The Lenovo ThinkPad T450s Review: Bridging The Ultrabook
by Brett Howse on September 15, 2015 8:00 AM ESTGPU Performance
With the review unit’s Core i5-5300U processor, we get Intel’s HD 5500 GPU which has 24 execution units, and a frequency range of 300 to 900 MHz. We have seen quite a few notebooks with this GPU this year already, and performance is certainly a step up with the Gen 8 graphics on Broadwell as compared to Haswell’s Gen 7.5. Depending on the processor, maximum clock speed can be as high as 950 MHz, so this model is slightly down on the best possible performance for the GT2 graphics.
As with the system performance, the graphs have a sampling of similar devices but if you would like to compare the T450s to any other notebook we have tested, please use our Notebook Bench.
3DMark
Futuremark’s 3DMark suite is one of the oldest synthetics around, and they roll out new versions with new features. The current version is 2013, and they have updated it several times to include more demanding tests for multi-GPU setups and for testing UHD readiness. With just integrated graphics, the T450s is not going to be able to do those but we ran it through the normal suite. As you can see, the T450s does very well here compare to other Ultrabooks. It is beaten only by the ThinkPad X1 Carbon which has a Core i7 CPU and the top 950 MHz clock speed for the GPU.
GFXBench
GFXBench is a cross-platform test and is one of the staples of our smartphone testing. This is the DirectX version. Once again there are no real surprises here, with the T450s falling in the same range as the other Broadwell-U based systems. The one exception is Alpha Blending which seems a bit low.
DOTA 2
This may be the last chance to try out DOTA 2 since Valve is moving towards DOTA 2 Reborn. Apparently the new take will finally move away from DirextX 9 and the new engine is supposedly better on both low end hardware as well as high end hardware. Once Reborn launches we will take a look at it as a replacement for our iGPU testing. Taking a look at what we have today though shows that the ThinkPad T450s actually falls behind some of the other devices we have tested. Either this can be attributed to a game update, or drivers, since the GPU frequency stayed right at the maximum of 900 MHz throughout the test. I also verified it with a much longer test of this game and the average GPU frequency was 895 MHz. Its lower scores do not appear to be a cooling system issue in this case.
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Flunk - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
I kinda wish it was available with Iris Pro. I don't expect an Ultrabook to really be good at gaming but being able to play the occasional game would be nice.DanNeely - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Seeing this display used in a higher performing laptop would be nice; but a 47W processor isn't going to be usable in a chassis designed for a 15W one.fokka - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
i think he means the normal iris, like some macbook air are using, i think it's the Uxx50 line. those have double the EUs, but lack the EDRAM of iris pro.DanNeely - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Haswell/Broadwell didn't use non-pro Iris nomenclature for anything below 28W; which would again be too hot for the current XPS13 chassis. Skylake is adding something called Iris 540 which has 48 EU and 64MB eDRAM and is available at a 15W TDP. It's possible Dell will include this as an option for the skylake refresh; I can't find any detailed rumors about it. Iris 550 (again not pro) is the same hardware at 28W. No skylake chips with Iris Pro are out yet; but since it's 72 EU and 64/128mb eDram; I suspect it'll be only at the 47W tdp again.I'm somewhat interested in the possibility of an Iris 540 version of the laptop too; assuming the bump in light gaming ability is reasonable for the increase in purchase price anyway. Progressively more bloated web pages are slowly pushing my oldschool atom powered laptop below the threshold of usability even for an occasional use machine; and a skylake XPS13 is currently the potential machine to beat for me.
extide - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
You can get Iris Pro in 28W, and with Skylake there is "baby" Iris Pro (64MB) in 15Wretrospooty - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
XPS are great... until they die. ... DEEELLLL!!!!mooninite - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
The ASUS UX301LAA has been out for several years and has been unmatched. Iris graphics, hi-dpi screen, 2x256gb ssd m.2 drives, 5-6 hours typical battery but I've left the thing on (forgot about it) with the lid closed for up to 12 hours and it still had battery left.nerd1 - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
I found HP spectre x360 to be better built, has more value, converts into tablet and only very slightly heavier (It's almost as light as macbook air)michael2k - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Doesn't the 12" MacBook use a similar display?Samus - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
As hard as it is for many to consider Dell as a relevant brand (after years of making utter shit, circa 2003-2008) it's hard to ignore them now. Just get over your memories (like the Deskstar 75GXP days) and try a XPS13 out.The display isn't the only part of the machine that's in a class of its own, but the keyboard. They really "ripped-off" the old Thinkpad keyboard perfectly while still making a slim machine.
HP's keyboards are acceptable. At the end of the day, they're made by the same people who make Lenovo's keyboards (Chicony) while Dell's are made by Quanta/NSK Darfon, who for the mean time appears to be making the best Chiclet and floating-island style keyboard.