Iris Xe MAX Graphics vs GeForce GTX 260M SLI

Place in the ranking	742	623
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Architecture	G9x (2007−2010)	Generation 12.1 (2020−2021)
GPU code name	NB9E-GTX	DG1
Market segment	Laptop	Laptop
Release date	2 March 2009 (15 years ago)	31 October 2020 (3 years ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	224	768
Core clock speed	550 MHz	300 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1650 MHz
Number of transistors	1508 Million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	55 nm	10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	25 Watt
Texture fill rate	no data	79.20
Floating-point processing power	no data	2.534 TFLOPS
ROPs	no data	24
TMUs	no data	48

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	large	no data
Interface	no data	PCIe 4.0 x4

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR3	LPDDR4X
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	950 MHz	2133 MHz
Memory bandwidth	no data	68.26 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors

no data

No outputs

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	10	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	no data	6.4
OpenGL	no data	4.6
OpenCL	no data	3.0
Vulkan	-	1.2
CUDA	+	-

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	16−18 −68.8%	27 +68.8%
1440p	12−14 −66.7%	20 +66.7%
4K	10−12 −60%	16 +60%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

6−7

−200%

18−20
+200%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 −1800%	19 +1800%
Battlefield 5	6−7 −500%	35−40 +500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −229%	21−24 +229%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −200%	18−20 +200%
Far Cry 5	6−7 −350%	27−30 +350%
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10 −256%	30−35 +256%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −347%	75−80 +347%
Hitman 3	8−9 −200%	24 +200%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −165%	60−65 +165%
Metro Exodus	4−5 −1325%	57 +1325%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 −313%	33 +313%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −185%	35−40 +185%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 −70%	65−70 +70%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 −500%	6 +500%
Battlefield 5	6−7 −500%	35−40 +500%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −229%	21−24 +229%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −200%	18−20 +200%
Far Cry 5	6−7 −350%	27−30 +350%
Far Cry New Dawn	9−10 −256%	30−35 +256%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −347%	75−80 +347%
Hitman 3	8−9 −188%	23 +188%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −165%	60−65 +165%
Metro Exodus	4−5 −975%	43 +975%
Red Dead Redemption 2	8−9 −300%	30−35 +300%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −154%	33 +154%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 −107%	27−30 +107%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 −70%	65−70 +70%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	10−11 −170%	27−30 +170%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 −1700%	18−20 +1700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	7−8 −229%	21−24 +229%
Cyberpunk 2077	6−7 −200%	18−20 +200%
Far Cry 5	6−7 −350%	27−30 +350%
Forza Horizon 4	16−18 −347%	75−80 +347%
Hitman 3	8−9 −163%	21 +163%
Horizon Zero Dawn	21−24 −13%	26 +13%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	12−14 −123%	29 +123%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 −28.6%	18 +28.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	40−45 −70%	65−70 +70%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

8−9

−213%

25
+213%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	5−6 −340%	21−24 +340%
Far Cry New Dawn	5−6 −240%	16−18 +240%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	3−4 −267%	10−12 +267%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	2−3 −500%	12−14 +500%
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 −200%	6−7 +200%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −225%	12−14 +225%
Hitman 3	8−9 −75%	14−16 +75%
Horizon Zero Dawn	8−9 −188%	21−24 +188%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2−3 −450%	10−12 +450%
Watch Dogs: Legion	18−20 −279%	70−75 +279%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

7−8

−171%

18−20
+171%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	1−2 −1000%	10−12 +1000%
Far Cry New Dawn	2−3 −300%	8−9 +300%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 −250%	7−8 +250%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2 −400%	5−6 +400%
Far Cry 5	1−2 −500%	6−7 +500%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2 −1400%	14−16 +1400%
Watch Dogs: Legion	1−2 −300%	4−5 +300%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

4−5

−175%

10−12
+175%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla	8−9 +0%	8−9 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Metro Exodus	18−20 +0%	18−20 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	20 +0%	20 +0%

4K
High Preset

Hitman 3	7−8 +0%	7−8 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Metro Exodus	10−11 +0%	10−11 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	11 +0%	11 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 +0%	1−2 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	11 +0%	11 +0%

This is how GTX 260M SLI and Iris Xe MAX Graphics compete in popular games:

Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 69% faster in 1080p
Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 67% faster in 1440p
Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 60% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 1800% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Iris Xe MAX Graphics is ahead in 62 tests (86%)
there's a draw in 10 tests (14%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	3.30	5.11
Recency	2 March 2009	31 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	2 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	55 nm	10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	25 Watt

Iris Xe MAX Graphics has a 54.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 11 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 450% more advanced lithography process, and 500% lower power consumption.

The Iris Xe MAX Graphics is our recommended choice as it beats the GeForce GTX 260M SLI in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.