Does the Intel Graphics Card perform well with SketchUp 2015?

Does anyone have any experience with (or opinions about) the Intel HD Graphics 5500 video card?

My current system (Dell Precision M6600, Win 7 OS, nVidia 3000M graphics adapter) has begun to show signs of significantly decreased performance and I am seriously considering replacing it with another laptop, the Dell Inspiron 17 7000 Series, Win 8 OS, which ships with the Intel graphics card installed. I have found a good price and I’m hoping to confirm whether this video card functions well with SketchUp before taking delivery on the system.

Any info will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The Intel graphics may be built-in and take what it needs (on-the-fly) from system memory.

My old Dell Inspiron has the low end Intel 4 Series Express. I’m running dual monitors.

  • The internal monitor is 1366x768
  • Connected external is a HP 25" at 1920x1080

It’s currently using 232MB of system memory, but it can swell to a maximum of 1325MB (out of the system’s 3GB, so it can want more than a third.)

I’m sure I’ve never taxed it to it’s fullest. And this is a cheap Walmart low-end “Suzie Housewife” model that my Aunt bought, and didn’t like. (She gave it to me in exchange for IT work on getting her a new Toshiba Satellite all fixed up with the doodads.)

I posted a screenshot of the nifty Intel Graphics Utility here:

Continuing, I’ve never had bad experience with Intel graphics. (Just that in some machines I’ve worked on it has been low-end graphics aimed at the office market.)

We just bought a new notebook for my mother. We specifically discussed the issues with graphics we’ve had over the years, domestically and at work.
Nothing but bad experiences with AMD & ATI. We decided to go with Intel CPU and NVidia or the built-in Intel graphics. (And to avoid HP, as the last one gave us nothing but problems. Added to many years of problems with friends HP machines.)

It turned out to be a Toshiba Satellite with built-in Intel 4000 series graphics. More graphics (and storage & etc.,) then she’ll ever need. (She emails, she surfs, she plays games.)

I have not yet tried SketchUp on it, but I don’t anticipate it having issues.

If you want the nitty gritty technical details:
http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-033757.htm

… vs paying another $250 and getting the next model with a NVIDIA® GeForce® 845M 2GB GDDR5

Compare: Passmark rates the NVIDIA 845M at 957
and the Intel HD 5500 at 558

With the extra 250, you get +1M more cache and a 3 GHz CPU

There are reviews posted at the bottom of the page.

@DanRathbun

Thanks so much for the extensive response! I hate to admit it but the model I described was made available on QVC as a “Today’s Special Value” and I am not able to modify the specifications without deleting the order and going elsewhere.

From your information, it looks like the system may be adequate for my use, especially at the price. Because of QVC’s easy pay policy, I’ve decided to take delivery and see how well the unit works for me and, if not satisfied, I will return it within the thirty day timeframe. At which point, I may be seeking your advice yet again.

Well the possibility would still exist to remove like 30 screws and install a notebook video card of your choice in the future. (Maybe you might find one from some machine you or a friend is abandoning?)

That’s a thought I will also consider. My past experience with laptops has shown that notebook video cards are not always universally compatible even within the same brand. That being said, I will throw a net out to try and catch an nVidia adapter that works with the soon to be delivered notebook. The nVidia brand of video adapters seem to be far superior to most of the competitive makes IMO.

Thanks for the great suggestions.

Please see SketchUp 2015 (64-bit) and Intel HD Graphics 5500. We would love to hear how SketchUp 64-bit works on your machine.