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Does a laptop with both the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus and GeForce MX250 make sense for gaming? We give our early thoughts

Does a laptop with both the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus and GeForce MX250 make sense? We give our early thoughts
Does a laptop with both the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus and GeForce MX250 make sense? We give our early thoughts
You'll probably want to stick to the GeForce MX150/MX250 over the Iris Plus if you want to game. Though they may be close on paper, Nvidia GPUs benefit greatly from having more frequent driver updates and a dedicated pool of resources and they are just simply more reliable and predictable in their performances. Intel is going to have to step it up in terms of driver support if it wants to compete against the low-power Radeon Vega RX series or the GeForce MX series.

In contrast to the somewhat stale 10th gen Comet Lake-U series, the 10th gen Ice Lake-U Iris Plus series offers the biggest performance boost in integrated graphics yet for the mobile ULV Intel Core family. The difference is so large when compared to the dated UHD Graphics 620 that raw performance can actually be quite close to the GeForce MX150 or MX250 in some specific cases. And yet, OEMs like Acer and HP will be offering laptops with both the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus and GeForce MX250 graphics.

Since games can only run on one GPU or the other, it begs the question: Does it make any sense to have a laptop with both the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus integrated GPU and discrete GeForce MX250 GPU?

When looking at synthetic 3DMark benchmarks, the integrated Iris Plus GPU can be anywhere between 0 to 20 percent slower than the MX150 or MX250. 3DMark 11, for example, shows the Iris Plus to be just within a few percentage points of the MX250. Thus, one might assume that the discrete Nvidia GPU would not be needed since the Iris Plus GPU should offer almost the same performance. The problem with this perspective is that 3DMark scores do not compare very well between two completely different GPU series; they work best when comparing two GPUs of the same series instead. For example, if 3DMark shows a 40 percent difference between the Nvidia GTX 1060 and Nvidia RTX 2070 Max-Q, then that claim would translate much more accurately to real-world gaming conditions than say a 20 percent difference between the Intel Iris Plus and Nvidia GeForce MX250.

3DMark 11
1280x720 Performance Combined
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (3532 - 4638, n=29)
4250 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
4097 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
3731 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
3707 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
2776 Points
1280x720 Performance Physics
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
9039 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (5037 - 11006, n=29)
7656 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
7624 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
6475 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
6269 Points
1280x720 Performance GPU
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
4517 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (3585 - 4942, n=29)
4404 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
4274 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
3677 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
3560 Points
3DMark
1920x1080 Fire Strike Physics
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
11124 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (3409 - 14601, n=28)
9285 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
8327 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
8119 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
8007 Points
1920x1080 Fire Strike Graphics
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (2939 - 3885, n=29)
3531 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
3321 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
2874 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
2864 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
2453 Points
1920x1080 Fire Strike Score
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (2726 - 3567, n=28)
3201 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
3001 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
2691 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
2615 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
2234 Points
1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Physics
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
52619 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
45657 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (30290 - 62086, n=7)
41314 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
38580 Points
1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Graphics
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (22385 - 81895, n=7)
68911 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
61259 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
60928 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
57869 Points
1920x1080 Ice Storm Extreme Score
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
58862 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (23763 - 74583, n=7)
58597 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
54622 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
54181 Points
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Physics
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
8314 Points
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (2413 - 9653, n=25)
6025 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
5743 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
5653 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
5372 Points
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (13805 - 23863, n=25)
21491 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
20961 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
18633 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
15926 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
14505 Points
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Score
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (8009 - 17955, n=25)
13380 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
13233 Points
Asus VivoBook 15 X512FL-EJ205T
NVIDIA GeForce MX250, i7-8565U
13083 Points
Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FN-A6023T
NVIDIA GeForce MX150, i7-8565U
12432 Points
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU), i7-1065G7
10527 Points

To prove this, we ran a few commonly played games on a Core i7-1065G7 laptop and then compared the average frame rates to that of a laptop with GeForce MX250 graphics. If those 3DMark scores above are accurate, then we should expect a 20 to 25 percent boost when jumping from the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus to the GeForce MX250. In reality, we're recording frame rate advantages as high as 50 percent to 70 percent in favor of the Nvidia GPU in games like Rocket League and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Other games like Bioshock Infinite or Overwatch are even more in favor of Nvidia.

Additional factors may also be responsible for the larger-than-expected real-world gaming performance gap between Iris Plus and the GeForce MX250. Firstly, GeForce GPUs are significantly better optimized for gaming than the Intel Iris series. Gaming on Iris graphics has always been a gamble in terms of compatibility and performance and this continues to be true on Ice Lake-U. Secondly, the GeForce GPU is less likely to be bottlenecked by the CPU since it has its own dedicated pool of VRAM and resources. It is able to utilize its full TDP envelope instead of only a portion of the 15 W or 25 W TDP for the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus.

For video editing or encoding purposes, the 15 W Core i7-1065G7 will be about the same as the Whiskey Lake-U Core i7-8565U. You'd have to upgrade to the more demanding 25 W version for an appreciable CPU speed boost of 25 to 30 percent.

Granted, our 3DMark and gaming benchmark results were done on pre-production Ice Lake-U units and so they do not fully represent any Ice Lake-U laptops currently on store shelves. Bottlenecks elsewhere like RAM were not accounted for during these tests. Nonetheless, we still expect to see similar patterns based on our experience with existing Intel Iris-powered PCs. We'll be revisiting the Core i7-1065G7 in the weeks ahead with consumer-ready laptops like the Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1, Razer Blade Stealth refresh, and HP Spectre to paint a bigger picture of how the Iris Plus compares to the GeForce MX250.

Rocket League
1280x720 Performance
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (175.4 - 182.9, n=3)
178.1 fps
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
176 (41min - 235max) fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
175.4 fps
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
156 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
115 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
107.1 fps
1920x1080 Quality AA:Medium FX
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
109 (43min - 154max) fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (77 - 109, n=3)
92.4 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
77 fps
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
76.1 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
62.6 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
62.1 fps
1920x1080 High Quality AA:High FX
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
80 (35min - 113max) fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (52.1 - 80, n=3)
64.3 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
52.1 fps
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
47.4 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
43.2 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
43.1 fps
BioShock Infinite
1280x720 Very Low Preset
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
197.7 fps
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
195 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (133.9 - 212, n=14)
187.3 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
183.9 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
180.2 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
104.6 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
104.2 fps
1366x768 Medium Preset
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
110.3 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (98.4 - 117.5, n=14)
109.1 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
107 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
105.9 fps
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
105.6 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
65.5 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
65.4 fps
1366x768 High Preset
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
96.9 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
94 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (84 - 100.5, n=14)
93.6 fps
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
93.4 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
89.8 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
55.5 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
55.5 fps
1920x1080 Ultra Preset, DX11 (DDOF)
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
37.6 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (32.3 - 38.1, n=14)
35.7 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
34.8 fps
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
34.3 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
33.7 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
19.8 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
19.7 fps
Shadow of the Tomb Raider - 1280x720 Lowest Preset
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (24 - 56, n=8)
46.6 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
46 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
45 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
29 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
28 fps
Overwatch - 1280x720 Low (Render Scale 100 %) AA:FX AF:1x
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (166.4 - 171.7, n=2)
169.1 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
166.4 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
77.8 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
68.4 fps
The Witcher 3
1024x768 Low Graphics & Postprocessing
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
70.5 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
63.5 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (47.4 - 70, n=24)
60.8 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
58.8 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
53.4 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
50.3 fps
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
47.4 fps
1366x768 Medium Graphics & Postprocessing
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
39.7 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
37.9 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (30 - 40, n=27)
35.3 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
35.2 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
34.6 fps
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
34.5 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
34 fps
1920x1080 High Graphics & Postprocessing (Nvidia HairWorks Off)
Huawei MateBook 13 i7
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
22.1 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-723L
Intel Core i7-8565U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
20.4 fps
Average NVIDIA GeForce MX250
  (16.3 - 23.1, n=27)
20.1 fps
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14IWL
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX250
19.8 fps
Acer Aspire 5 A515-52G-53PU
Intel Core i5-8265U, NVIDIA GeForce MX150
19.3 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 15 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
18.7 fps
Intel SDS Core i7-1065G7 Preliminary Sample 25 W
Intel Core i7-1065G7, Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU)
18 fps
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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2019 09 > Does a laptop with both the Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus and GeForce MX250 make sense for gaming? We give our early thoughts
Allen Ngo, 2019-09-29 (Update: 2019-09-29)