Intel HD Graphics 4400 vs AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) vs Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

Intel HD Graphics 4400

The Intel HD Graphics 4400 (GT2) is a processor graphics card included in some of the ULV Haswell processors of 2013. The relatively low base clock can be automatically overclocked using Turbo Boost technology. Depending on the processor model, the turbo clock rates may differ, resulting in varying graphics performance between models.

In comparison to the HD 4000, the HD 4400 graphics core has been modified extensively. The GPU now supports DirectX 11.1, OpenCL 1.2 and OpenGL 4.0. It also features an improved decoder for 4K videos and the fast Quick Sync encoder. Compared to the faster 4600, the 4400 offers the same amount of shaders, but lower clock speeds (see table of clock speeds of the different CPU models below).

The performance of the HD Graphics 4400 is somewhat below the HD 4600, since the GPU is designed for ULV models. Therefore, the clock rates are relatively low. Furthermore, the reduced TDP limits the Turbo Boost. Compared to the ULV versions of the Ivy Bridge HD 4000, the HD 4400 is about 20 - 30 percent faster. This performance boost is achieved by architectural improvements and an increased number of execution units: The GT2 version integrates 20 EUs, compared to 16 EUs for the old HD 4000. Depending on the clock rate, the HD 4400 matches the performance of a dedicated Radeon HD 7550M.

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, the power consumption is relatively low. The HD Graphics 4400 can be found on ULV dual-core Haswell models with a TDP of 15 watts.

AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 is an integrated GPU for notebooks. It is used for the Ryzen 7 APUs of the Renoir generation (Ryzen 4000 Mobile) and Cezanne (Ryzen 5000 Mobile). The GPU is based on the Vega architecture (5th generation GCN) and has 8 CUs (= 512 of the 704 shaders) clocked at up to 1,750 MHz (Ryzen 7 4800U) or 2,100 MHz (Ryzen 9 5980HX). The performance depends on the configured TDP (12-25 W at launch), the clocks, the cooling, and the memory configuration). The GPU should benefit from fast dual-channel DDR4-3200 RAM (contrary to DDR4-2133 single-channel, which is also possible). Compared to the similar Radeon RX Vega 8 in the Raven Ridge generation (Ryzen 2000 Mobile), the GPU is clocked significantly higher (1.750 versus 1.100 MHz Boost, +59%).

The Vega architecture offers some improvements over the Polaris generation and now supports DirectX 12 Feature Level 12_1. More information is available in our dedicated article about the Raven Ridge architecture.

The performance is clearly faster than the old RX Vega 8 thanks to the higher clock speed and faster main memory (if used). Still it is positioned in the entry level (compared to dedicated graphics cards) and only suited for low demanding games.

Thanks to the modern 7nm process and clever power-saving features, the power consumption is comparatively low (according to AMD), so the graphics card can also be used for slim and light notebooks.

Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

The Intel HD Graphics (Family) is a processor graphics card which is integrated in the cheap Celeron and Pentium model of the Sandy Bridge generation. It is similar to the Intel HD Graphics 2000 and not with the processor graphics of the older Arrandale dual-core processors (which bears the same name). 

Depending on the processor, the HD graphics offers a different base and Turbo Boost clock speed. Currently there are three different models:

• Power Saving e.g. Celeron 847: base 350MHz, Turbo 800MHz
• Celeron e.g. Celeron B810: base 650MHz, Turbo 950MHz
• Pentium e.g. Pentium B950: base 650MHz, Turbo 1100MHz

Furthermore, the slow CPU performance of some models may influence the games a lot. For example, although the GPU in the Celeron B710 differs not much from the Pentium B950, the gaming performance was clearly worse and many games were unplayable.

As the Intel HD Graphics 3000 and 2000, the processor graphics card is able to use part of the last level cache of the processor (2MB usually for the entry level CPUs). This could be seen as a small amount of very fast dedicated memory.

Altought 2x Antialiasing (AA) is supported, the chip is as fast as when rendering 4x AA. In the Unigine Valley benchmark a similar HD 3000 i7-2637M for example reached the same score with 2x AA and 4x AA.

The feature set compared to the HD Graphics 3000 is also reduced in these entry level CPUs. E.g. Intel Quick Sync (for de- and encoding of HD videos), In Tru 3D, Clear Video HD are usually deactivated.