Intel Iris Graphics 540 vs NVIDIA GeForce 920M vs Intel HD Graphics 520

Intel Iris Graphics 540

The Intel Iris Graphics 540 (GT3e) is an integrated graphics unit of the Skylake generation. As successors of the HD Graphics 6000 (Broadwell), the Iris Graphics 540 can be found in CPUs of 15-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 1050 MHz (depending on the CPU model). Besides the eDRAM cache, the Iris 540 is able to access the main memory (2x 64bit DDR3L-1600 / DDR4-2133).

Compared to the Iris Graphics 550 of the 28-watt series, the Iris Graphics 540 differs only by its slightly lower maximum clock and a nearly halved TDP, which limits the utilization of the Turbo Boost in certain situations.

Performance

The exact performance of the Iris Graphics 540 depends on various factors like memory configuration (DDR3/DDR4) and maximum clock rate of the specific model. The fastest versions (Core i7-6650U) should be slightly ahead of a dedicated GeForce 920M 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 540 can be found in mobile processors specified at 15 W TDP and is therefore suited for compact laptops and ultrabooks.

NVIDIA GeForce 920M

The NVIDIA GeForce 920M (sometimes also NVIDIA GeForce GT 920M) is an entry level DirectX 12 graphics card. It is based on the 28 nm Kepler architecture and uses the same GK208 chip as the GeForce GT 730M, 825M and 740M. The 384 shaders are clocked at 954 MHz, while the memory (64-bit DDR3 interface) runs at 900 MHz (1800 MHz effective).

Architecture

GK208 is based on the Kepler architecture and offers two shader blocks, called SMX, each with 192 shaders for a total of 384 shader cores. The shaders are clocked at the same speed as the rest of the chip. Furthermore, the GK208 chip has 16 TMUs and 8 ROPs on a 64-bit memory interface.

PCIe 3.0 is now supported by the mobile Kepler series and GPU Boost 2.0 mode can automatically overclock the card if the laptop cooling system allows it. This feature is available on any notebook with a graphics card from the 800M series.

Performance

The GeForce 920M offers a performance similar to the AMD Radeon R7 M260 or R7 M360 and will handle modern games (as of 2014/2015) in low settings only. For comparison, a GeForce 930M is about 20 to 30 percent faster than the 920M.

Features

The feature set of the 920M corresponds to the GT 730M and 825M. This includes support for up to 4 active displays. Furthermore, high resolution monitors of up to 3840x2160 pixels can now be connected using DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a if available. HD-Audio codecs, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, can be transmitted via bitstream mode through the HDMI port. However, as most laptops will feature Optimus, the integrated GPU will likely have direct control over the display ports and may limit the feature set available by the Nvidia Kepler cards.

The 5th generation PureVideo HD video processor (VP5) offers hardware decoding of HD videos. Common codecs such as MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264 and VC1/WMV9 are fully supported up to 4K resolutions while VC1 and MPEG-4 are supported up to 1080p. Two streams can be decoded in parallel for features such as Picture-in-Picture. Another feature is the inclusion of a dedicated video encoding engine similar to Intel QuickSync that can be accessed via the NVENCI API.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the GeForce 920M is similar to the 825M and suited for 13-inch laptops and above.

Intel HD Graphics 520

The Intel HD Graphics 520 (GT2) is an integrated graphics unit, which can be found in various ULV (Ultra Low Voltage) processors of the Skylake generation. This "GT2" version of the Skylake GPU offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) clocked at up to 1050 MHz (depending on the CPU model). Due to its lack of dedicated graphics memory or eDRAM cache, the HD 520 has to access the main memory (2x 64bit DDR3L-1600 / DDR4-2133).

Performance

The exact performance of the HD Graphics 520 depends on various factors like L3 cache size, memory configuration (DDR3/DDR4) and maximum clock rate of the specific model. The fastest versions (Core i7-6600U) should perform similar to a dedicated GeForce 820M and will handle modern games (as of 2015) in low 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 HD Graphics 520 can be found in mobile processors specified at 15 W TDP and is therefore suited for compact laptops and ultrabooks.