fine up to and including light gaming but if you are going to get into some heavy gaming you are going to want to pick up a dedicated video card.


Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team
 
Solution