AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000) vs Intel HD Graphics 630 vs Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655

AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 2000/3000)

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 is an integrated GPU for notebooks. It is used for the Ryzen 5 APUs, which were launched in the end of 2017. The GPU is based on the Vega architecture (5th generation GCN) and has 8 CUs (= 512 of the 704 shaders) clocked at up to 1100 MHz (Ryzen 5 2500U). The performance depends on the configured TDP (12-25 W at launch), the clocks, the cooling, and the memory configuration). The GPU should benefit from fast dual-channel DDR4-2400 RAM (contrary to DDR4-2133 single-channel, which is also possible).

The Vega architecture offers some improvements over the Polaris generation and now supports DirectX 12 Feature Level 12_1. More information is available in our dedicated article about the Raven Ridge architecture.

AMD's reference design GPU is sitting between the GeForce 940MX / Radeon Pro 450 and GeForce MX150 / Radeon Pro 555. It can handle smooth gameplay in simple titles like League of Legends (med), Dota 2 (low), Overwatch (low), CS:GO (med), and Quake Champions (high) in 720p up to 1080p according to AMD.

Thanks to the 14nm process and clever power-saving features, the power consumption is comparatively low (according to AMD), so the graphics card can also be used for slim and light notebooks.

Intel HD Graphics 630

The Intel HD Graphics 630 (GT2) is an integrated graphics card, which can be found in various desktop and notebook processors of the Kaby-Lake generation (Kaby-Lake-H quad-core chip). The "GT2" version of the GPU offers 24 Execution Units (EUs) and the clocks depend on the CPU model. Due to its lack of dedicated graphics memory or eDRAM cache, the HD 630 has to access the main memory (2x 64-bit DDR3L-1600 / DDR4-2133).

Performance

The exact performance of the HD Graphics 630 depends on various factors like TDP, L3 Cache, memory (DDR3/DDR4) and maximum clock rate of the specific model. However, it should be fairly similar to the HD Graphics 530 (see for gaming benchmarks) and therefore only suited for low demanding games like Overwatch or Farming Simulator 2017 (low details).

Features

The revised video engine in the Kaby Lake chips now supports H.265/HEVC Main10 profile at 10-bit color depth and also the VP9 codec in hardware. Furthermore, HDCP 2.2 is also supported in all chips, which allows Netflix 4K videos, for instance. HDMI 2.0 however is still only supported with an external converter chip (LSPCon).

Power Consumption

The HD Graphics 630 can be found in several notebook and desktop processors of different TDP classes (35 - 91 W). Thanks to the improved 14nm+ process, the power consumption could be slightly lower compared to Skylake CPUs.

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655