Legit Mobile Reviews

Intel Core i7-2820QM - Sandy Bridge For Notebook PCs

Manufacturer: Intel
Product: Intel Core i7-2820QM CPU w/ Compal Notebook
Date: Mon, Jan 03, 2011 - 12:00 AM
Written By: Nathan Kirsch -
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Intel HD Graphics 3000 Overview

Intel HD Graphics

All of the new Sandy Bridge mobile processors feature Intel HD Graphics 3000. If you take a look at the slide above you'll notice that most of the CPU die is made up of the graphics processor. It should be noted that the 8MB of L3 cache is directly connected to the graphics processor for improved performance.


Intel HD Graphics

The new Sandy Bridge processors all have 12 graphics back end execution units, which is something that not all desktop parts have. The clock frequency of the Intel HD Graphics 3000 depends on what processor you are looking at. Some start at with 350MHz to 650MHz base clocks with tip speed reaching 900-1300MHz. The Intel Core i7-2820QM that we are looking at today starts out at 650MHz on the back clock and has a max dynamic frequency of 1300MHz, so it's as fast as you can get without overclocking. Gaming performance is going to really depend on what the GPU is clocked at, so if you are buying a notebook with a Sandy Bridge processor and want to game be sure to keep a close eye on these clock speeds!

Intel HD Graphics

Sandy Bridge processors also have a cool new feature called Quick Sync Video Implementation.  We found numerous companies calling this Intel QSV and it means that video processing is now done on the hardware and not with software!  We were told that we could expect huge performance increases due to this, so it will be interesting in testing QSV out on applications that support the new hardware video processing. 

Intel QSV Supporting Software:

  • Adobe Flash 10.2 beta
  • Arcsoft Total Media Theatre 5.0.1.80
  • Arcsoft Media Converter 7.1.15.55
  • Corel WinDVD 10.0.5.708
  • Cyberlink PowerDVD 10.0.2308.52
  • Cyberlink Media Espresso 6.0.1102.32247
  • Intel Turbo Boost Technology Monitor 2.1

Next Page - Test Setup


Review Index
Page 1 - Intel Sandy Bridge Comes to Laptops!
Page 2 - Intel HD Graphics 3000 Overview
Page 3 - Test Setup
Page 4 - Turbo Mode w/ CPU-Z & Windows Index Score
Page 5 - SiSoftware Sandra 2011c
Page 6 - wPrime v2.04
Page 7 - x264 HD Encoding
Page 8 - Cyberlink MediaEspresso 6
Page 9 - Cinebench R10
Page 10 - Cinebench R11.5
Page 11 - PCMark Vantage
Page 12 - 3DMark Vantage
Page 13 - Resident Evil 5
Page 14 - H.A.W.X. 2 Benchmark
Page 15 - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Page 16 - Blu-ray Video Playback
Page 17 - Power Consumption
Page 18 - Battery Life Benchmark
Page 19 - Final Thoughts and Conclusions