Intel UHD Graphics 600 vs Intel HD Graphics (Haswell) vs Intel HD Graphics 4000

Intel UHD Graphics 600

The Intel UHD Graphics 600 is an integrated processor graphics unit from the Gemini Lake generation (e. g. Pentium N4100), which was announced late 2017. The GPU can convince with low consumption figures, but the performance is only in the low-end segment and is rarely sufficient for modern games. Being the lowest configuration of the Gemini Lake GPU, the UHD Graphics 600 is equipped with 12 of the 18 Execution Units (EUs) running at up to 700 MHz. The technical specifications of the GPU are based on Intel's Gen9 architecture, which is also used for the more expensive Skylake series and also in the predecessor HD Graphics 505.

Due to its lack of dedicated graphics memory or eDRAM cache, the UHD 605 has to access the main memory via processor (2x 64bit DDR4/LPDDR4-2400).

Performance

The UHD Graphics 600 offers a similar performance as the Intel HD Graphics 500 in the Apollo Lake SoCs (same Gen 9 architecture). Therefore, the GPU is only suited for some very low demanding games like Dirt Rally or Sims 4.

Features

The video engine decodes H.265/HEVC (8b and 10b) and VP9 completely in hardware. Up to three displays can be connected via DP 1.2a/eDP 1.3 or HDMI 2.0a (including HDCP 2.2).

Power Consumption

The TDP of the whole Pentium N4100 chip is 6 Watts by default, so the GPU is primarily used for (often passively cooled) netbooks or thin notebooks. The TDP can also be reduced to 4.8 Watts, but this will obviously affect the performance.

Intel HD Graphics (Haswell)

The Intel HD Graphics (Haswell) is an integrated graphics card in the Haswell codenamed processors (Celeron and Pentium). It is the successor the the Intel HD Graphics in the Ivy Bridge CPUs and performs slightly better. Depending on the processor model, the base and turbo clock rates may differ, resulting in varying graphics performance between CPU models.

In comparison to the HD 4000, the graphics core has been modified extensively. The GPU 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 (deactivated in many entry level models).

The Performance of the HD Graphics (Haswell) is similar to the old HD Graphics 3000 or the AMD Radeon HD 8250. Only a few modern games like Dota 2 can be played fluently in very low details and resolutions.

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, the power consumption should be relatively low (the development was focused on performance per Watt). The GPU can be found in ULV models and regular (37 W) dual core CPUs.

Intel HD Graphics 4000

The Intel HD Graphics 4000 (GT2) is a processor graphics card that is included in the Ivy Bridge processors of 2012 (3rd generation of core, e.g. Core i7-3770). The base clock can be automatically overclocked using Turbo Boost technology. Depending on the processor model, the base and turbo clock rate may differ greatly resulting in different graphics performance of ULV parts compared to high-end desktop and laptop quad-core parts.

Compared to the Intel HD Graphics 3000 in Sandy Bridge CPUs, the HD 4000 card was completely redesigned and offers improved DirectX 11 capable shaders, Hardware Tessellation, a dedicated level 3 cache (before the Last Level Cache LLC of the CPU) and DirectCompute support. The IPC (instructions per clock) can therefore be even 2x as fast as with Sandy Bridge and overall up to 60% more performance (3DMark Vantage) should be possible.

First benchmarks position the HD Graphics 4000 (in a fast quad core desktop CPU) on a level with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 330M and therefore above the AMD processor graphics Radeon HD 6620G. In our extensive tests with games the HD Graphics 4000 was able to beat the HD 6620G in a fast Core i7-3820QM by about 15%. In the slower i7-3610QM and a dual core i5 it was on a similar level as the 6620G. Therefore, casual gamers that wont mind reducing the quality settings in high end games, may be happy with the performance of the HD Graphics 4000. Beware, that the HD Graphics 4000 is used with different clock speeds depending on the CPU model. The ULV CPUs (Core ix-3xx7U) for example feature lower clock speeds and cant maintain the Turbo frequency as good as the 35 - 55 Watt models. Therefore, the ULV version is about 30% slower on average.

A speciality of the Ivy Bridge GPUs is that 4x MSAA is supported in hardware now. However, 2x is only supported through software.  The algorithm to support 2x is going through the 4x pipeline with a software algorithm, so performance is similar to 4x MSAA.

The integrated video decoder called Multi Format Codec Engine (MFX) was also improved and should allow even simultaneus 4K video decoding. DXVAChecker lists MPEG2, VC1, WMV9, and H264 as supported codecs. QuickSync for fast transcoding of videos was also optimized for higher performance and better image quality.

Another new feature is the support for up to 3 independent displays (depends on how the HD 4000 is used in the laptop - maybe only with a DisplayPort / eDP) as AMD offers with theirs Eyefinity support (up to 6 displays). DisplayPort 1.1 (max 2560x1600) and HDMI 1.4 (max 1920x1080 without hacks) are supported by the chip according to Intel.

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, the power consumption should be relatively low (the development was focused on performance per Watt). The TDP of the whole package (including processor and memory controller) varies between 18 Watt (ULV) up to 45 Watt (mobile quad core) for the consumer laptop CPUs.