Intel HD Graphics 630 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop) vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop)

Intel HD Graphics 630

The Intel HD Graphics 630 (GT2) is an integrated graphics card, which can be found in various desktop and notebook processors of the Kaby-Lake generation (Kaby-Lake-H quad-core chip). The "GT2" version of the GPU offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) and the clocks depend on the CPU model. Due to its lack of dedicated graphics memory or eDRAM cache, the HD 630 has to access the main memory (2x 64-bit DDR3L-1600 / DDR4-2133).

Performance

The exact performance of the HD Graphics 630 depends on various factors like TDP, L3 Cache, memory (DDR3/DDR4) and maximum clock rate of the specific model. However, it should be fairly similar to the HD Graphics 530 (see for gaming benchmarks) and therefore only suited for low demanding games like Overwatch or Farming Simulator 2017 (low details).

Features

The revised video engine in the Kaby Lake chips now supports H.265/HEVC Main10 profile at 10-bit color depth and also the VP9 codec in hardware. Furthermore, HDCP 2.2 is also supported in all chips, which allows Netflix 4K videos, for instance. HDMI 2.0 however is still only supported with an external converter chip (LSPCon).

Power Consumption

The HD Graphics 630 can be found in several notebook and desktop processors of different TDP classes (35 - 91 W). Thanks to the improved 14nm+ process, the power consumption could be slightly lower compared to Skylake CPUs.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 is an entry level graphics card for desktops based on the Pascal architecture. It uses the same GP107 chip as the GTX 1050 Ti, but with only 640 instead of 768 shaders. The chip is manufactured at Samsung in 14 nm (opposed to the 16 nm TSCM based Pascal chips of the 1060 and up). The performance and specs should be similar to the GTX 1050 laptop version, that will be released later (early 2017). Compared to the faster GTX 1050 Ti, the 1050 offers less shaders (640 instead of 768) and only 2 GB of GDDR5 (instead of the 4 GB of the 1050 Ti).

Gaming benchmarks by Nvidia state that the GTX 1050 is about 30% faster on average than the Radeon RX 460 with 2 GB VRAM. The 4 GB version of the RX 460 should be about 10% slower and the older GTX 950 should reach a similar performance level as the new GTX 1050. Therefore, the GTX 1050 should be ideal for 1080p gaming with high detail settings (but not max settings).

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 SLI (Laptop)

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 SLI for laptops is a combination of two GTX 1070 graphics cards in SLI mode. Each card renders one frame at a time (AFR mode) but depends for most games on a good profile in the driver. Therefore, the performance can range from no gains over a single GTX 1070 to up to 90% faster performance. In most games with SLI support, the GTX 1070 SLI is therefore faster than a single GTX 1080. However, sometimes the combination also suffers from micro-stuttering.

The technical details of the card are identical to a single GTX 1070 (see for more information) and the power consumption is doubled. Therefore, the 1070 SLI combination is only found in huge clunky laptops.