3DMark FireStrike on 4790K, iGPU issues…

[PianoPlayer88Key]

So I thought I'd try to run 3DMark FireStrike on my desktop PC ...
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlEIq8cGTBc
 
The video is almost 15 minutes long, so in the description I put several timestamps so you can jump to various points on the video.  For the 3DMark runs, the demo starts at 6:32, Graphics 1 at 9:53, Graphics 2 at 11:00, Physics at 11:53 and Combined at 12:55.

 

 

As you can see, I get PWNZ0R3D by @Slick (Luke)'s Scrapyard Wars 1 system.  (My only saving grace is the physics score.)  I guess that's what I get for not having a discrete GPU (although I didn't think the HD 4600 was *THAT* bad.  TF2 is definitely playable, and I think Descent: Underground is close to playable, and would be if I turned some settings and resolution down.  (I did show a few seconds of D:U in the video, but not TF2.)

 

My 3DM:FS results are posted at http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7077123.  Also I ran Cinebench R15 and got 31.09 fps on OpenGL, 796 cb on CPU (how'd I manage to beat Austin's SYW3 i7?), and 162 cb on single-core CPU.  I just ran it a few minutes ago, not during the video when I was running a couple video encodes, FireStrike, several VMs, Prime95 (which took my stock 4790K up to 100°C on the 212 Evo), etc.  I think I should have, though, to get an idea of how well it does when multitasking, as well as PCMark which I have just downloaded but not yet installed on my desktop.

 

Now I'm wanting to try FireStrike on my dad's laptop (Dell D830, Core 2 Duo T7250, integrated GPU, 2GB DDR2-667 RAM, Windows XP, etc) but I'm not sure if it'll even run.  I'd also like to run it on my laptop (Clevo P750DM-G, Core i3-6100 - yes a desktop class LGA1151 CPU, NVidia GTX 970M, etc, but it doesn't appear to be available for Linux (Lubuntu 15.10).  Is there a good alternative in either case that's just as intensive?

 

Also who else here has a laptop with a better graphics card than their desktop besides me?  (And not because the desktop is like 5 years old and you just got the laptop last month.  I got my desktop in January 2015 and laptop in December 2015.)

 

Yes I did see the FireStrike Scores thread in the Graphics Cards section, but I don't feel worthy (yet) of being in there due to my low graphics score and not having a discrete GPU in my desktop.

Also fairly early in the video, AviDemux struggles to play a UHD video (the same one that VLC plays a few seconds of just fine), although the sound is normal.  (In another version of Avidemux I thought I had, but couldn't remember where I installed it (and Windows 10 loves to break my program installs whenever I do a windows update), I remember both the sound and video would stutter.)

And periodically (including like 3 or 4 times today), my PC would freeze for a couple seconds, then I'd get a message in the lower right saying "Display driver Intel HD Graphics Drivers for Windows 8® stopped responding and has successfully recovered."  Also at least a few times, I've gotten BSODs that complained about the graphics driver.  (BlueScreenView won't show me the Win10 style screen, although it does have an option for XP style, but in the related BSODs it mentions dxgkrnl.sys, dxgmms2.sys and igdkmd64.sys being culprits.)

My current GPU driver version, according to the display properties, is 10.18.15.4256, dated 7/7/2015.

 

Would a new display driver help with some of those issues mentioned above?  Or (even without taking into account gaming performance), do I need to hurry up and get a discrete GPU?  Early on when I built this computer I thought I might get a GTX 960 or 970 later in 2015, but at this point I'd prefer to wait for Pascal and get a 1060 or 1070 or something like that.  But, should I maybe get a GT 730 or a GTX 750 Ti or 950 for now as soon as I can, then later when Pascal comes out get one of those for around $200-320 or thereabouts? (Then I'd give my dad, who I hope would have built a new desktop PC to replace his laptop by then, the 730/750/950.)

 

Okay maybe this would have been better in Graphics Cards? (but not in the megathread cause my questions would get lost there.)  Or in Troubleshooting?  Aaaahhh I can't decide, feels like I have multiple topics in one post.

[ImBleu]

Honestly I'd have probably gone for an i5 and upped the GPU a tad but it is true that intel's HD4400 isn't exactly something to write home about. I'd not waste money on a low-end discreet GPU unless you find a use for it as a PhysX card one day, giving it to your dad like you mentioned or can sell it without a major loss.

 

The GTX970 would be the better choice, obviously being the most expensive one you listed it would perform the best. 

 

LTT's vide on low-end discreet GPU options:

 

[ChrisCross]

200-320$ is more amd territory. amd announced its 14nm gpu's for mid 2016. we will see what nvidia announces this evening. you should probably wait for that.

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Thanks for the ideas so far.

 

I was looking a little using pcpartpicker and videocardbenchmark.net (also making a spreadsheet).  If I hold out for a $300 card or so, I probably won't be getting one for a few months at least (or when Pascal comes out).

 

If I wait, GPUs I'd likely be considering (for now) are the GTX 970, GTX 960, or GTX 950 as well as seeing what the two camps announce in the meantime.  If I got one sooner, I'd be more likely looking at the GTX 750 Ti or plain 750.  I did look at the AMD offerings, but for me, power efficiency is just as important as performance vs price, possibly slightly more important due to the high cost of electricity here.  Two possible AMD contenders would be the R7 360 or 370.

 

Also that low end GPUs LTT video reminded me of a couple things.  I wonder what would be recommended in a case where someone who's not a gamer, but just a normal home/office user, happened to get a mobo & cpu that didn't have integrated graphics, and a GTX 750 would be way overkill for them?

 

Also I ran a few more benchmarks, and my preliminary results are as follows:

 

PCMark 8: crashes with "unhandled exception" and a bunch of code-like stuff (I screenshotted it but haven't posted it) at 60% through pass 1 in both versions of the work tests and the accelerated home test.  In the creative accelerated test, it was hanging at the end of the open CL test for several minutes.

 

In Unigine Heaven and Valley tests with settings on ultra/extreme, it was getting around 3-6 fps.

 

And another twist on GPUs, and CPUs as well ... with the trend I perceive for better power (and heat I guess) efficiency, will we ever see a day when a flagship CPU and GPU can safely run without a heatsink at stock settings?

 

And this would probably be best for another thread, but I got a challenge for the LTT team:  build a PASSIVELY-cooled PC on a thin mini ITX board, use an M.2 SSD for boot/storage, in a case small enough so the board takes up the entire area and the back panel ports take up 3/4 of the height or so (maybe something like the size of an ipad?), and a PCI Express riser/cable for the GPU (cause there won't be physically room to stand it up in the slot the normal way).  The case can't have fans/vents, either. Having the PSU outside the case would be necessary of course due to size restrictions.

The CPU and GPU should be overclocked to the same percentage that enthusiasts have typically done the i5-2500K on AIO liquid cooling or exotic (Noctua NH-D15 class) air.  When stress testing them (using the equivalent of Prime95 28.7 for a Haswell CPU - the one that took my 4790K at stock to 100°C on a 212 Evo), the case (which is allowed to be used as a heatsink to dissipate heat) must be cool enough to comfortably hold with your bare hands, and/or, the temps reported by the CPU/GPU should be cold enough so L&L could comfortably hold something that temperature in their bare hands.

 

The CPU/GPU to be used in the above challenge? an FX-9590 and an R9 390X2.  Oh, and do it in summertime in southeast California, western Arizona or southern Nevada at a location where the ambient temperature is 50+°C.   (Or can southwest Canada get that warm in summer?)

[PianoPlayer88Key]

Another issue I was reminded of when I turned my computer on -- my display settings had somehow reset to 640x480 on a non-PnP / generic monitor.  (It's a Dell U2414H.)  I've had this issue before, have practically gone bald/gray (referencing something Linus said in his recent data recovery video) trying to fix it.  For now (as of a couple months or so ago, iirc), a workaround that kind-of works for me is to pull the power & data cables out of the monitor, hold the power button for 10+ seconds, then plug it back in and turn it back on.  Of course my icons are still all squeezed into a small area in the upper left, as are any windows I had open.  (I'd still like to fix that so that it restores window/icon positions when resetting to a higher resolution.)

 

Would a new driver help for that, or should I expedite getting a new GPU?  If I get a GPU within the next couple months, the highest-end one I'd be looking at would be the GTX 750 Ti.  If something like the GT 720, 730 or maybe 740 could hold me over until Pascal comes out on the desktop later this year, I'd also maybe consider that.  (If Pascal isn't much of an improvement over Maxwell, though, and if AMD's latest 16nm offerings aren't compelling, then I'd want to probably get a 970 and hang onto it for a few years.

 

I looked on Intel's site and they do have a driver dated 10/26/2015, so I'm downloading that to try it.  (My current driver is dated 7/7/2015.)  If that doesn't cure my issues (not counting the in-game and FireStrike/Unigine benchmark performance), then should I get an inexpensive stop-gap GPU then upgrade to Pascal/Polaris around $250-320, tough it out while waiting for the P's, or just get like a GTX 970 as soon as I have the $ (hopefully by April or so - I can probably get up to a 750 Ti now but known upcoming expenses/trips would prevent me getting a 970 before then) and hang onto it for 2-4 generations?