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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lilmoe - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Thanks for the review.Would be nice if you'd include the battery capacity of each device in the comparison chart.
lilmoe - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
*All the devices* that is, not just the one being reviewed.Gigaplex - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
"Durability is something that business wants too, since these devices are going to be used as long as they can be before replacement."Most businesses I've seen that get mobile workstations like this tend to operate on a 3 to 5 year cycle. Once the warranty expires, the machine is retired. It's generally home computers that limp along for as long as possible.
DanNeely - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Or shifted to 2ndary duty anyway. If you need a 2nd computer with something other than the standard configuration where I work; odds are you're going to get an older laptop that was lifecycled back to IT by its original user.jbwhite99 - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
First off, warranty can be extended to up to 5 years - sometimes in the base, sometimes as a warranty upgrade.The PC is a small part of TCO (total cost of ownership); keep in mind all of the other pieces - licensing software (Office will cost you $250 per machine, etc), the customization you do when you get a new PC, transferring files over, etc. So for companies, if you keep your PC longer, you will save in the long run. The other thing you get with this is unsealed batteries - so if the battery conks out, you can replace it (not so sure about the built in battery). This is why I don't like sealed batteries - it makes the machines thinner, but you can't replace parts.
To the first page of the article, the T20 (first T-series, followon to the ThinkPad 600) came out in July of 2000. The first lettered ThinkPad was the A20, and it came out in April 2000.
nico_mach - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
All the pictures have this curvature that I find distracting. Was that taken with a smartphone?Brett Howse - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
All pictures were with a Canon DSLR.flashbacck - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
How does the clickpad compare to the one in the t440?Brett Howse - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
I've never used the T440 sorry.GeorgeH - Tuesday, September 15, 2015 - link
Any chance of sourcing the T450s with a dGPU for review? Curious what the American market is missing.