Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 (Desktop)

Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200

The Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 (GT3 + eDRAM), also called the HD Graphics 5200, is a processor graphics card that is included in some of the Haswell processors of 2013 (e.g. Core i7-4750HQ). It represents the highest configuration of the integrated graphics unit (40 execution units) and also has an additional eDRAM cache (128 MB on-package, 77 mm², 102 GB/s). The base clock can be automatically overclocked using Turbo Boost technology. Depending on the processor model, the base and turbo clock rates may differ (usually up to 1200 - 1300 MHz), resulting in varying graphics performance between CPU models.

In comparison to the HD 4000, the graphics core has been modified extensively. The Iris Pro supports DirectX 11.1, OpenCL 1.2 and OpenGL 4.0. It also features an improved decoder for 4K videos and the fast Quick Sync encoder.

Thanks to the fast eDRAM memory, the average performance of the Iris Pro is only about 15 percent behind the dedicated mid-range cards GeForce GT 650M and GT 750M (DDR3 versions). This makes the Iris Pro even faster than AMDs Radeon HD 8650G and the fastest integrated GPU of 2013. Therefore, many current games can be played fluently in medium or high detail settings and a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. In some older or less demanding titels like Diablo III or Fifa 2013, even higher resolutions or quality settings may be possible.

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, power consumption should be relatively low. The Iris Pro can be found on certain quad-core Haswell CPUs in the 47 Watt TDP range.

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).