Intel HD Graphics 5500 vs Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail) vs Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

Intel HD Graphics 5500

The Intel HD Graphics 5500 (GT2) is an integrated Broadwell graphics card revealed in Q1 2015. It can be found in several ULV SoCs (15 W TDP) such as the Core i5-5200U or i7-5600U. While Core i5 and Core i7 chips feature 24 EUs, the Core i3 version offers just 23 EUs. Depending on the specific CPU, the maximum GPU frequency varies between 850 and 950 MHz.

Architecture and Features

Broadwell features a GPU based on the Intel Gen8 architecture, which has been optimized in various aspects compared to the previous Gen7.5 (Haswell). Inter alia, the shader arrays called "subslice" have been reorganized and now offer 8 Execution Units (EUs) each. Three subslices form a "slice" for a total of 24 EUs. Combined with other improvements such as larger L1 caches and an optimized frontend, the integrated GPU has become faster and more efficient than its predecessor.

The HD Graphics 5500 represents the mid-range version of the Broadwell GPU family and consists of one slice with 24 EUs. Beyond that, there is also a low-end variant (GT1, 12 EUs) as well as higher-end models (GT3/GT3e + eDRAM, 48 EUs).

All Broadwell GPUs support OpenCL 2.0 and DirectX 12 (FL 11_1). The video engine can now decode H.265 using both fixed function hardware as well as available GPU shaders. Up to three displays can be connected via DP 1.2/eDP 1.3 (max. 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz) or HDMI 1.4a (max. 3840 x 2160 @ 24 Hz). HDMI 2.0, however, is not supported.

Performance

Depending on the specific CPU, the maximum GPU frequency varies between 850 and 950 MHz. Due to the low TDP, however, the average clock in 3D applications will be somewhat lower.

Equipped with fast dual-channel memory, the HD Graphics 5500 outperforms the HD Graphics 4400 (Haswell, 20 EUs) by 20 - 25 percent and also beats the HD Graphics 5000 (Haswell, 40 EUs). However, even a low-end dedicated GeForce 820M ist about 10 - 30 percent faster than the HD 5500. Games as of 2014/2015 will usually run fluently only at (very) low settings.

Power Consumption

Utilizing a new 14 nm process, the Broadwell ULV chips are specified at just 15 W TDP and therefore suited for thin ultrabooks. The TDP is flexible and can be further reduced (7.5 or 10 W), which has a significant impact on performance.

Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail)

The Intel HD Graphics (Cherry Trail) is an integrated graphics card in the Cherry-Trail SoCs (e.g. Atom x7-Z8700). Based on a Broadwell GPU (Intel Gen8) and supports DirectX 11.2. Depending on the SoC offers 12 or 16 EUs.

Atom x7-Z8700: 16 EUs @ 200 - 600 MHz, dual-channel memory
Atom x5-Z8500: 12 EUs @ 200 - 600 MHz, dual-channel memory
Atom x5-Z8300: 12 EUs @ 200 - 500 MHz, single-channel memory

In Windows, gaming is limited to less demanding or quite old games. Using Android, even high end 3D games should run fluently. For example Team Fortress 2 was running on the Surface 3 (x7-Z8700) only in lowest settings and 1280x720 fluently (11 - 69 fps range).

The integrated video decoder is able to display even 4K videos (H.264 tested) fluently.

The Intel HD Graphics GPU in our review sample of the MS Surface 3 (Atom x7-Z8700) only supported DisplayPort 1.1 as it seems, as 4K (3840x2160) with 30 Hz was the maximum Refresh Rate we could achieve (no 60 Hz selectable with the pre-installed drivers).

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.