Who makes the best integrated graphics solution, AMD or Intel? The answer is simple right now if you check our GPU hierarchy: AMD wins, easily, at least on the desktop. Current Ryzen APUs with Vega 11 Graphics are about 2.5 times faster than Intel’s UHD Graphics 630. Of course, even the fastest integrated solutions pale in comparison to a dedicated GPU, and they’re not on our list of the best graphics cards for a good reason. However, a lot of changes are coming this year, sooner than later.
Update: We’ve added Intel’s Gen11 Graphics using an Ice Lake Core i7-1065G7 processor. Thanks to Razer loaning us a Razer Blade Stealth 13, and HP chiming in with an Envy 17t, we were able to test Intel Gen11 Graphics with both a 15W (default) and 25W (Razer) TDP. We’ve also added GTX 1050 results running on a Ryzen 5 3400G, which limits performance a bit at 720p and minimum quality. We have not fully updated the text, as we’ll have a separate article looking specifically at Gen11 Graphics performance.
Judging by all the leaks, AMD’s Renoir desktop APUs should show up very soon. Meanwhile, AMD’s RNDA 2 architecture is coming (and should eventually end up in an APU), and Intel’s Tiger Lake with Xe Graphics should also arrive this summer. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, the more things change…
To give us a clear picture of where we are and where we’ve come from, specifically in regards to integrated graphics solutions, we’ve run updated benchmarks using our standard GPU test suite—with a few modifications. We’re using the same nine games (Borderlands 3, The Division 2, Far Cry 5, Final Fantasy XIV, Forza Horizon 4, Metro Exodus, Red Dead Redemption 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Strange Brigade), but we’re running at 720p (no resolution scaling) and minimum fidelity settings.
Some of these games are still relatively demanding, even at 720p, but all have been available for at least six months, which is plenty of time to fix any driver issues—assuming they could be…
