Game Playability on Intel HD Graphics

Hey guys, I just bought an HP dv6-3236nr with Intel HD Graphics. I was wondering whether someone could tell me what version of the integrated card it is? Moreover, will it be able to play some games like World of Warcraft (especially the new expansion Cataclysm). I don't game much on the laptop, but I'd like to at least play that, Football Manager, Europe Universalis III and Rome and Medieval II Total War. I'm slightly scared that my laptop won't be able to handle it, as my older one could (it had an nVidia 8400M GS). If my current laptop does not play the games, what alternatives could I have? Would it be possible for me to purchase a discrete graphics card? Or should I return the machine and perhaps get one with a discrete graphics card? I appreciate any help.

biggles1000 said:

Do you have the laptop physically with you? If so, could you please find out how much video ram it has. It's not your fault that you only said Intel HD, as everywhere online also just says that

I have the laptop physically with me, but on the HP site it states that it has "Up to 1696MB" of memory. It says the same under the information tab on the driver GUI. Thanks for the help btw, bro.

What Intel chipset is the laptop using?

DeaconFrost said:

What Intel chipset is the laptop using?

Core i3-370m,
I believe that's the chipset? I personally thought this laptop would be able to handle it, because it seemed like an upgrade because it had more memory, even if it was shared. But I'm slightly worried after looking Intel HD Graphics up on Google.

That's the processor. The chipset is what's on the motherboard that controls all the other hardware. If you don't know it off the top of your head, check in Device Manager. Look under System Devices for listings that contain Intel and chipset.

DeaconFrost said:

That's the processor. The chipset is what's on the motherboard that controls all the other hardware. If you don't know it off the top of your head, check in Device Manager. Look under System Devices for listings that contain Intel and chipset.

5 series/3400 series

is that it?

Scouser said:

5 series/3400 series
is that it?

Possibly. There are links to Intel 3400 chipset on Intel's website, but they probably won't contain performance info. More than likely, the gaming performance is going to be paltry at best. It sounds like you didn't buy the right laptop, if you intended to be gaming with it. You'll probably want to return it and look into something with a better graphics option.

biggles1000 said:

1696MB for a laptop graphics chip is pretty impressive.

That's a standard amount. It just means that's the amount of system memory you can steal for use with the graphics card.

biggles1000 said:

Scouser said:

biggles1000 said:

Do you have the laptop physically with you? If so, could you please find out how much video ram it has. It's not your fault that you only said Intel HD, as everywhere online also just says that

I have the laptop physically with me, but on the HP site it states that it has "Up to 1696MB" of memory. It says the same under the information tab on the driver GUI. Thanks for the help btw, bro.

1696MB for a laptop graphics chip is pretty impressive. Just to double check, if you got to start then the accessories, system info (I think it's in one of the subfolders) then on one of the sysinfo tabs, I think it's something like 'hardware environment' there's a display sub-section. One of the bits of info in that should tell you how much video ram you have.

Name Intel(R) HD Graphics
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0046&SUBSYS_144C103C&REV_02\3&11583659&0&10
Adapter Type Intel(R) HD Graphics (Core i3), Intel Corporation compatible
Adapter Description Intel(R) HD Graphics
Adapter RAM 1.68 GB (1,806,622,720 bytes)
Installed Drivers igdumd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igdumdx32,igd10umd32
Driver Version 8.15.10.2189
INF File oem1.inf (iILKM0 section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries 4294967296
Resolution 1366 x 768 x 59 hertz
Bits/Pixel 32
Memory Address 0xB0000000-0xB03FFFFF
Memory Address 0xA0000000-0xFEAFFFFF
I/O Port 0x00004050-0x00004057
IRQ Channel IRQ 4294967294
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\igdkmd64.sys (8.15.10.2189, 10.12 MB (10,610,400 bytes), 7/28/2010 6:10 PM)

I think the bold part is it. It's shared memory, however. I know that makes a difference, but I didn't think it would if it can go up to 1.6GB of RAM and the computer has the remainder from the 4GB for processing.