Worrying Intel DG1 3DMark Fire Strike scores leak: Intel's Xe architecture barely keeps up with 3 year-old Pascal NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050

3DMark Fire Strike results for Intel's Xe DG1 discrete GPU were recently spotted by tipster @TUM_APISAK and paint a bleak picture. Disappointingly, the part appears to perform on par with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 with a score of 5538. The 1050 is a Pascal-based GPU that's featured in entry-level laptops for over three years now.

The Intel GPU is faster than integrated options like AMD's RX Vega 8 graphics on the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, as well as bottom-of-the-barrel discrete options like the NVIDIA GeForce MX250. However, as a discrete card, performance does not impress.

Existing low-power discrete GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q slightly outperform the Intel Xe DG1 at a 35W TDP. Go up a bit higher on the power consumption ladder and parts like the AMD Navi RX 5300M hand in nearly 50 percent higher performance at a still-reasonable 65W TDP.

The latest 3DMark Fire Strike figures look even worse in light of rumors that Tiger Lake graphics will be as much as 23 percent slower than the DG1. If that is the case, entry level discrete chips would continue to be the better option next year.