Intel hd 400 games. Characteristics of the latest generation Intel video cards

In 2016, Intel released a new generation of its mobile processors, into which it integrates its own graphics - Intel HD Graphics for simpler processor models or Iris Graphics, which is more powerful than its younger brother.

The lowest version of graphics in this generation is HD Graphics 500, which is installed in my laptop, and I decided to conduct some “field tests” and check what this video chip is really capable of, what games will run on it, and which ones are better not to even try download.
The processor into which this chip is integrated is an Intel Celeron N3350, a dual-core processor with a base clock frequency of 1.1 GHz, which accelerates independently to 2.4 GHz. There is also 4 gigabytes of DDR3L RAM installed here.

All tests were carried out on licensed Windows 10 Home Edition x64 with all the latest DirectX and Intel HD Graphics updates.
Let's start with the simplest thing - performance on Windows and in the browser using the example of YouTube 4K video. The video chip processes desktop graphics and animation quickly and does not cause any complaints. 4K videos work perfectly - there are no minor slowdowns. Of course, no evil tests were carried out with any serious video codecs - I didn’t have any Blu-ray films on hand, and they weigh a fair amount, but I think that there won’t be any special problems with them either.

Quake 3 and Counter-Strike 1.6 - the results are extremely similar. There are slowdowns, which is extremely unpleasant. If you set a low resolution, the situation, of course, will improve, and the number of frames per second will increase, but the frame time and delay still do not allow you to react instantly.
Well, if everything here is deplorable, then maybe we need something simpler? Yes, there is such a game - it's osu! Here everything is much better and in the native resolution of the laptop (which is 1366x768) it works without lags. But keep in mind that this is true for the standard mode, but for example, in Taiko mode the delay increases and it becomes harder to play. And changing the resolution, unfortunately, cannot fix this problem.

Well, since we have Windows 10, it would be stupid not to test a couple of toys from the app store.

Gangstar: New Orleans - generally good, “Ultra” quality is, of course, too tough for this chip, but high quality is quite good.

Asphalt 8 – can drop frames when there is a lot of action on the monitor – impacts, sharp turns, etc., but overall it’s quite playable.

Finally, World of Tanks: Blitz is a game that really pleased me with its performance. With quite tolerable graphics quality, stable 60 frames per second. In any situation, during movements, shots and explosions, in some places it may lose a couple of frames, but it will never drop below 50. The test was again carried out in native resolution. I’m not sure that the regular computer version of tanks will work just as well, most likely it will slow down a lot, but if you want to play WoT one way or another, then you can safely download Blitz - the game will not bring you discomfort in the form of lags, freezes and severe loss of personnel.

This is roughly how the built-in Intel HD Graphics 500 works. In general, I can characterize it as an ideal office option, its performance is enough for various mobile toys and high-quality video, but if you need more, then please fork out for a laptop with at least GeForce 620M.

Almost all characteristics of the latest generation Intel video cards released since 2015 are noticeably higher than those of previous series.

The performance of integrated Intel graphics cards is quite comparable to the performance of discrete video cards from AMD and Nvidia, albeit not the most productive ones.

Of course, you shouldn't compare the capabilities of embedded hardware with flagship discrete video processors designed for resource-intensive 3D applications.

At the same time, with the help of built-in Intel cards, you can perfectly play games from two or three years ago at medium settings or run new ones, albeit with minimal graphics quality.

Integrated Intel Graphics

Intel graphics cards built into the central processor provide the computer owner with the following advantages:

• reduction in the overall cost of the computer - there is no need to buy a discrete video processor;
• the ability to work with the monitor even if the discrete graphics processor fails;

• reduction in power consumption - a regular video card requires from 50 to 75 W to operate, and more modern models up to 275 W; models built into the processor do not affect the power of the power supply at all;
• no need for cooling;
• integrated video cards can increase memory capacity using shared RAM.

These features of Intel cards allow you to purchase a relatively inexpensive computer or laptop, without overpaying for powerful graphics capabilities of discrete graphics, which not everyone needs, and also consumes more electricity and is practically not suitable for laptops.

Meanwhile, the use of built-in video processors also has certain disadvantages:

• much lower capabilities compared to discrete models, including lower data transfer speeds and problems launching new games;
• The amount of memory depends on the amount of RAM memory (it does not have its own RAM capacity).

Despite these disadvantages, developer Intel announced in 2015 the release of completely new 500-series GPUs, replacing the 5000-6000 models.

The advanced graphics, classed as HD Graphics and Iris Pro Graphics, are designed to compete with discrete Radeon R7 and R9 and GeForce GTX cards, and as performance comparisons show, they are quite up to the task.

Basic parameters

Today, on modern computers using processors with integrated graphics, you can find three generations of Intel video processors:

• 4th generation, produced since 2013 using the 22 nm process technology. This includes video cards from HD 4200 to HD 5200, supporting DirectX 11.1 technology;
• 5th generation, already using the 14 nm process technology. Available since 2014, supports DirectX 12.0 and includes HD 5500-6200 cards;
• 6th generation (14 nm, DirectX 12.0, series from HD 510 to Iris Pro 580, Iris Pro 6000).

According to the manufacturer's information, Iris Pro video processors are indeed superior to all other discrete card options and in terms of performance correspond approximately to the following models:

• Intel Iris 540/550 with 48 execution units – AMD Radeon R9 M370X;
• Intel Iris 580, where there are already 72 actuators - AMD R7 250X and Nvidia GeForce GTX 750.

At the same time, the speed performance of the most popular Intel HD 530 graphics processor (24 execution units) can only be compared with the old and not very productive AMD and Nvidia.

Although it is this built-in video card that is equipped with most Intel Core i7 processors.

There is no need to compare the memory capacity of such processors, since it depends on the size of the RAM.

The minimum size on modern processors is 1 GB and increases as needed.

Playing 3D graphics

One of the main requirements of a modern PC user for a video card is to run games with resolutions from HD to 4K.

Based on these indicators, it is worth highlighting the following integrated Intel cards:

• HD Graphics 530, the performance of which is sufficient for using modern gaming applications at minimum settings (up to 30 frames per second);
• Iris Pro Graphics 6200, supporting FullHD resolution with 30–40 fps;
• Iris Pro Graphics 580, which provides medium settings (at 60 fps) in games when using a sufficient amount of RAM (at least 16 GB).

Advice: It's worth noting that all of these GPUs are included with the latest Intel chipsets, which will cost a pretty penny to purchase. And, if you want to save money, it is more profitable to buy a separate AMD processor and a discrete video card of the same brand.

Working with video

Considering the characteristics of modern Intel graphics cores, we should also focus on their ability to work with video in FullHD and 4K formats.

This indicator is very important for those who use widescreen TVs with a screen of 32″ or more as an additional or main display.

At the same time, the card does not require the same serious characteristics as in games - due to the lower frame rate (standard for video is 24 frames per second) and the absence of the need for double or triple image buffering.

High-quality images require increased clarity, which built-in video cards of previous generations were not always able to cope with.

However, starting with Intel HD Graphics 4600, playing 4K movies has already become possible.

And, what’s more, 6th generation models do an excellent job with it, including the HD 530 and any version of Iris Pro.

As measured by Windows* 10 1080p 24fps local video playback test: USB devices disconnected, local Wi-Fi access connected, screen brightness 200 nits. Launch Tears of Steel (1080p H264 10MBps 24fps) video using the Windows* Movie & TV app. Measure and calculate average power for the duration of the video

Estimated on Intel® Core™ i7-7500U processor, PL1=15W TDP, 2C4T, Turbo up to 3.5GHz, Memory: 2x4GB DDR4-2133, Storage: Intel® SSD, Display resolution: 25x14, Intel® HD Graphics 620, OS: Windows* 10 TH2. Battery size 42 WHr.

7th Generation system configuration:
Intel® Core™ i5-7200U processor, PL1=15W TDP, 2C4T, Turbo up to 3.1GHz, Memory: 2x4GB DDR4-2133, Storage: Intel® SSD, display resolution: 1920x1080. Intel® HD Graphics 620, OS: Windows* 10 TH2

System Configuration

Battery life and performance measurements on Intel Reference Platform. Intel Reference Platform is an example new system. Products available from systems manufacturers will not be identical in design, and performance will vary.
System power management policy: DC balanced for battery life measurements, AC balanced for performance measurements on 2nd Generation system and AC High Performance on 7th generation systems. Wireless: On and connected.

Based on Modern Standby.

Benchmark results were obtained prior to implementation of recent software patches and firmware updates intended to address exploits referred to as "Spectre" and "Meltdown". Implementation of these updates may make these results inapplicable to your device or system.

Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel® microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark* and MobileMark*, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more complete information visit.

As measured by 4K to 1080p H.264 Transcode Workload: Using Cyberlink MediaEspresso* v7.5. The workload file is a 12 minute and 14 second, ~1.5 GB, 3840x2160p, 17561 kbps, H.264 MP4 video file. The file is transcoded to a smaller 1920x1080, 8 Mbps, H.264, .m2ts file for reduced file size during internet transfers or for viewing on a portable device.

Benchmark results were obtained prior to implementation of recent software patches and firmware updates intended to address exploits referred to as "Spectre" and "Meltdown". Implementation of these updates may make these results inapplicable to your device or system.

Software and workloads used in performance tests may have been optimized for performance only on Intel® microprocessors. Performance tests, such as SYSmark* and MobileMark*, are measured using specific computer systems, components, software, operations and functions. Any change to any of those factors may cause the results to vary. You should consult other information and performance tests to assist you in fully evaluating your contemplated purchases, including the performance of that product when combined with other products. For more complete information visit.

As measured on Windows* 10 1080p 24fps 10bit HEVC Local Video Playback on Intel® Core™ i7-8550U processor, PL1=15W TDP, 4C8T, Turbo up to 4.0GHz, Memory: 8GB DDR4-2400, Storage: Intel® 600p SSD, Intel® UHD Graphics 620, OS: Windows* 10, Battery Size: 40WHr, Screen: 25x14 12”, Windows* 10 Power Slider – Better Performance.

Intel® features technologies and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No computer system can be absolutely secure. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer or learn more at .

Intel HD 400 is an integrated graphics core installed in low-performance dual-core Intel Pentium N or Celeron N processors of the Braswell generation. This video card was released in the first half of 2016.

Specifications

It's hard to imagine such poor performance of a video card released in 2016. It loses in performance not only to cheap discrete solutions, but also to other integrated video adapters.

The video card can only provide 12 unified chips operating at a very low clock frequency of 640MHz. The actual operating frequency may be even lower than stated, which will have an even worse impact on performance.

The amount of memory available to integrated video cards depends solely on the amount of RAM and settings in the BIOS. For this graphics adapter, it makes no sense to purchase expensive RAM strips, because this will not give a strong increase in performance, and such memory will cost significantly more.

The maximum bus width can reach 128 bits, the minimum - 64 bits. The data bus width depends on what mode the RAM is installed in, so you should take care of the dual-channel mode to get the most out of the graphics chip.

Intel HD 400 supports APIs such as DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.4, OpenCL 2.0, as well as Intel’s proprietary technology – Quick Sync.

What tasks is the Intel HD 400 suitable for?

The Intel HD 400 video card is suitable especially for office tasks, such as working in Microsoft Office, using Internet access and other similar activities.

A computer with this video adapter is frankly not suitable as a home theater or media player. The graphics chip will cope well with movies in HD or FullHD resolution, but at the moment UltraHD resolution is gaining popularity, as well as content in virtual reality, with which the HD 400 will have specific problems - its performance will be sorely lacking for such purposes.

With games, the Intel HD 400 is even worse. Among the new products, you are unlikely to be able to find which games will run on such a video card. Even support for relatively modern APIs won't help; due to terrible performance, the player will get a slow slideshow instead of a smooth gameplay.

With older games the situation is not much better. All more or less demanding games released since 2010 are inaccessible to HD 400 owners. Such projects will of course be launched, but one can only dream of smooth gameplay. The graphics adapter will somehow be able to cope with older games, although even here you should not expect ideal picture smoothness.

The chip is not suitable for professional tasks. Not only is the low performance of the integrated video card affected, but also the weakness of the processors in which the Intel HD 400 is installed. Dual-core CPUs are completely unsuitable for video editing, as well as for creating complex graphics or animation. OpenCL and Quick Sync support will help very little here.

HD 400 users may not even dream of such a luxury as overclocking. The manufacturer simply blocked the opportunity to somehow increase the frequency of the chip. Overclocking the RAM will not help here; the video card has too little power.

Drivers

With the software for the video card on Windows operating systems, everything is relatively good. The driver works well and is quite easy to install. To install it, just go to the official Intel website and download the installation package, then run it and perform all the steps specified in it. Updating the driver should also not cause problems; you can do it using the settings menu or manually, after downloading the latest version from the official website.

Under Linux things are a little more complicated. Not every distribution supports the official (proprietary) driver from the manufacturer, and installing it can cause many problems in the system. A free driver developed by third-party users does not cause problems even on the most ancient Linux distributions, but in terms of functionality and performance it is much inferior to a proprietary solution.

Comparison with discrete solutions

If we compare with discrete video cards, then the following situation emerges for the Intel HD 400. Any, even the cheapest external video card will be more productive than this graphics chip; it cannot compete with any modern video adapter.

If we compare the HD 400 with older solutions, its performance is approximately at the level of the Geforce GT 210 or GT 220. The only tangible advantage of the Intel HD 400 over these video cards is support for DirectX 11.

Finally, a selection from the general table of synthetic test results made for different Intel GPUs. Please note the change in position in the card performance rating:

notebookcheck's conclusion: “Overall, we're impressed with Intel's new graphics core. Performance has improved by 30% compared to HD 3000. This difference can be even greater - up to 40% if the GPU is paired with a powerful quad-core Ivy Bridge CPU, such as the i7-3610QM.

So what should you do if your favorite game doesn't work properly on Intel HD? The advice given by www.intel.com/support/graphics/sb/cs-010486.htm at first glance looks like Captain Obvious: change the game settings, check for new patches for the game, install the latest Intel driver. But in reality these tips work. Intel engineers work closely with game developers, including creating patches for compatibility with Intel GPUs. Also, as noted by notebookcheck, “slowly but surely” Intel drivers are improving both in correctness and in performance, which leads to solving problems with games.

At this point the post for ordinary players ends (thanks for your attention, welcome in the comments), and the

You can look at an example of the source code and application binary for correct and complete determination of system parameters with Intel GPU - GPU Detect.
Additionally, the Microsoft DirectX SDK (June 2010) includes a Video Memory example to determine the size of available video memory. We also recommend searching on the Internet for “Get Video Memory Via WMI”.

2. Consider Turbo Boost Features. Thanks to Turbo Boost, the frequency of the Intel GPU can be doubled, giving a significant increase in performance. But only if the thermal state of the system allows it. And this happens, for obvious reasons, only when it is not very busy, that is, the CPU is not very hot.

The advice that follows from this is to use the CPU state request - GetData() - as little as possible. Please note that calling GetData() in a loop waiting for a result is 100% CPU intensive. If absolutely necessary, make requests to the CPU at the beginning of the frame rendering and load the CPU with some useful work before receiving GetData results. In this case, the CPU wait will be minimal.

3. Use Intel GPU-implemented Early Z rejection. This technology makes it possible to discard in advance from further processing, i.e. without performing costly pixel shaders, fragments that do not pass the depth test are blocked by other objects.

There are two methods for effectively using Early Z:
- sorting and drawing objects from closest to farthest in depth (front to back)
- pre-pass without rendering with filling the depth buffer and masking areas that are obviously invisible in the final image.
It is clear that the first method is not suitable for scenes with (semi-)transparent objects, and the second has significant overhead.
The source code for examples of using Early Z can be viewed at