Benchmark Results: Real-World Games
I ran these tests originally for our Ivy Bridge launch coverage, and then added HD Graphics 2500 results to fill in the blanks. After seeing just how bad the second-tier Ivy Bridge-based graphics engine performed, though, I stuck to just a single resolution: 1280x720.
The outcome isn’t pretty. Even in the face of relatively modest detail settings, HD Graphics 2500 isn’t something you’d want to use for gaming. At Batman’s lowest preset, our Core i5-3550 isn’t playable. In World of Warcraft, it’s both choppy and stuttery. Skyrim doesn’t offer much of an improvement.
Bottom line: whereas HD Graphics 4000 served up frames rates that made mainstream titles like WoW and Skyrim smooth enough to play at meager settings, HD Graphics 2500 just doesn’t make the proposition very compelling.