Intel HD Graphics 6000 vs Intel Iris Graphics 5100 vs Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge)

Intel HD Graphics 6000

The Intel HD Graphics 6000 (GT3) 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 i5-5250U or i7-5650U. The so-called GT3 GPU offers 48 EUs (Execution Units) and therefore somewhat more shader power than the previous HD 5000 (40 EUs). Depending on the specific CPU, the maximum GPU frequency varies between 950 and 1000 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 6000 represents the top-end version of the Broadwell GPU family and consists of two slices with 48 EUs. Beyond that, there is also a low-end (GT1, 12 EUs), a mid-range (GT2, 24 EUs) and a high-end variant (GT3e, 48 EUs + eDRAM).

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 950 and 1000 MHz. Due to the low TDP, however, the average clock in 3D applications will be significantly lower. Overall, the HD Graphics 6000 outperforms the previous HD 5000 by 20 - 25 percent and offers a performance slightly below a dedicated GeForce 820M.

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 (9.5 W), which has a significant impact on performance.

Intel Iris Graphics 5100

The Intel Iris Graphics 5100 (GT3), also called HD Graphics 5100, is a processor graphics card included in some of the Haswell processors of 2013. It represents the highest configuration of the integrated graphics unit (40 execution units), but lacks the additional eDRAM cache of the Iris Pro Graphics 5200. The base clock can be automatically overclocked using Turbo Boost technology. Depending on the processor model, the base and turbo clock rates may differ, resulting in varying graphics performance between CPU models.

In comparison to the HD 4000, the graphics core has been modified extensively. The GPU 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.

The performance of the Iris Graphics 5100 is about 20 percent above the HD Graphics 5000, which can be found in ULV CPUs of the 15W class. In a best case scenario, the IGP machtes a dedicated GeForce GT 640M LE. In other cases, however, the performance is only at the level of the GeForce GT 620M due to the limited memory bandwidth. Current games (as of 2013) can be played fluently in low or medium detail settings and a resolution of 1.024 x 768 or 1.366 x 768 pixels.

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, power consumption should be relatively low. The Iris Graphics 5100 can be found on certain ULV dual-core Haswell models in the 28 Watt TDP range.

Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge)

The Intel HD Graphics (Ivy Bridge) is an integrated graphics card in the mobile Ivy Bridge codenamed processors (Celeron and Pentium). It is the successor the the Intel HD Graphics 2000 in the Sandy Bridge CPUs and performs between the old HD 2000 and 3000 GPU. 

Compared to the faster HD Graphics 4000, the HD Graphics features less Execution Units (6 versus 16) and only one texture sampler. Therefore, the performance is clearly worse and only suited for low demanding gaming. Intel states a 10 to 15% higher performance compared to the old Sandy Bridge based HD Graphics 2000 (see our benchmarks below), which is similar to AMDs low-end GPUs like the integrated Radeon HD 8210. Therefore, only casual games with low requirements are playable.

A speciality of the Ivy Bridge GPUs is that 4x MSAA is supported in hardware now. However, 2x is only supported through software.  The algorithm to support 2x is going through the 4x pipeline with a software algorithm, so performance is similar to 4x MSAA.

The integrated video decoder called Multi Format Codec Engine (MFX) was also improved and should allow even simultaneus 4K video decoding. DXVAChecker lists MPEG2, VC1, WMV9, and H264 as supported codecs. QuickSync for fast transcoding of videos was also optimized for higher performance and better image quality.

Another new feature is the support for up to 3 independent displays (maybe only with a DisplayPort) as AMD offers with theirs Eyefinity support (up to 6 displays).

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, the power consumption should be relatively low (the development was focused on performance per Watt).