ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Review

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 is an integrated graphics chip that can be found in AMD-based mainstream notebooks, such as select Acer Aspire AS5542, Compaq Presario CQ61z, HP Pavilion dv4 and dv6, HP ProBook 6545b, or Toshiba Satellite L505D, A505D and L555D models.

The HD 4200 supports DirectX 10.1 and has the UVD chip for hardware decoding of high definition video. The GPU is a part of the 2009 AMD Mainstream Platform for laptops, also featuring the AMD AMD Turion II Ultra, AMD Turion II, and AMD Athlon II dual core processors, and a single-core Sempron.

In this review, I have tested the Radeon HD 4200 on-board graphics in a HP Compaq CQ61z laptop. Along with the 4200 GPU, the CQ61z includes a 15.6″ 1366×768 display, the Athon II M300 2GHz CPU, 4GB of DDR2 memory, a 500GB hard drive, and Windows 7 OS. The notebook has a basic AMD Vision sticker, meaning that the system is designed for watching online videos and DVDs, web surfing, and music playback.

However, the reviewed laptop can be also used for gaming and HD video. 3D graphics benchmark tests show the 4200 is better than the recently reviewed 2008 AMD Mainstream Platform’s Radeon HD 3200 mobile GPU, while HD video playback is almost the same on both chips.

Here are the benchmark results:

3DMark 06
1805 3DMarks
594 SM2.0 Score
722 HDR/SM3.0 Score
1600 CPU Score

Windows 7 Experience Index
4.1 Desktop Performance for Windows Aero
5.4 3D Business and Gaming Graphics Performance

Crysis
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 19.6fps
Medium Settings (1366×768) – Average: 7.8fps
Low Settings (1024×600) – Average: 29.1fps

Far Cry 2
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 19.7fps
Medium Settings (1366×768) – Average: 11.5fps
Low Settings (1024×600) – Average: 26.8fps

World in Conflict
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 33fps
Medium Settings (1366×768) – Average: 11fps

Half Life 2 – Lost Coast
Low Settings (1366×768) – Average: 57.6fps
Maximal Settings (1366×768) – Average: 49.9fps

Quake 4
Ultra High Settings (1280×720) – Average: 21.2fps
High Settings (1280×720) – Average: 34.9fps

HD Video Playback

I have played two wmv video files at resolutions of 720p and 1080p on the CQ61z. The CPU load was between 35% and %45 during 720p and 45% – %60 during 1080p playback. The video clips ran smoothly in both cases.

Conclusion

The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 can be used for some basic 3D gaming, as well as for HD video playback. In older games, such as Half Life 2 and Quake 4, the HD 3200 shows excellent performance, even on high settings. In newer games, such as Crysis and Far Cry 2, the Radeon HD 4200 shows lower performance, but you will still be able to run the games on low settings.

You can check out deals on laptops with the Radeon HD 4200 at ComputerMonger.