Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) vs Radeon HD 7870M

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 7870M and Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU), covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 7870M
2012
2 GB GDDR5, 45 Watt
3.91

Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) outperforms HD 7870M by a minimal 4% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking695686
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Power efficiency6.0211.25
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)Gen. 11 Ice Lake (2019−2022)
GPU code nameHeathrowIce Lake G4 Gen. 11
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date24 April 2012 (12 years ago)28 May 2019 (5 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 cores64048
Core clock speed800 MHz300 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1100 MHz
Number of transistors1,500 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology28 nm10 nm
Power consumption (TDP)45 Watt12-25 Watt
Texture fill rate32.00no data
Floating-point processing power1.024 TFLOPSno data
ROPs16no data
TMUs40no 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).

Laptop sizelargeno data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no 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 typeGDDR5DDR4
Maximum RAM amount2 GBno data
Memory bus width128 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1000 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth64 GB/sno data
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 ConnectorsNo outputsno data

Supported technologies

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

Quick Syncno data+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_1)12_1
Shader Model5.1no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan1.2.131-

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 7870M 3.91
Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) 4.06
+3.8%

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 7870M 2702
Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) 3225
+19.4%

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.

HD 7870M 13065
+48.3%
Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) 8812

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 HD14−16
−14.3%
16
+14.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+0%
11
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+0%
9
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Metro Exodus 7−8
−171%
19
+171%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+0%
10
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
−2.4%
40−45
+2.4%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Metro Exodus 7−8
−100%
14
+100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+0%
16−18
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
−2.4%
40−45
+2.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21−24
−4.3%
24−27
+4.3%
Hitman 3 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+0%
27−30
+0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+0%
14−16
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+129%
7
−129%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
−2.4%
40−45
+2.4%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+0%
10−11
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 7−8
+0%
7−8
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+0%
6−7
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
−33.3%
4−5
+33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
Forza Horizon 4 4−5
−25%
5−6
+25%
Hitman 3 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
+0%
9−10
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 24−27
−4.2%
24−27
+4.2%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry New Dawn 2−3
−50%
3−4
+50%
Hitman 3 0−1 0−1
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+0%
5−6
+0%

This is how HD 7870M and Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) compete in popular games:

  • Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) is 14% faster in 1080p

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

  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the HD 7870M is 129% faster.
  • in Metro Exodus, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) is 171% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • HD 7870M is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) is ahead in 13 tests (21%)
  • there's a draw in 49 tests (78%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 3.91 4.06
Recency 24 April 2012 28 May 2019
Chip lithography 28 nm 10 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 45 Watt 12 Watt

Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) has a 3.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 180% more advanced lithography process, and 275% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon HD 7870M and Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU).


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

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AMD Radeon HD 7870M
Radeon HD 7870M
Intel Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU)
Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU)

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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


2.6 13 votes

Rate Radeon HD 7870M on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.3 57 votes

Rate Iris Plus Graphics G4 (Ice Lake 48 EU) on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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