Intel Core i7-4770K Review: Haswell Has Landed

For this next set of tests, we pit the integrated Intel HD 4600 series processor graphics incorporated into the Haswell-based Intel Core i7-4770K against a couple of the least expensive, discrete GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD, the GeForce GT 430, Radeon HD 6450 and Radeon HD 5550, respectively. A couple of Sandy Bridge-based processors with integrated Intel HD 3000 series graphics and recently released AMD APUs with on-die Radeon HD 7000 series GPUs are thrown into the mix as well.

Intel HD Graphics vs. Discrete GPUs Gaming and Synthetic Benchmarks

Please note that in these high-resolution game tests, we've included two data points for the Intel HD 4600 and 4000 series graphics configurations--one with anti-aliasing enabled and another with it disabled. The non-AA numbers are not and apples-to-apples comparison with the rest of the field. With AA enabled, the Intel HD 4600 series graphics engine easily dispatches the Intel HD 4000 and 3000 series parts, but it can't keep up with the discrete GPUs. With AA disabled though, the Intel HD 4600 series graphics in the 4770K puts up some much better numbers. AMD's APUs continue to hold onto a very healthy performance lead, though.

We also ran a few tests with 3DMark Vantage and with Cinebench's OpenGL benchmark. According to 3DMark, the Intel HD 4600 is evenly matched with the Radeon HD 7660D in the A10-5800K, though the AMD part still had a slight edge. Though it's performance advantage looks very big versus the HD 4000 engine here, keep in mind that CPU performance is also factored into the 3DMark Vantage results. In the Cinebench OpenGL test, the AMD APUs finished well ahead once again. Versus Intel's previous-gen integrated graphics though, the Core i7-4770K and its Intel HD 4600 series graphics engine perform significantly better.