HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) vs Radeon R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop)

Place in the ranking	802	1299
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Architecture	GCN (2012−2015)	Gen. 6 Sandy Bridge (2011)
GPU code name	Kaveri Spectre	Sandy Bridge
Market segment	Desktop	Laptop
Release date	14 January 2014 (11 years ago)	1 May 2011 (13 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	384	6
Core clock speed	720 MHz	350 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	1100 MHz
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	32 nm

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 bus width	no data	64/128 Bit
Shared memory	+	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX

12 (FL 12_0)

10.1

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.

R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 2.76
+712%

HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 0.34

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3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution.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.

R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 7338
+652%

HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 976

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Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks.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.

R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) 9651
+587%

HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 1405

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 HD

15
+87.5%

−87.5%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Elden Ring	7−8	0−1

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
Metro Exodus	5−6	0−1
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
Valorant	2−3	0−1

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Dota 2	6	0−1
Elden Ring	7−8	0−1
Far Cry 5	16−18 +167%	6−7 −167%
Fortnite	14−16 +1400%	1−2 −1400%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
Grand Theft Auto V	9 +800%	1−2 −800%
Metro Exodus	5−6	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 +271%	7−8 −271%
Red Dead Redemption 2	10−11 +150%	4−5 −150%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	10−12 +120%	5−6 −120%
Valorant	2−3	0−1
World of Tanks	50−55 +400%	10 −400%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	7−8	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	8−9 +33.3%	6−7 −33.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	7−8 +133%	3−4 −133%
Dota 2	7−8	0−1
Far Cry 5	16−18 +167%	6−7 −167%
Forza Horizon 4	12−14 +117%	6−7 −117%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	24−27 +271%	7−8 −271%
Valorant	2−3	0−1

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	1−2	0−1
Elden Ring	2−3	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	1−2	0−1
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	18−20 +850%	2−3 −850%
Red Dead Redemption 2	2−3	0−1
World of Tanks	18−20 +850%	2−3 −850%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3	0−1
Counter-Strike 2	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	4−5 +33.3%	3−4 −33.3%
Far Cry 5	7−8 +75%	4−5 −75%
Forza Horizon 4	1−2	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	6−7 +50%	4−5 −50%
Valorant	9−10 +125%	4−5 −125%

4K
High Preset

Dota 2	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Elden Ring	1−2	0−1
Grand Theft Auto V	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	8−9 +700%	1−2 −700%
Red Dead Redemption 2	1−2	0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	14−16 +0%	14−16 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	2−3	0−1
Cyberpunk 2077	2−3 +0%	2−3 +0%
Dota 2	16−18 +6.7%	14−16 −6.7%
Far Cry 5	2−3	0−1
Fortnite	1−2	0−1
Forza Horizon 4	0−1	0−1
Valorant	3−4 +200%	1−2 −200%

This is how R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) and HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) compete in popular games:

R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is 88% faster in 1080p

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

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is 850% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is ahead in 28 tests (88%)
there's a draw in 4 tests (13%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	2.76	0.34
Recency	14 January 2014	1 May 2011
Chip lithography	28 nm	32 nm

R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) has a 711.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 2 years, and a 14.3% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is our recommended choice as it beats the HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon R7 384 Cores (Kaveri Desktop) is a desktop card while HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) is a notebook one.

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