Intel Iris Pro 5200 Graphics Review: Core i7-4950HQ Tested
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 1, 2013 10:01 AM EST3DMarks & GFXBenchmark
We don't use 3DMark to draw GPU performance conclusions but it does make for a great optimization target. Given what we've seen thus far, and Intel's relative inexperience in the performance GPU space, I wondered if Iris Pro might perform any differently here than in the games we tested.
It turns out, Iris Pro does incredibly well in all of the 3DMarks. Ranging from tying the GT 650M to outperforming it. Obviously none of this has any real world impact, but it is very interesting. Is Intel's performance here the result of all of these benchmarks being lighter on Intel's weaknesses, or is this an indication of what's possible with more driver optimization?
I also included GFXBenchmark 2.7 (formerly GL/DXBenchmark) as another datapoint for measuring the impact of MSAA on Iris Pro:
Iris Pro goes from performance competitive with the GT 650M to nearly half its speed once you enable 4X MSAA. Given the level of performance Iris Pro offers, I don't see many situations where AA will be enabled, but it's clear that this is a weak point of the microarchitecture.
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jasonelmore - Sunday, June 2, 2013 - link
Looking at the prices, this will raise the price or Lower the margins of the 13" Retina Macbook Pro by about $150 each.mschira - Sunday, June 2, 2013 - link
Yea laptops benefit most - good for them.But what about the workstation?
So intel stopped being a CPU company and turned into a mediocre GPU company? (can even beat last years GT650M)
I would applaude the rise in GPU performance if they had not completely forgotten the CPU.
M.
n13L5 - Monday, June 3, 2013 - link
You're exactly right.13" ultrabook buyers who need it the most get little to nothing out of this.
And desktop users don't need or want GT3e and it uses system RAM. Better off buying a graphics card instead of upgrading to Haswell on desktops.
glugglug - Tuesday, June 4, 2013 - link
While I agree this misses "where it would benefit most", I disagree on just *where* that is.I guess Intel agrees with Microsofts implicit decision that media center is dead. Real-time HQ quicksync would be perfect to transcode anything extenders couldn't handle, and would also make the scanning for and skipping of commercials incredibly efficient.
n13L5 - Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - link
Core i5…4350U…Iris 5000…15W…1.5 GHzCore i7…4550U…Iris 5000…15W…1.5 GHz
Core i7…4650U…Iris 5000…15W…1.7 GHz
These should work. The 4650U is available in the Sony Duo 13 as we speak, though at a hefty price tag of $1,969
Eric S - Monday, July 1, 2013 - link
The last 13" looks like they were prepping it for a fusion drive then changed their mind leaving extra space in the enclosure. I think it is due for an internal redesign that could allow for a higher wattage processor.I think the big deal is the OpenCL performance paired with ECC memory for the GPU. The Nvidia discrete processor uses non-ECC GDDR. This will be a big deal for users of Adobe products. Among other things, this solves the issue of using the Adobe mercury engine with non-ECC memory and the resulting single byte errors in the output. The errors are not a big deal for games, but may not be ideal for rendering professional output and scientific applications. This is basically a mobile AMD FireGL or Nvidia Quadro card. Now we just need OpenCL support for the currently CUDA-based mercury engines in After Effects and Premiere. I have a feeling that is coming or Adobe will also lose Mercury Engine compatibility with the new Mac Pro.
tviceman - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
Impressive iGPU performance, but I knew Intel was absolutely full of sh!t when claiming equal to or better than GT 650m performance. Not really even close, typically behind by 30-50% across the board.Krysto - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
When isn't Intel full of shit? Always take what the improvements they claim and cut it in half, and you'll be a lot closer to reality.xtc-604 - Saturday, June 8, 2013 - link
Lol...you think that's bad? Look at Apple's claims. "over 200 new improvements in Mountain Lion"piroroadkill - Saturday, June 1, 2013 - link
sh<exclamation point>t? What are we? 9?