AMD Radeon HD 7850M vs Intel Iris Graphics 540

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Combined performance score

Iris Graphics 540
3.05

Radeon HD 7850M outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 16% in our combined benchmark results.

General info

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in performance ranking721678
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Value for money0.120.49
ArchitectureGen. 9 Skylake (2015−2016)GCN (2011−2017)
GPU code nameSkylake GT3eHeathrow Pro
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date1 September 2015 (8 years old)24 April 2012 (11 years old)
Current price$1043 $338
Value for money

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

HD 7850M has 308% better value for money than Iris Graphics 540.

Technical specs

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 cores48640
Core clock speed300 MHz675 MHz
Boost clock speed1050 MHzno data
Number of transistors189 million1,500 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm28 nm
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt40 Watt
Texture fill rate50.4027.00
Floating-point performanceno data864.0 gflops

Size and compatibility

Information on Iris Graphics 540 and Radeon HD 7850M 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.

Laptop sizeno datalarge
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x1PCIe 3.0 x16

Memory

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 typeeDRAMGDDR5
Maximum RAM amount64 MB2 GB
Memory bus widtheDRAM + 64/128 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speedSystem Shared4000 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data64 GB/s
Shared memory+-

Video outputs and ports

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 ConnectorsNo outputsNo outputs

Technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

Quick Sync+no data

API support

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (11_1)
Shader Model6.45.1
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.11.2
Vulkan1.1.971.2.131

Synthetic benchmark performance

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


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance 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.

Iris Graphics 540 3.05
HD 7850M 3.54
+16.1%

Radeon HD 7850M outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 16% in our combined benchmark results.


Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. 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.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

Iris Graphics 540 1256
HD 7850M 1372
+9.2%

Radeon HD 7850M outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 9% in Passmark.

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%

Iris Graphics 540 8828
HD 7850M 12254
+38.8%

Radeon HD 7850M outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 39% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

Iris Graphics 540 2212
HD 7850M 2467
+11.6%

Radeon HD 7850M outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by 12% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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 HD23
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%

Performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 1−2
Battlefield 5 7−8
−28.6%
9−10
+28.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
−8.3%
12−14
+8.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Far Cry 5 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
−25%
10−11
+25%
Hitman 3 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 1−2
Battlefield 5 7−8
−28.6%
9−10
+28.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 12−14
−8.3%
12−14
+8.3%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Far Cry 5 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
−25%
10−11
+25%
Hitman 3 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Metro Exodus 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 9−10
−11.1%
10−11
+11.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
−50%
6−7
+50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 0−1 1−2
Battlefield 5 7−8
−28.6%
9−10
+28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Far Cry 5 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Far Cry New Dawn 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Forza Horizon 4 8−9
−25%
10−11
+25%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 7−8
−14.3%
8−9
+14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 5−6
−20%
6−7
+20%
Hitman 3 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Metro Exodus 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 6−7
−16.7%
7−8
+16.7%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 0−1 1−2
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Hitman 3 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Red Dead Redemption 2 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 1−2
−100%
2−3
+100%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 4−5
+0%
4−5
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

This is how Iris Graphics 540 and HD 7850M compete in popular games:

1080p resolution:

  • HD 7850M is 4.3% faster than Iris Graphics 540

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

  • in Metro Exodus, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 7850M is 100% faster than the Iris Graphics 540.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 7850M is ahead in 44 tests (83%)
  • there's a draw in 9 tests (17%)

Advantages and disadvantages


Performance score 3.05 3.54
Recency 1 September 2015 24 April 2012
Maximum RAM amount 64 MB 2 GB
Chip lithography 14 nm 28 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 40 Watt

The Radeon HD 7850M is our recommended choice as it beats the Iris Graphics 540 in performance tests.


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

User ratings

Do you think we are right or mistaken in our choice? Vote by clicking "Like" button near your favorite graphics card.


Intel Iris Graphics 540
Iris Graphics 540
AMD Radeon HD 7850M
Radeon HD 7850M

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User ratings: view and submit

Here you can see the user rating of the graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.5 89 votes

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3.2 17 votes

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Questions and comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.