Intel UHD Graphics 617 vs Intel UHD Graphics G4 (Lakefield GT1 48 EU)
Intel UHD Graphics 617
► remove from comparisonThe Intel UHD Graphics 617 (GT2) is a low-end integrated graphics unit, which can be found in the Y-series of the Amber-Lake generation. This "GT2" version 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 UHD 617 has to access the main memory (2x 64bit DDR3L/LPDDR3). Compared to the old HD Graphics 615 in Kaby-Lake-Y CPUs, the UHD 617 is the same GPU with slightly different clock speeds (depending on the model) and slight power/performance improvements due to the improved 14nm++ process. Compared to the similar UHD Graphics 615 in other Amber Lake models, the 617 looks to be higher clocked (+50 MHz) and has more headroom due to the higher TDP of 7 versus 5 Watt.
Performance
The 3D performance of the UHD 617 depends on the CPU model and the cooling / TDP-setting of the laptop. Furthermore, the used main memory (single channel, DDR3(L), amount) is influencing performance. On average the UHD graphics 617 should be very similar to the Kaby-Lake HD Graphics 615 due to the same architecture and similar speeds. That means that only low demanding games like Farming Simulator 17 or Rocket League are playable in lowest detail settings.
Features
The revised video engine in the HD 615 and UHD 615 / 617 now supports H.265/HEVC Main10 profile in hardware with 10 bit colors. Furthermore, Googles VP9 codec can also be hardware decoded. The UHD 617 should support HDCP 2.2 and therefore Netflix 4K. HDMI 2.0 however is still only supported with an external converter chip (LSPCon).
Power Consumption
The UHD Graphics 617 can be found in Y processors with 7 W TDP and is therefore suited for very thin, mostly passively cooled subnotebooks like the MacBook Air 2018.
Intel UHD Graphics G4 (Lakefield GT1 48 EU)
► remove from comparisonThe Intel UHD Graphics G4 (Lakefield GT1 with 48 EUs) is an integrated graphics card in the Lakefield SoCs (e.g. Core i3-L13G4) for laptops. It offers no dedicated graphics memory (no eDRAM cache like the Intel Iris Graphics 655 predecessor of the Coffee Lake SoCs). The clock rate ranges between 200 MHz (guaranteed base clock) up to 500 MHz (boost). The TDP of the whole SoC is specified at 7 Watt.
Intel Gen.11 Graphics Cards | Cores | Base | Boost |
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Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 Ice-Lake | 64 EUs | 300 MHz | 1100 MHz |
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4 Ice-Lake | 48 EUs | 300 MHz | 1050 MHz |
Intel UHD Graphics G1 Ice-Lake | 32 EUs | 300 MHz | 1050 MHz |
Intel UHD Graphics G7 Lakefield | 64 EUs | 200 MHz | 500 MHz |
Intel UHD Graphics G4 Lakefield | 48 EUs | 200 MHz | 500 MHz |
The GPU performance should be a bit slower than the old Intel HD Graphics 620 and therefore only some low demanding games like League of Legends should run with the UHD Graphics.
A special new feature of the Gen11 graphics card is the new Variable Rate Shading (VRS) support. With it game designers can decide where to spend shading time and e.g. shade object in the background or behind fog with less resolution (up to using only one source for a 4x4 block). With this technique early results show up to 1.3x performance in Unreal Engine POC and 1.2x speedup in Civ 6. Up to now VRS is only supported by the new Nvidia Turing architecture (GTX 1650 and up).
The Lakefield SoCs and therefore the integrated GPU are manufactured in the modern 10nm process at Intel that should be comparable to the 7nm process of TSMC.
Intel UHD Graphics 617 | Intel UHD Graphics G4 (Lakefield GT1 48 EU) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Gen. 11 Series |
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Codename | Kaby-Lake GT2 | Lakefield GT1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Architecture | Gen. 9 Amber Lake | Gen. 11 Ice Lake | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pipelines | 24 - unified | 48 - unified | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Core Speed | 300 - 1150 (Boost) MHz | 200 - 500 (Boost) MHz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Bus Width | 64/128 Bit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Memory Type | DDR3L/LPDDR3 | DDR4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shared Memory | yes | yes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
API | DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.4 | DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
technology | 14 nm | 10 nm | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Features | QuickSync | QuickSync | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of Announcement | 30.10.2018 | 28.05.2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Power Consumption | 7 Watt |
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