Iris Xe MAX Graphics vs HD Graphics 520

Place in the ranking	857	618
Place by popularity	43	not in top-100
Power efficiency	9.97	14.21
Architecture	Generation 9.0 (2015−2016)	Generation 12.1 (2020−2021)
GPU code name	Skylake GT2	DG1
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	1 September 2015 (9 years ago)	31 October 2020 (4 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	192	768
Core clock speed	300 MHz	300 MHz
Boost clock speed	900 MHz	1650 MHz
Number of transistors	189 million	no data
Manufacturing process technology	14 nm+	10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	25 Watt
Texture fill rate	21.60	79.20
Floating-point processing power	0.3456 TFLOPS	2.534 TFLOPS
ROPs	3	24
TMUs	24	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).

Interface	Ring Bus	PCIe 4.0 x4
Width	IGP	no data

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	LPDDR4X
Maximum RAM amount	32 GB	4 GB
Memory bus width	System Shared	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	System Shared	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

Portable Device Dependent

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 (12_1)
Shader Model	6.4	6.4
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	3.0	3.0
Vulkan	+	1.2

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

HD Graphics 520 2.15

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 5.11
+138%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

HD Graphics 520 831

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 1971
+137%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

HD Graphics 520 1294

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 8214
+535%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

HD Graphics 520 804

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 6333
+688%

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

HD Graphics 520 6701

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 36993
+452%

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

HD Graphics 520 73656

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 177442
+141%

3DMark Time Spy Graphics

HD Graphics 520 263

Iris Xe MAX Graphics 1743
+563%

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:

900p	20 −125%	45−50 +125%
Full HD	10 −170%	27 +170%
1440p	7−8 −143%	17 +143%
4K	6−7 −167%	16 +167%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

5−6

−260%

18−20
+260%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 −286%	27−30 +286%
Battlefield 5	2−3 −1700%	35−40 +1700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 −283%	21−24 +283%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −260%	18−20 +260%
Far Cry 5	5 −440%	27−30 +440%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 −433%	30−35 +433%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −744%	75−80 +744%
Hitman 3	7−8 −243%	24 +243%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 −239%	60−65 +239%
Metro Exodus	0−1	57
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 −560%	33 +560%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 −270%	35−40 +270%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −88.9%	65−70 +88.9%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 −286%	27−30 +286%
Battlefield 5	2−3 −1700%	35−40 +1700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 −283%	21−24 +283%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −260%	18−20 +260%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −575%	27−30 +575%
Far Cry New Dawn	6−7 −433%	30−35 +433%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −744%	75−80 +744%
Hitman 3	7−8 −229%	23 +229%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 −239%	60−65 +239%
Metro Exodus	0−1	43
Red Dead Redemption 2	5−6 −540%	30−35 +540%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 −230%	33 +230%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	13 −123%	27−30 +123%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −88.9%	65−70 +88.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	7−8 −286%	27−30 +286%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	6−7 −283%	21−24 +283%
Cyberpunk 2077	5−6 −260%	18−20 +260%
Far Cry 5	4−5 −575%	27−30 +575%
Forza Horizon 4	9−10 −744%	75−80 +744%
Hitman 3	7−8 −200%	21 +200%
Horizon Zero Dawn	18−20 −44.4%	26 +44.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	10−11 −190%	29 +190%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	12−14 −38.5%	18 +38.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	35−40 −88.9%	65−70 +88.9%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6

−400%

25
+400%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	3−4 −633%	21−24 +633%
Far Cry New Dawn	3−4 −467%	16−18 +467%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	2−3 −450%	10−12 +450%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	1−2 −1100%	12−14 +1100%
Cyberpunk 2077	1−2 −500%	6−7 +500%
Far Cry 5	2−3 −550%	12−14 +550%
Hitman 3	7−8 −100%	14−16 +100%
Horizon Zero Dawn	6−7 −283%	21−24 +283%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	1−2 −1000%	10−12 +1000%
Watch Dogs: Legion	12−14 −500%	70−75 +500%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

5−6

−280%

18−20
+280%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	0−1	10−12
Far Cry New Dawn	1−2 −700%	8−9 +700%

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%
Watch Dogs: Legion	0−1	4−5

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

3−4

−267%

10−12
+267%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

18−20

+0%

18−20

+0%

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%
Forza Horizon 4	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	11 +0%	11 +0%

This is how HD Graphics 520 and Iris Xe MAX Graphics compete in popular games:

Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 125% faster in 900p
Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 170% faster in 1080p
Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 143% faster in 1440p
Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 167% faster in 4K

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

in Battlefield 5, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Iris Xe MAX Graphics is 1700% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

Iris Xe MAX Graphics is ahead in 54 tests (79%)
there's a draw in 14 tests (21%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	2.15	5.11
Recency	1 September 2015	31 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	32 GB	4 GB
Chip lithography	14 nm	10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	15 Watt	25 Watt

HD Graphics 520 has a 700% higher maximum VRAM amount, and 66.7% lower power consumption.

Iris Xe MAX Graphics, on the other hand, has a 137.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, and a 40% more advanced lithography process.

The Iris Xe MAX Graphics is our recommended choice as it beats the HD Graphics 520 in performance tests.

Be aware that HD Graphics 520 is a desktop card while Iris Xe MAX Graphics is a notebook one.

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