So I'd been hearing good things about the integrated graphics on Intel's new Sandy Bridge chips, but the i5-2400 I'd had in my main system wasn't using them, so I'd never seen it firsthand. Using a P67 chipset on my main box, so...I couldn't use them. Which is not a big deal - I've got a great eVGA card in it so...gaming was no problem. Ultimately, I upgraded my main box's processor, so having an i5-2400 in hand, I decided...well why not drop it in an XPC to run a media system on?
So I did!
And that's when the idea started! See, the i5-2400 is a great chip. I had it running at up to 3.9ghz on a single core (slight BCLK bump with the +4 stepping multiplier allowed on even non-K chips). Four cores at that speed...it was just damn fast. TOO fast, in fact, to waste in a closet plugged into a TV. The processor, itself, was just screaming fast! Yet the 'integrated video' part...well, if it had sucked, I probably would have given up, but...
...it
didn't suck. It wasn't quite as fast as I wanted in games, and as indicated by the WEI score...the integrated GPU was certainly the weakest link in the system. But it didn't
suck...it had
promise. And that got me working on the problem!
As many of you will recall, when Intel launched the Sandy Bridge parts, they included one of two integrated GPUs in their processors. The higher-end 'unlocked' chips (the -K chips) got the impressive 12-execution-unit HD 3000 integrated GPU. Which seemed strange, as people buying a high-end overclockers processor...are probably not using integrated graphics. And all the non-K 'mainstream' parts got the considerably weaker 6-execution-unit HD 2000 GPU (which is what the i5-2400 I have above is using).
I guess I wasn't the only one who thought that was bizarre - Intel must have, too, as they have since started releasing some 'fill in the gap' parts with weird combinations of higher-end features.
Enter the chip that caught my eye, and inspired this build...
The Intel Core i3-2105! See, this little beauty pulls in some of the best parts of the higher-end chips. It's
technically a dual-core, but...like the i7-2600K, it's Hyperthreaded. So the OS sees it as four cores. And let me tell you - while the 4-core to 8-core jump allowed by Hyperthreading on the 2600K falls into the 'ho-hum, nice feature, but not much performance difference' category...going from 2 cores to 4 makes a BIG difference. Windows 7 likes this chip a *lot*.
Secondly - and the real reason it got my attention for this build - it actually features the higher-end Intel HD 3000 integrated GPU instead of the HD 2000 that was strangely more common in budget builds.
And finally - well, it's cheap as chips. I had a coupon code from Newegg, and with a recent sale on it they ran, I picked it up for less than $100 shipped. This is the important point - it's the processor...
and GPU I'll be using (as they are combined)...for less than $100.
Well, let's build it!
As implied by the first pic - I went with a Shuttle XPC. Good form factor for the 'fits in a closet with the TV' box. So everything fits together pretty well - heatpipe cooling, single large case fan in the back, G.Skill memory, etc.
Ultimately I went with an SSD for the system, too - largely for power consumption reasons. The Core i3-2105 is, after all, a 65w (TDP) chip. Idles even less, so even when this computer is SLAMMED, it's going to be basically sipping power. And when it idles...well...the difference between a spinning platter disk and SSD may be a significant fraction of its power draw...
Finally finished it off with a Blu-Ray player because...why not? Interestingly, the Intel integrated GPU appears to also support the appropriate HDCP protocol for communication over the DVI->HDMI connection to the TV for playback of secure content. So...that's pretty cool!
Ready to rock and roll!
First thing is first. It's a new build, new Windows 7 install (which doesn't even take long enough to get a quick shower when put on an SSD), so we run WEI, and get...
...looking good, so far!
That's the same exact processor score (swapping out a Core i5-2400 for a Core i3-2105), same hard disk score (no surprise, the previous test used the same SSD), and BIG jump in video performance. Which was expected...that processor score, I confess, was a bit of a surprise.
As I mentioned - Windows 7 LOVES the 2->4 core Hyperthreading trick.
But here's the kicker - it's not just idle numbers. The system actually RUNS. Like, anything I throw at it.
I even figured - crazy, off-the-wall gleam-in-my-eye hopefully - that it
might be able to boot up 'Skyrim'. I figured at the lowest quality settings, I could see a gorgeous slideshow. Only...when I installed it...the game auto-detected my hardware as...'Medium'? Not even slider-'low'? DEFINITELY not 'tweaking around in .ini files looking for things to disable to get it to run'?
MEDIUM?! At 720p???
Well, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I fire that bad boy up, and...
See for yourself. 
...HOLY CRAP IT'S ACTUALLY PLAYABLE.
It doesn't look like my Core i7-2600K with GeForce 560 Ti, of course, but...wow...it's
surprisingly close. In fact, I'd say that the thing it brings most to mind is that it looks and runs very much like the console version of the game.
Hard to believe, but there ya go! No video card, no sound card, just the Shuttle XPC 'bare bones' chassis, an SSD, an optical drive, and an Intel processor...that's it...and it plays Skyrim without issue at
Medium quality settings.
post edited by xanderf - 2011/12/17 02:56:51