New CPUs of Intel’s laptop have some exciting details as these new CPUs have integrated GPU cores, fanless designs and better gaming performance than the previous generations. It is a hot topic for those people who enjoy playing games on laptops over desktops. So today, in this article, I will discuss in detail “Is Intel Iris Plus Graphics Good For Gaming?”
You should have to read this article in detail to clear your confusion.
What is Intel Iris Plus Graphics?
According to Intel, Iris Plus is intended to replace many laptops’ old discrete graphics solutions today. For that, Intel created a special family of processors called “Lakefield.” These processors were further categorized into different brands: Celeron, Pentium Gold, Silverthorn, and Iris Pro. Each part shows something important. For example, the top-of-line Iris Pro 5200 model includes up to 24 EUs (execution unit), whereas the Iris Mini 4870 model packs 6 EUs along with other enhancements.
Now, I proceed towards Iris Plus.
How does Intel describe Iris Plus?
When it comes to PCs, here is Intel’s explanation for Iris Plus:
- Iris Plus uses the same 28nm process as regular UHD 600 parts.
- It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate.
- Iris Plus is equipped with 3GB GDDR6 memory running across 16 lanes.
But what makes Iris Plus noticeable is its speed, efficiency, and power consumption. According to TechReport, Intel claims to increase CPU frequency and core count over current versions without any performance loss. Also, Iris Plus should contribute to enhanced battery life due to its low energy consumption.
According to AnandTech, even though Iris GPUs won’t have dedicated display controllers, Iris graphics will use less power; therefore, battery life will last longer.
Is Intel Iris Plus good for gaming?
There are many games, and the majority of these games are viral among players around the world. These games include Overwatch, Far Cry 5, Total War Series, Metro Exodus, Hitman 2, Call Of Duty Mobile, Shadow Warrior Classic, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Just Cause 3, Civilization VI, Total War Battles, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Star Wars Battlefront II, Shadowrun Returns, Deus Ex GO: Human Revolution Edition, Ashes of Singularity, Darksiders Genesis, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor, Mortal Kombat 11, Prey, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Grid 2, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition, Watch Dogs Legion, and Hitman III.
With minimum graphic settings, most of these games run smoothly on either Iris Pro 4850H or 4960X, but at maximum settings, the FPS were extremely bad in most of these games. Frames per second aren’t satisfactory even after reducing every GPU option to medium settings. But when you start mixing low and medium GPU settings, then frames per second get improvement.
These are high-demand graphic games; they are not bad for an integrated GPU but reasonable compared to previous generations.
Iris Pro 4850H or 4960X can run Fortnite at 1080p resolution on high settings. But graphic cards cannot perform well at video games above 1440p resolution. These integrated graphic cards cannot compete against desktop GPUs, but they are good and can give you good performance.
Iris Pro 4850H and 4960X are faster versions of the original HD Graphics 630. Iris Pro 4850H offers integrated GPU within Intel Bay Trail Atom Z2760, and 4960X offers integrated GPU within Cherry Trail Z68/8520 processor family. Therefore, Iris Pro 4850H and 4960X attribute nearly identical hardware specifications, apart from slight differences in clock speeds.
On average, Iris Pro offers about 15% – 20% satisfactory performance while consuming less power, between 30%-40%.
Iris Pro is compatible with Thunderbolt ports, which means users can connect external monitors via DisplayPort or HDMI connections.
Is Iris Plus Good For Video Editing?
It’s good for video editors to have much processing power in the system to work on their projects quickly and easily because video editing demands more processing power. Regarding Iris Plus, Intel increased the core counts across the Lakefield lineup. But 4850H and 4960X suffer from bottlenecking issues during real-time encoding processes if the resolution of the video is 1440p or higher, but there is no problem occurring at 1080p. You will see a drop of frames per second whenever you simultaneously increase audio and video encoder quality when playing back full HD videos at 1440p encoded in MP4 format.
But this seems like a minor issue when Iris promises good battery life, reduced heat buildups, and low electricity bills.
How many GB Intel Iris Plus Graphics have?
| GPU | GPU Base Frequency | GPU Video Max Memory |
| Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics 650 | 300 MHz | 32GB |
Conclusion:
Intel Iris is marketed as Iris Plus, a current generation GPU; Iris Pro, the last generation GPU, or simply Iris (last generation), performs well. However, this Intel Iris Plus graphics cannot run graphic-intensive games or the games run at maximum settings. It is also suitable for video editing. I hope your confusion regarding “Is Intel Iris Plus Graphics Good For Gaming?” has been cleared.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Is Intel Iris good for gaming?
Intel Iris is an integrated CPU. It cannot run AAA games at 60 FPS but can run popular games that are not graphic-intensive. According to Intel, the Iris Xe graphics can run games at 1080p 60FPS.
Is Intel Iris better than Intel HD?
Intel’s Iris graphic processing units, which are marketed as either Iris Plus (current generation), Iris Pro (last generation) or plain Iris (last generation), have remarkably faster performance than Intel HD GPUs.
