Performance per Watt and Final Thoughts
Our performance results for these integrated graphics solutions turned out to be quite interesting. First, the AMD A10-6800K Richland APU results are obviously the best but we have to take them out of the most direct comparison as this was a desktop part that we tested. With a TDP of 100 watts, compared to a TDP of 37 watts for the Core i7-4702MQ used in the MSI GE40 notebook, we expected AMD’s Richland to be able to best the other options here and it did. And to be completely fair to Intel, I think that it was able to hold its own in terms of performance per watt of TDP.
This graphic compares estimated performance per watt as measured by the TDPs and the average frame rates of our five tested games. What stands out of course is the extreme efficiency of the Core i5-4250U + HD 5000 combination. With a 15 watt TDP, its performance is often better than that of the Core i7-4702MQ + HD 4600 processor that is sold with a 37 watt TDP and as a result, the performance per watt is much higher. Obviously the improved compute performance of the HD 5000 makes a huge impact.
The Haswell processor using the HD 4600 graphics is actually less power efficient than the mobility Trinity APU, the A10-4600M (35 watt TDP). AMD’s edge in GPU performance is creating this advantage and allows the Trinity architecture to stand against Haswell in these configurations even a year after its release.
Even though the desktop Richland APU we tested had the best performance, with its 100 watt TDP the efficiency result is much less impressive. Clearly we need to get in a Richland based notebook to see where it stands for the mobile market.
My testing today taught me two crucial points: AMD’s APU design still has some legs with technology like Trinity can hold ground against a much new processor design from Intel when it comes to mobile gaming. And that’s good, because it was the only real primary selling point for AMD in the mobile space to begin with. If Richland can improve on what Trinity has shown us here then even Intel’s Iris graphics options may not be able to pull ahead in raw performance or performance per watt.
The second thing I learned is that the Core i5-4250U + HD 5000 combination is a damn impressive part. With a minuscule 15 watt TDP, the GT3-based graphics of the HD 5000 are not only competitive with the A10-4600M Trinity APU but is also faster than the Core i7-4702MQ + HD 4600 throughout our testing. There are a couple of instances where the slower dual-core processor created some issues with game frame rate smoothness (Bioshock Infinite for example) but most of the time it was minor.
Closing Thoughts
Intel has obviously done some very good things with the updated graphics in the Haswell architecture and I am eager to see more notebooks released with the GT3 and GT3e implementations. It seems more and more likely that Intel is likely going to catch AMD on the integrated graphics performance roadmap. That would be bad news for AMD’s APU division. What Intel still has to prove to us and the gaming community is that it can stay focused on gamers – that means frequent driver updates and more work with developers to provide day-of-release updates for the best possible game support. Without that, having all the GPU horsepower in the world won’t save them.
The MacBook Air that we tested is by no means a gaming powerhouse for mobile users but it proved to be just as capable as any other Haswell notebook on the market that isn’t using discrete graphics. Considering its small size, its impressive battery life and overall design, you should definitely check out our review of the 11-in model to see if it makes senses as the best current Ultrabook.
There is a lot more mobility GPU testing coming up soon at PC Perspective including a full review of the MSI GE40 notebook. We also found some interesting issues with the GTX 760M discrete GPU and Optimus technology that will be posted soon as well.
Good reviews Ryan and as you
Good reviews Ryan and as you say in the (Performance per Watt and Final Thoughts) section : (Clearly we need to get in a Richland based notebook to see where it stands for the mobile market).
I couldn’t agree more will be interesting to see them results.
Good work.
Nice article Ryan, quick
Nice article Ryan, quick question though; On the Methodology page should the following sentence have the word “NOT” in it where I inserted it (capitalized for ease in finding it)?
“It might not stand out initially, but testing on the integrated panels was NOT possible with this testing; in order to get a capture of the graphical output from the system we need to intercept the signal from the GPU to the display and record it.”
Yup!
Yup!
With 2 out of the 3 laptops,
With 2 out of the 3 laptops, that I own, never get Intel HD graphics Driver updates from the OEM’s [who customizied the Intel HD graphics drivers, then never update the graphics drivers!]. Intel lets the OEMs customize their Intel HD graphics drivers, Once these Intel HD Graphics drivers are customizied by the OEM, Intel can not update them, it becomes the OEM’s responcability to update the OEM modded Intel HD graphics drivers! 2 of the 3 laptops that I own will never get updated graphics drivers. The big question here is What good is Intel graphics without updates? Intel’s record here, thorugh letting laptpop OEM customizie the Intel HD graphics, and OEMs never updating their customizied Intel HD graphics drivers, is Piss Poor! Intel needs to make the laptop OEMs use Intel generic HD graphics drivers, which can be updated by Intel, or Intel needs to require laptop OEM’s to keep the OEM customizied Intel HD graphics drivers updated on a regular basis! Without proper graphics drivers, and graphics driver update support, Intel graphics can not be trusted for gaming, no matter how good Intel’s graphics hardware is!
“And to be completely fair to
“And to be completely fair to Intel, I think that it was able to hold its own in terms of performance per watt of TDP.” –HAHAHA as if ANYONE needs to be fair to INTEL!!!
So ryan, what’s better for a
So ryan, what’s better for a budget game box?
A10-6800k vs a low end dedicated GPU such as GTX750 for 19×10 gaming?
Well the 750 will be faster,
Well the 750 will be faster, but it's a bigger configuration and will use more power / create more heat.
For gaming I would do hybrid
For gaming I would do hybrid crossfire by adding a low to mid range card.
I think if you are going to
I think if you are going to put up a graph on performance/watt then you should put up a performance/price graph as well. These two graphs are the main points of any hardware comparison and go hand in hand with each other. You can’t have one without the other. All your hardware reviews should have performance/watt and performance/price graphs included in them. Those are the best scales to use when comparing hardware. I usually have to make my own graphs because most don’t do that and when they do its only with a couple pieces of hardware. Another suggestion would be to include older hardware in benchmark comparisons because most who are buying new components are upgrading from something older. There is no point really not to include older hardware because the end-user can’t tell how much faster the new card is over theirs. I think the best comparisons for benchmarks should include one from each team of a high-end, mainstream and low-cost part from the current components back at least 2 generations. There are so many benchmarks of hardware of the same generation and there are plenty of places to find it but what is hard to find is how a new component is going to perform over someone’s old component. Just a thought.
@ryan:I did not follow the
@ryan:I did not follow the whole series of article,my question.
I believe one angle wasn’t covered that might affect result.pre-msi,post-msi and latest msi-x (message signal interrupt)
From what I read msi-x or newest possible is recommended.but I can’t find one mono that does not hybridize .(use pre-msi and msi-x or MSI.could you suggest a mono that do 100% msi-x.if your bored it would be a nice article to do.since it should definitely alter most result you had so far (if you didn’t think about interrupt!)
Not mono but motherboard
Not mono but motherboard