Intel 10nm Ice Lake Benchmarks: 10th Gen Core i7 Performance Explored

For our next series of tests, we moved on to some game-related metrics with 3DMark, specifically the physics benchmarks that are a part of the Fire Strike, Night Raid, and Sky Diver tests. We're isolating the CPU / Physics tests an putting them into their own sections, but will feature the graphics tests as well to evaluate GPU performance...

Gaming: 3DMark Physics Taking the GPU out of the Equation

The 25W Core i7-1065G7 configuration jumps out to a huge lead over all of the other processors / configurations tested, and competes with some more powerful desktop processors (a 6-core Core i5-9600K scores about 43 points in this test). When configured with a 15W TDP, performance tapers dramatically, but it remains in the mix with the Core i7-8565U and Ryzen rigs.


The DirectX 12-based Night Raid test doesn't output a standalone Physics result, but offers an overall CPU score. Here, the Ryzen 7-3700U trails the other systems by a wide margin, and the 25W Core i7-1065G7 finishes well out in front.


3DMark Sky Diver outputs an overall Physics score along with individual results for physics simulations with an increasing number of threads, with results in frames per second. The performance trend matches Fire Strike, with the 25W Core i7-1065G7 ruling the roost and the 15W configuration trailing the Ryzen 7-3700U by a few percentage points.

UL 3DMark Graphics Tests GPU-Bound Benchmarks

Shifting gears to the 3DMark GPU-bound graphics tests will give us a taste of Intel's Gen 11 Iris Plus graphics performance, relative to the previous-gen UHD 620 graphics engine in the Core i7-8565U and Vega 10 integrated into the Ryzen 7-3700U.


You're going to see a repeating pattern over the next couple of tests. In 3DMark Fire Strike, the 25W Core i7-1065G7 with its 64EU Iris Plus GPU jumps out in front of Vega 10. The 15W configuration couldn't quite catch Vega 10, but it is right there in the mix. Intel's Gen 11 Iris Plus graphics offers roughly double the performance of the previous-gen Intel solution, however.


3DMark Night Raid actually shows the Ryzen 7-3700U with Vega 10 with a higher GPU score, thanks to its superior performance in Game Test 1, but the 25W Core i7-1065G7's higher Game Test 2 score and Physics results, push it into the lead in the overall 3DMark results. The 15W Ice Lake setup ends up trailing Vega 10, but it is significantly faster then Intel's previous-generation graphics.


3DMark Sky Diver has the 25W and 15W Core i7-1065G7 / Iris Plus configurations sandwiching the Ryzen 7-3700U with Vega 10. Once again though, the 25W Core i7-1065G is able to outrun the Ryzen 7 CPU with Vega 10 and take the lead.