Intel Iris Graphics 540 vs NVIDIA GeForce 930MX

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 930MX

The Nvidia GeForce 930MX is an entry-level DirectX 12 graphics card for laptops that was announced in the first quarter of 2016. It is the refresh of the GeForce 930M and now supports GDDR5 graphics memory. It is based on the same GM108 chip and may feature slightly increased clock rates.

The performance will depend on the used graphics memory. With fast GDDR5 it should be similar or slightly faster than the Maxwell GPU in the Surface Book. With DDR3 it performs be somewhere between the old 930M and 940M. That means that only non demanding games of 2017 run fluently (in lowest detail settings) on the GeForce 930M. Games with low demands like Dota 2 or Path of Exile should run in higher detail settings and resolution.

The power consumption should be quite similar to the 930M and 940M and therefore also suited for smaller laptops.