Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) vs Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 vs Intel UHD Graphics (Elkhart Lake 32 EU)

Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU)

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650

The Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 (GT3e) is a processor graphics card for Kaby Lake models announced in January 2017. As the successor to the Intel Iris Graphics 550 (Skylake), the Iris Plus Graphics 650 is used for 28-Watt models and is equipped with 64 MB eDRAM cache. There should not be any big changes compared to the Iris Graphics 550.

The so called GT3e version of the Kaby Lake GPU probably still has 48 Execution Units (EUs), which can reach up to 1100 MHz depending on the model. Besides eDRAM cache, the Iris 650 can also access the system memory (2x 64 Bit DDR3L-1600/DDR4-2400) via processor interface.

Compared to the Iris Plus 640 from the 15-Watt models, the Iris 650 only has a slightly higher maximum clock as well as almost twice the TDP, which allows a better utilization of the Turbo Boost potential.

Performance

The exact performance of the Iris Plus Graphics 650 depends on the CPU model, because maximum clock as well as the size of the L3 cache can differ a bit. The system memory (DDR3/DDR4) will influence the performance as well.

The fastest chips are high-clocked Core i7 models like the Core i7-7567U. Depending on the game, the Iris Plus 650 will probably be on par with a dedicated GeForce 930M and can handle smooth gameplay in modern titles in low up to medium settings.

Features

The reworked video engine now fully supports hardware decoding of H.265/HEVC videos. Contrary to Skylake, however, Kaby Lake can now also decode H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec. The video output is possible via DP 1.2/eDP 1.3 (up to 3840 x 2160 @60 Hz), whereas HDMI is also supported in the older 1.4a standard. An HDMI 2.0 output can be added via converter from DisplayPort. The GPU can drive up to three displays simultaneously.

Power Consumption

The Iris Plus Graphics 650 is used for 28-Watt processor and therefore medium-sized notebooks.

Intel UHD Graphics (Elkhart Lake 32 EU)

The Intel UHD Graphics 32EUs Elkhart Lake (Gen. 11) is an integrated graphics card (iGPU) in the Elkhart Lake Pentium and Celeron SoCs (e.g., Pentium J6226). It was announced in early 2021 and is used in the high end Elkhart Lake CPUs. It uses all 32 execution units and offers no dedicated graphics memory. The clock speed depends on the CPU model and ranges from 4000 MHz (minimal base clock speed) up to 850 MHz (highest Boost clock).

The gaming performance is very low and only very low demanding 3D games should be playable. The slower 16 EU variant was even struggling in our Dota 2 benchmark.