The Intel Xe DG1 graphics card isn't intended for consumers. Rather it is a Software Development Vehicle, designed to allow developers to test apps and optimise for Intel's upcoming Xe graphics - which will debut for consumers in Tiger Lake (TGL) processors. Nevertheless, it is still interesting to see benchmarks for this component, as it will give some indications of the strength of integrated graphics we can hope for in future slim and light Intel-powered laptops.
It is thought that the Xe DG1 packs 96 Execution Units (768 cores), and is paired with 3GB or 6GB of GDDR6 memory. It doesn't have a power connector so will be drawing its <75W from the PCIe slot.
Last month we got to see some indicative performance for the Intel Xe DG1 graphics card, uncovered by Tum Apisak, rifling around the Geekbench databases. Comparisons made it look OK vs rival integrated offerings, but weak compared to entry-level discrete GPUs.
At the weekend Apisak struck again, claiming to have unearthed a 3DMark Fire Strike run on a system packing a DG1 (and Core i9-9900K processor). The score of 5538 was on a par with a GPU like the GeForce GTX 1050. That makes it possibly a good choice for combating AMD APUs, and helping Intel partners to phase out the reliance on the Nvidia MX series GPUs where some extra pep is required. This will depend on the power consumption figures too.
3DMark Fire Strike scores that are similar to that of the Xe DG1 include those from systems packing the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050, or the AMD Radeon RX 560. However, contemporary Nvidia and AMD GPUs like the GeForce GTX 1650 and Radeon RX 5500M provide a big step up, delivering approx 30 per cent and 130 per cent performance uplifts, respectively.
Another article we published recently compared Tiger Lake iGPU performance with Ice Lake iGPUs across several power budgets in 3DMark Fire Strike. This shows that Intel will be providing pretty impressive performance gains in iGPU terms. Additionally, Intel promised that TGL CPUs will provide "double digit CPU performance gains," compared to Ice Lake.
