ION 2 vs HD Graphics 520
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 821 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | 36 | not in top-100 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 0.18 | no data |
| Architecture | Gen. 9 Skylake (2015−2016) | GT2xx (2009−2012) |
| GPU code name | Skylake GT2 | GT218-ION-A3, GT218-ILV-A3 |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 September 2015 (8 years ago) | 10 January 2010 (14 years ago) |
| Current price | $309 | $622 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.
Detailed specifications
General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | 24 | 16 |
| Core clock speed | 300 MHz | 405 / 475 / 535 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1050 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 189 million | 260 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 6/12 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 25.20 | 4.000 |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on HD Graphics 520 and ION 2 compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For notebook video cards it's notebook size, connection slot and bus, if the video card is inserted into a slot instead of being soldered to the notebook motherboard.
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x1 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |
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 | DDR3L/LPDDR3/DDR4 | DDR2, DDR3 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 32 GB | 512 MB |
| Memory bus width | 64/128 Bit | 64 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | System Shared | 790 MHz |
| 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 outputs | No outputs |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Quick Sync | + | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 11.1 (10_1) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 4.1 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 3.3 |
| OpenCL | 2.1 | 1.1 |
| Vulkan | + | N/A |
| CUDA | no data | 1.2 |
Synthetic benchmark performance
Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.
3DMark Vantage Performance
3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.
Benchmark coverage: 17%
HD Graphics 520 outperforms ION 2 by 690% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 September 2015 | 10 January 2010 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 32 GB | 512 MB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 6 Watt |
We couldn't decide between HD Graphics 520 and ION 2. We've got no test results to judge.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
