Intel Tiger Lake Xe GPU matches NVIDIA GeForce MX350 discrete GPU, crushes AMD’s 7nm Vega iGPUs in graphics performance

A featured image of the Intel DG1 GPU.

Intel’s Xe GPU featured on 11th generation Tiger Lake CPUs has been benchmarked again, and this time the chip works on par with NVIDIA’s fastest MX series discrete graphics featured on most conventional laptops. .

Intel Tiger Lake Xe GPU with 96 EU matches NVIDIA’s GeForce MX350 discrete GPU and AMD’s past 7nm iGPU Vega in latest benchmarks

The various benchmark inputs come from TUM_APISAK & Rogame (via Videocardz) showing performance compared to NVIDIA and AMD based mobility-based graphics chips for entry-level and entry-level laptops.

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The specific Xe GPU that has been tested is part of the Core i7-1165G7 configuration. Please note that the Core i7-1165G7 is not the fastest Tiger Lake CPU setup since that title belongs to the Core i7-1185G7. In any case, the Xe GPU is based on the Gen 12 GPU architecture that has 96 UEs that make up 768 cores in total. This chip has a clock speed of 1.3 GHz and the chip shares its power with the entire Tiger Lake SOC which has a 15W base TDP that is configurable up to 28W. The Xe GPU was tested with LPDD4x memory running at 4266 MHz.

Intel Tiger Lake vs AMD Renoir Mobility CPU Comparisons:

GPU Intel Tiger Lake Xe vs NVIDIA Pascal GeForce MX350 Graphics performance:

The first benchmark comparison is between the Intel Xe GPU with 96 UE (768 cores) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX350 with 5 SM (640 cores). The NVIDIA MX350 not only features a higher graphics frequency of 1.47 GHz but also comes equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory that provides more bandwidth specifically for the GPU.

In the Geekbench 4 OpenCL benchmark, the Tiger Lake Xe GPU scores 59,845 points, while NVIDIA’s GeForce MX350 scores 59,828 points. There is no difference in terms of performance, but for the Intel Xe GPU this is a great feat considering that it offers the same performance as a discrete level GPU and is limited in terms of bandwidth and power.

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What’s interesting is how each test shows different results between the two GPUs tested. On the Intel side, they do very well on most subtests, especially the Gaussian Blue benchmark, but NVIDIA achieves a huge advantage in the Particle Physics test that offsets the overall gains made by Intel’s Xe chip.

Also interesting is that a leaked entry from Apple’s Bionic A12Z GPU appeared in the Geekbench 5 database a few days ago as well and was discovered by Rogame. The Apple GPU that will be integrated into its Macbook line is shown a little slower than the GeForce MX350. The MX350 scores 13520 while Apple’s A12Z Bionic GPU scores 11315. That’s about a 20% advantage for the NVIDIA GPU. The Pascal MX350 configuration used here is the low-end SKU that operates at 15W and has a clock speed of 936 MHz compared to 1.47 GHz for the 25W variant. The A12Z features 8 CU and 1 GHz clocks.

I know GB4 and GB5 are very different benchmarks, but if Intel’s Xe GPU scales as well in GB5 benchmarks as they do against the MX350 in GB4, Intel will have a comfortable advantage over Apple’s Bionic GPU as well.

Intel Tiger Lake Xe 96 EU vs Tiger Lake Xe 80 EU Graphics performance:

The benchmarks also compare the Intel Tiger Lake Xe 96 EU (Core i7-1165G7) with the 80 EU configuration (Core i5-1135G7). The Core i5-1135G7 is a less frequent SKU when it comes to the CPU side and it also features a slightly dimmed Xe GPU. The 80 UEs represent 640 cores that match the GeForce MX350 but still at 1.30 GHz (vs. 1.47 GHz on the GeForce MX350).

Here we can see that the GPU score drops around 13.5% compared to the Core i7-1165G7, which is expected due to less than 16.7% cores. There is no subtest anomaly like MX350 benchmarks as both Xe GPUs share the same Gen 12 GPU architecture, while NVIDIA Pascal architecture may work better in some segments.

GPU Intel Tiger Lake Xe vs AMD Ryzen 4000 ‘Renoir’ 7nm Vega iGPU:

Compared to the faster AMD Ryzen 4000 Renoir U-series SKUs, the Ryzen 7 4800U featuring the 1.75 GHz iGPU Vega 8 (512 cores), the Tiger Lake Xe GPU with 96 EUs (768 cores) at 1.3 GHz scores around 30% lead, which is impressive and similar to the gains we’ve seen in 3DMark leaks above. The Vega GPU has 30% lower cores, but they also have a 35% GPU frequency advantage over Intel’s iGPU.

The same is true when comparing the Core i5-1135G7 (Xe GPU with 80 UE or 640 cores at 1.3 GHz) against the AMD Ryzen 5 4600U (Vega 6 with 384 cores at 1.5 GHz). The Intel Tiger Lake CPU gets an advantage of about 35% at the same benchmark, which is very impressive. Below is a table showing all the benchmarks and how they compare to each other.

Geekbench 4 OpenCL GPU Performance Comparisons:

Intel Tiger Lake processors are expected to arrive in a few months and introduce some new architecture changes. First off, they will have the new Willow Cove cores that will replace the Sunny Cove cores currently featured on Ice Lake processors. Along with the new cores, we’ll get cache redesigns as noted above, new transistor-level optimizations, and improved security features. Intel will also unveil its Xe-LP GPUs on Tiger Lake chips that would offer a 2x performance boost over the Gen 11 GPU currently featured on Ice Lake chips.

We’ve already seen an impressive demo of the first samples of Tiger Lake running Battlefield V on a laptop, averaging 30 FPS at 1080p resolution at high settings.

That, and along with the Xe GPU architecture, the 10nm + node should also offer higher clocks compared to the first iteration of the 10nm + architecture featured on the Ice Lake chips. Intel’s Tiger Lake 10nm CPUs are expected to debut on a wide range of next-generation laptops and laptops this summer. Intel has already started its promotional campaign for the new family of 11th generation laptops and can definitely expect a launch very soon.