Intel HD Graphics
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The Intel HD Graphics (sometimes also called GMA HD) is the Graphics Memory Accelerator (GMA) integrated in the Intel Core i3, Intel Core i5 and selected Intel Core i7 processors. Sandy Bridge architecture processors use HD Graphics 2000 or HD Graphics 3000 model, Ivy Bridge architecture processors use HD Graphics 2500 or HD Graphics 4000. Features
Using High resolution external monitor is possible (4K/ 3840x2160) but slow. It was tested on Thnkpad T420 on Debian/Linux using DisplayPort socket/cable. When using an HDMI/DP adapter the resolution was 1920x1200, may be because of the cheap adapter.
NOTE!
While almost all new ThinkPads have integrated Intel HD Graphics, on those ThinkPads with a Discrete NVIDIA GPU, the Intel GPU is disabled and cannot be enabled. There is no support for Switchable Graphics.
NOTE!
Contrary to the statement above, you can select the GPU in the BIOS of recent models with Nvidia Optimus, e.g. the T510 4384GEG. Windows seems to be able to switch between the GPUs, too.
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Linux support
Kernel module driver supporting this card is i915, Xorg driver is xserver-xorg-video-intel. Linux distribution with kernel 2.6.33 and Intel Xorg driver 2.11 or newer is recommended.
Note that XVideo (Xv) playback at certain frame sizes does not work properly unless you have at least version 2.12 of the Intel Xorg driver.
Desktop Effects do not work in Ubuntu 10.10 (at least, on an X220).
T420s
The BIOS for the T420s (and presumably also the T420) settings for _Graphics Device_ default to NVIDIA Optimus and the OS Detection for NVIDIA Optimus is set to Disabled which is not a good set of defaults for Linux since Optimus is only supported by Windows 7. To get the NVidia drivers working for Linux I had to set the Graphics Device to Discrete Graphics. This was as of 2011-11-26 using driver version 290.10. Then run sudo nvidia-xconfig. Both TwinView and Xinerama worked fine.
T430
For T430 with Intel HD Graphics 4000 I experienced random screen freezes, that disappeared only after upgrading kernel to version 3.5 and Xorg driver to version 2.19.
I own a T430 (manufacturing date: 13/04; bios version: 2.54) with nvidia optimus.
The system freezes randomly with kernel 3.2.45. The problem occurs very frequently in battery mode when watching a video (e.g. youtube) while a huge project (e.g. linux kernel) gets compiled.
This issue seems to be solved in kernel 3.9.4.
Power Saving Kernel Options
The following boot options may help considerably with power:
i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 i915.semaphores=1 pcie_aspm=force
Models featuring this Technology
- ThinkPad Edge 11", Edge 14", Edge 15", E440, E540
- ThinkPad L412, L512
- ThinkPad T410, T410i, T410s, T410si, T420, T420s, T430, T430s, T510, T510i
- ThinkPad X201, X201i, X201s, X201 Tablet, X220,X230
