Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 vs Intel Arc A750

Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650

The Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 (GT3e) is a processor graphics card for Kaby Lake models announced in January 2017. As the successor to the Intel Iris Graphics 550 (Skylake), the Iris Plus Graphics 650 is used for 28-Watt models and is equipped with 64 MB eDRAM cache. There should not be any big changes compared to the Iris Graphics 550.

The so called GT3e version of the Kaby Lake GPU probably still has 48 Execution Units (EUs), which can reach up to 1100 MHz depending on the model. Besides eDRAM cache, the Iris 650 can also access the system memory (2x 64 Bit DDR3L-1600/DDR4-2400) via processor interface.

Compared to the Iris Plus 640 from the 15-Watt models, the Iris 650 only has a slightly higher maximum clock as well as almost twice the TDP, which allows a better utilization of the Turbo Boost potential.

Performance

The exact performance of the Iris Plus Graphics 650 depends on the CPU model, because maximum clock as well as the size of the L3 cache can differ a bit. The system memory (DDR3/DDR4) will influence the performance as well.

The fastest chips are high-clocked Core i7 models like the Core i7-7567U. Depending on the game, the Iris Plus 650 will probably be on par with a dedicated GeForce 930M and can handle smooth gameplay in modern titles in low up to medium settings.

Features

The reworked video engine now fully supports hardware decoding of H.265/HEVC videos. Contrary to Skylake, however, Kaby Lake can now also decode H.265/HEVC Main 10 with a 10-bit color depth as well as Google's VP9 codec. The video output is possible via DP 1.2/eDP 1.3 (up to 3840 x 2160 @60 Hz), whereas HDMI is also supported in the older 1.4a standard. An HDMI 2.0 output can be added via converter from DisplayPort. The GPU can drive up to three displays simultaneously.

Power Consumption

The Iris Plus Graphics 650 is used for 28-Watt processor and therefore medium-sized notebooks.

Intel Arc A750

The Intel Arc A750 is a mid-range desktop GPU and is manufactured using the 6 nm process at TSMC. The graphics processor has 3,854 shader units and 8 GB GDDR6 VRAM with a 256-bit interface (16 Gbps, 512 GB/s). This makes the Intel Arc A750 the second fastest graphics card model from Intel.

Features

Based on the Alchemist architecture, Intel's Arc A750 is the second fastest model in the series. Intel wants to put pressure on AMD and Nvidia with its graphics cards in the price range up to 250 euros. Features such as ray tracing are also supported and upscaling features such as XeSS can compete with DLSS and FSR. The Intel Arc A750 offers 448 tensor cores, which we already find in the current graphics cards from Nvidia. With support for AV1, the graphics card is particularly interesting for content creators. Only the Ada Lovelace models from Nvidia and the RDNA3 GPUs from AMD are currently capable of hardware-based encoding and decoding with the new codec.

Performance

The performance of the Intel Arc A750 is comparable with an AMD Radeon RX 7600 comparable. The Intel model copes much better with newer games. With ray tracing enabled, the Intel Arc A750 can even outperform the AMD Radeon RX 7600. Based on the performance shown, the Intel Arc A750 is well suited for 1080p gaming in 2023. 

Power consumption

The manufacturer puts the power consumption of the Intel Arc A750 at 225 watts (TGP). This is slightly more than a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 or the AMD Radeon RX 7600. In terms of efficiency, however, the Intel Arc A750 is not convincing. Intel needs to make some improvements here in order not to lose touch with the successor aka "Battlemage".