Intel HD Graphics 610 vs AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870 vs Intel Iris Graphics 550

Intel HD Graphics 610

The Intel HD Graphics 610 (GT1) is an integrated graphics unit, which can be found in low-end ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processors of the Kaby-Lake generation. This "GT1" version of the Skylake GPU offers 12 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at up to 950 MHz (depending on the CPU model). Due to its lack of dedicated graphics memory or eDRAM cache, the HD 610 has to access the main memory (2x 64bit DDR3L-1600 / DDR4-2133).

The successor of the HD 610 is the renamed UHD Graphics 610 in the Whisky-Lake and Comet-Lake Pentium CPUs.

Performance

Depending on various factors like memory configuration, the HD Graphics 610 should similar to the old Skylake HD Graphics 510 and therefore can only handle non demanding games. E.g. Farming Simulator 17, World of Warships or Dota 2 Reborn can be played on low settings.

Features

The revised video engine now supports H.265/HEVC Main10 profile in hardware with 10 bit colors. Furthermore, Googles VP9 codec can also be hardware decoded. The Pentium chips should already support HDCP 2.2 and therefore Netflix 4K. HDMI 2.0 however is still only supported with an external converter chip (LSPCon).

Power Consumption

The HD Graphics 610 can be found in mobile processors specified at 15 W TDP and is therefore suited for compact laptops and ultrabooks.

AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL / 870

The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL or Radeon RX Vega 870 (according to Dell) is an integrated GPU in the slower Intel Kaby-Lake-G SoC. It combines a Kaby-Lake processor, a Vega graphics card and 4 GB HBM2 memory on a single package. The graphics card offers 20 CUs (1280 shaders) and is clocked from 931 - 1011 MHz.

Currently it looks like the GPU is a mixture of Polaris (Shaders?) and Vega (HBM memory controller at least). E.g. the graphics card is called Polaris 22 internally. Detailed information on the Vega architecture can be found in our dedicated article about the Raven Ridge architecture.

The performance of the Vega M GL should be between the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti according to benchmarks from Intel. Therefore, it should be well suited for 1080p and high resolution gaming.

The power consumption should be quite similar to a dedicated Vega Mobile GPU, but due to the small form factor, smaller laptops can be built with the Kaby-Lake-G SoC. The TDP is specified at 65 Watt for the whole package including GPU, CPU and HBM2 memory.

Intel Iris Graphics 550

The Intel Iris Graphics 550 (GT3e) is an integrated graphics unit of the Skylake generation. As successors of the Iris Graphics 6100 (Broadwell), the Iris Graphics 550 can be found in CPUs of 28-watt series and offers 64 MB of dedicated eDRAM memory. Furthermore, the so-called GT3e-version features 48 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at up to 1100 MHz (depending on the CPU model). Besides the eDRAM cache, the Iris 550 is able to access the main memory (2x 64bit DDR3L-1600 / DDR4-2133).

Compared to the Iris Graphics 540 of the 15-watt series, the Iris Graphics 550 differs only by its slightly higher maximum clock and a nearly doubled TDP, which allows a better utilization of the Turbo Boost.

Performance

The exact performance of the Iris Graphics 550 depends on various factors like L3 Cache size, memory (DDR3/DDR4) and maximum clock rate of the specific model. The fastest versions (Core i7-6567U) may compete with a dedicated GeForce 930M and will handle modern games (as of 2015) in low or medium settings.

Features

The revised video engine now decodes H.265/HEVC completely in hardware and thereby much more efficiently than before. Displays can be connected via DP 1.2 / eDP 1.3 (max. 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz), whereas HDMI is limited to the older version 1.4a (max. 3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz). However, HDMI 2.0 can be added using a DisplayPort converter. Up to three displays can be controlled simultaneously.

Power Consumption

The Iris Graphics 550 can be found in mobile processors specified at 28 W TDP and is therefore suited for medium-sized laptops and ultrabooks.