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Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7

Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7: A Detailed Review of the Integrated Graphics Solution

Introduction

The Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 is an integrated graphics solution introduced in 10th generation Ice Lake processors. Designed for thin laptops and compact PCs, this graphics card combines energy efficiency with adequate performance for everyday tasks and light gaming. In this article, we will explore its architecture, capabilities, and practical applications.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Architecture: The Iris Plus G7 is built on the Gen11 microarchitecture, which represents a significant advancement over previous generations.

- Manufacturing Technology: 10nm process (Intel 10nm SuperFin), offering improved energy efficiency and transistor density.

- Compute Units: 64 execution units (EUs) operating at a frequency of up to 1.1 GHz.

- Unique Features:

- Support for DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 for outputting 4K@60Hz.

- Integer Scaling technology for enhanced image quality in pixelated games.

- Hardware acceleration for video encoding/decoding (HEVC, VP9), beneficial for streaming and editing.

It's important to note that technologies like RTX (ray tracing) or DLSS (AI scaling) are absent here — these are only available on discrete NVIDIA GPUs.

2. Memory

The Iris Plus G7 is an integrated solution, so it uses system RAM (DDR4 or LPDDR4X).

- Type and Capacity: No dedicated VRAM. Memory is "virtually" allocated from the RAM (up to 8 GB depending on BIOS settings).

- Bandwidth: Dependent on RAM frequency. For example, using dual-channel DDR4-3200 achieves a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s.

- Impact on Performance:

- Dual-channel mode is critically important: FPS gains in games can be 20-30% compared to single-channel.

- It is recommended to use RAM with a frequency of no less than 2666 MHz.

3. Gaming Performance

The Iris Plus G7 handles less demanding titles and older games at medium settings. Examples (resolution 1080p, medium settings):

- CS:GO — 60-80 FPS.

- Dota 2 — 50-60 FPS.

- Fortnite — 35-45 FPS (low settings).

- The Witcher 3 — 20-25 FPS (low settings, 720p).

Support for Resolutions:

- 1080p: Comfortable for lighter games and multimedia.

- 1440p and 4K: Only for office tasks or 4K video.

Ray Tracing: Not supported due to lack of hardware RT cores.

4. Professional Tasks

- Video Editing: Thanks to Quick Sync, the Iris Plus G7 efficiently handles rendering in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. H.265 encoding is performed 30% faster compared to CPU.

- 3D Modeling: In Blender or AutoCAD — only basic scenes. More complex projects require a discrete graphics card.

- Scientific Calculations: Support for OpenCL 2.1 allows utilizing GPU for parallel computations, but performance lags behind NVIDIA (CUDA) or AMD (ROCm) solutions.

5. Power Consumption and Heat Output

- TDP: Integrated into the overall TDP of the processor (15-28 W for Ice Lake). The graphics component consumes about 5-10 W.

- Cooling: Sufficient with a passive heatsink or compact cooler.

- Case Recommendations: For mini-PCs, cases with ventilation openings are suitable (e.g., ASUS PN62).

6. Comparison with Competitors

- AMD Vega 8 (Ryzen 5 3500U):

- Better in gaming (+10-15% FPS), but higher power consumption.

- NVIDIA MX350:

- A discrete card that is 30-50% more powerful, but requires more energy.

- Conclusion: The Iris Plus G7 is suitable for those who value a balance between performance and battery life.

7. Practical Tips

- Power Supply: A standard PSU of 200-300 W is suitable (for mini-PCs).

- Compatibility: Only with Ice Lake processors (Core i5/i7 10th generation).

- Drivers: Regularly update via Intel Driver & Support Assistant. Avoid "universal" drivers from third-party sites.

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Energy efficiency.

- Support for 4K and modern codecs.

- Availability (integrated into the CPU).

Cons:

- Weak gaming performance.

- Dependence on RAM speed.

- No ray tracing support.

9. Final Conclusion

Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 is an optimal choice for:

- Office PCs and laptops where battery life is a priority.

- Streamers working with 4K video.

- Casual gamers who are willing to compromise on settings.

If you need high FPS in AAA games or professional 3D rendering, consider discrete GPUs from NVIDIA or AMD.

Conclusion

The Iris Plus G7 demonstrates that integrated graphics can be powerful enough for everyday tasks. This solution is ideal for those looking for a compact and energy-efficient device without serious graphics demands.

Basic

Label Name

Intel

Platform

Integrated

Launch Date

May 2020

Model Name

Iris Plus Graphics G7

Generation

HD Graphics-M

Base Clock

300MHz

Boost Clock

1050MHz

Bus Interface

Ring Bus

Transistors

Unknown

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

Intel

Process Size

10 nm+

Architecture

Generation 11.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

System Shared

Memory Type

System Shared

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

System Shared

Memory Clock

SystemShared

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

System Dependent

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

8.400 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

33.60 GTexel/s

FP16 (half)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy.

2.150 TFLOPS

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

268.8 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

1.097 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

512

TDP

15W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.3

OpenCL Version

3.0

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (12_1)

Shader Model

6.4

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

1.097 TFLOPS

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

GeForce MX150

1.153 +5.1%

FirePro V5800

1.126 +2.6%

Iris Plus Graphics G7

1.097

Radeon HD 6870M

1.058 -3.6%

FireStream 9250

1.02 -7%