HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) vs Iris Graphics 540
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in performance ranking | 743 | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | Gen. 9 Skylake (2015−2016) | Gen. 6 Sandy Bridge (2011) |
| GPU code name | Skylake GT3e | Sandy Bridge |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 September 2015 (9 years ago) | 1 May 2011 (13 years ago) |
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 | 48 | 6 |
| Core clock speed | 300 MHz | 350 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1050 MHz | 1100 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 189 million | no data |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 32 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 50.40 | no data |
| Floating-point performance | 0.8064 gflops | no data |
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 | PCIe 3.0 x1 | 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 | eDRAM | no data |
| Maximum RAM amount | 64 MB | no data |
| Memory bus width | eDRAM + 64/128 Bit | 64/128 Bit |
| 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 data |
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) | 10.1 |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | no data |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | no data |
| OpenCL | 2.1 | no data |
| Vulkan | 1.1.97 | - |
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.
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.
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 1 September 2015 | 1 May 2011 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 32 nm |
Iris Graphics 540 has an age advantage of 4 years, and a 128.6% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between Iris Graphics 540 and HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge). 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.
