NVIDIA GeForce MX550 vs Intel UHD Graphics 64EUs (Alder Lake 12th Gen) vs Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs

The Intel UHD Graphics 80EUs (12th Gen Alder Lake GPU, Xe Architecture with 80 EUs) is an integrated graphics card in the mid range Alder-Lake CPUs. It is using the new Xe architecture (Gen12) and was introduced with the Alder Lake-H series. In theoretical benchmarks the GPU is on par with the Radeon RX Vega 8 (iGPU of Ryzen 4000 CPUs) but in games the performance is a bit worse due to less optimized drivers (in 2022). E.g. in our tests only low demanding games like GRID Legends were playable in low settings.

The SoC is manufactured in an improved 10nm process (called Intel 7).

The Intel Xe Graphics G7 80EUs (Tiger-Lake U GPU with 80 EUs) is a integrated graphics card in the mid range Tiger-Lake U CPUs (15 - 28 Watt, e.g. Core i5 11th Gen CPUs). It is using the new Xe architecture (Gen12) and should be announced later in 2020.

The performance depends on the TDP settings of the laptop and the used cooling. First informations show that the chip can be configured at 15 and 28 Watt TDP default (as the Ice Lake-U chips) and the performance should be around a dedicated GeForce MX330 in 3DMark benchmarks. For gaming we are expecting a bit worse performance due to the missing dedicated graphics memory and driver support. Compared to the older Iris Plus G4 in Ice Lake chips, the Tiger Lake GPU should be nearly twice as fast. Benchmarks with various laptops show that the 80EU version lacks about 18% behind the faster 96EU version and on par with the MX330. Compared to AMD iGPUs, the G7 80EU positions itself around the Vega 7 and Vega 8 chips (see chart below for details).

Therefore, the iGPU is still only for lowest graphical settings and low resolutions in demanding games. Some modern games like Days Gone or Cyberpunk wont run over 30 fps in minimum settings (see below).

The Tiger Lake SoCs and therefore the integrated GPU are manufactured in the modern 10nm+ (10nm Superfin) process (improved 10nm process) at Intel and therefore should offer a very good efficiency.