3D graphics performance
We've hopped into the wayback machine and fired up 3DMark03 to test the M1210's Intel GMA 950 graphics. Newer versions of 3DMark don't run well on this hardware. Note that the XPS M1210 and the ThinkPad T60 share the same GMA 950 graphics, but the ThinkPad has faster DDR2 667MHz memory. Does that put the M1210 at a disadvantage?

To the contrary, the M1210 is faster in 3DMark overall and in each one of the game tests. 3DMark's synthetic tests give us a sense of why that is.

In terms of putting pixels on the screen, the ThinkPad T60 and M1210 are a near-exact match. Our M1210 review unit's 533MHz memory doesn't seem to be a hindrance. However, the M1210's Core 2 Duo processor makes for a big leap in vertex shader performance over the ThinkPad. Such a gain might seem counterintuitive if you're used to ATI and Nvidia graphics, but since Intel relies on the CPU to handle vertex shader duties, there's plenty of room for improvement in the graphics subsystem with a faster processor. Higher vertex throughput is most likely the primary reason for the M1210's dominance over the ThinkPad in 3DMark's game tests, as well.

Now for some Guild Wars, a great game that Intel's integrated graphics can handle reasonably well. I used FRAPS to record frame rates over a series of five 60-second gameplay sessions in which my ranger character was running around outside of Ascalon, kicking some tail. The game's terrain quality was set to high, reflections to default, texture quality to high, and shadow quality to medium. Post-process effects were enabled.

The M1210 turns in some very nice real-world performance improvements in Guild Wars. For games like this with relatively modest graphics requirements, the M1210 with Intel integrated graphics can be quite good. Its 1280x800 native screen resolution doesn't require a tremendous amount of fill rate, so a high-end graphics solution isn't really necessary.

I also tried the M1210 with Half-Life 2. I turned off a host of image quality options in order to get it running at a reasonable speed, including anisotropic filtering, edge antialiasing, and high-quality reflections. The game also relied on its DirectX 8.1 code path, rather than DX9, once it detected the GMA 950. At those settings, the M1210 played the game quite fluidly, but it had a tendency to crash. I figured the best fix would be to download the latest GMA 950 driver straight from Intel, since the ones on the Dell website were behind the current release. Sadly, though, those drivers refused to install on the M1210, because the installer threw up a message about the drivers not being validated for this hardware. It appears Dell has chosen to limit the M1210 to the graphics drivers available on its own website, and Intel seems to be playing along. Dell's unfortunate policy on this front hampers the M1210's usability as a gaming machine.

Like I've said, though, you'll probably want to go with the Nvidia graphics option if you want use the M1210 as a gaming system.