HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) vs GeForce GTX 1080

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 1080 with HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge), including specs and performance data.

GTX 1080
2016
8 GB GDDR5X, 180 Watt
40.35
+11768%

GTX 1080 outperforms HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) by a whopping 11768% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking1031296
Place by popularity46not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation19.55no data
Power efficiency15.37no data
ArchitecturePascal (2016−2021)Gen. 6 Sandy Bridge (2011)
GPU code nameGP104Sandy Bridge
Market segmentDesktopLaptop
Release date27 May 2016 (8 years ago)1 May 2011 (13 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$599 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores25606
Core clock speed1607 MHz350 MHz
Boost clock speed1733 MHz1100 MHz
Number of transistors7,200 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology16 nm32 nm
Power consumption (TDP)180 Wattno data
Maximum GPU temperature94 °Cno data
Texture fill rate277.3no data
Floating-point processing power8.873 TFLOPSno data
ROPs64no data
TMUs160no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16no data
Length267 mmno data
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotno data
Recommended system power (PSU)500 Wattno data
Supplementary power connectors1x 8-pinno data
SLI options+-

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5Xno data
Maximum RAM amount8 GBno data
Memory bus width256 Bit64/128 Bit
Memory clock speed10 GB/sno data
Memory bandwidth320 GB/sno data
Shared memory-+

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display ConnectorsDP 1.42, HDMI 2.0b, DL-DVIno data
Multi monitor support+no data
HDMI+-
G-SYNC support+-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GPU Boost3.0no data
VR Ready+no data
Ansel+-

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 (12_1)10.1
Shader Model6.4no data
OpenGL4.5no data
OpenCL1.2no data
Vulkan1.2.131-
CUDA+-

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 1080 40.35
+11768%
HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 0.34

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

GTX 1080 53598
+5392%
HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 976

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

GTX 1080 119971
+8442%
HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) 1405

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD127
+1714%
7
−1714%
1440p760−1
4K57-0−1

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.72no data
1440p7.88no data
4K10.51no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 70−75
+3450%
2−3
−3450%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 92
+2967%
3−4
−2967%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 65−70 0−1
Battlefield 5 145
+14400%
1−2
−14400%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 105
+5150%
2−3
−5150%
Cyberpunk 2077 70−75
+3450%
2−3
−3450%
Far Cry 5 123
+12200%
1−2
−12200%
Far Cry New Dawn 135
+13400%
1−2
−13400%
Forza Horizon 4 320
+15900%
2−3
−15900%
Hitman 3 85−90
+2050%
4−5
−2050%
Horizon Zero Dawn 160−170
+1988%
8−9
−1988%
Metro Exodus 144
+14300%
1−2
−14300%
Red Dead Redemption 2 114 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 186
+4550%
4−5
−4550%
Watch Dogs: Legion 130−140
+364%
27−30
−364%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 137
+4467%
3−4
−4467%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 65−70 0−1
Battlefield 5 128
+12700%
1−2
−12700%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 95
+4650%
2−3
−4650%
Cyberpunk 2077 70−75
+3450%
2−3
−3450%
Far Cry 5 98 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 105 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 291
+14450%
2−3
−14450%
Hitman 3 85−90
+2050%
4−5
−2050%
Horizon Zero Dawn 160−170
+1988%
8−9
−1988%
Metro Exodus 131
+13000%
1−2
−13000%
Red Dead Redemption 2 109 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 140−150
+3600%
4−5
−3600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 152
+1589%
9−10
−1589%
Watch Dogs: Legion 130−140
+364%
27−30
−364%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 63
+2000%
3−4
−2000%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 65−70 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 71
+3450%
2−3
−3450%
Cyberpunk 2077 70−75
+3450%
2−3
−3450%
Far Cry 5 75 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 112 0−1
Hitman 3 85−90
+2050%
4−5
−2050%
Horizon Zero Dawn 121
+1413%
8−9
−1413%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 140−150
+3600%
4−5
−3600%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 81
+800%
9−10
−800%
Watch Dogs: Legion 130−140
+364%
27−30
−364%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 105 0−1

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 89 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 74 0−1

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 49 0−1
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 45−50 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 51 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 30−35 0−1
Far Cry 5 53 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 282
+14000%
2−3
−14000%
Hitman 3 50−55
+767%
6−7
−767%
Horizon Zero Dawn 92
+4500%
2−3
−4500%
Metro Exodus 82 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 95−100 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 55−60 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 190−200
+19400%
1−2
−19400%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 81
+3950%
2−3
−3950%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 43 0−1
Far Cry New Dawn 39 0−1
Hitman 3 30−35 0−1
Horizon Zero Dawn 180−190
+18400%
1−2
−18400%
Metro Exodus 47 0−1
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 56 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 33
+3200%
1−2
−3200%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 24−27 0−1
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 29 0−1
Cyberpunk 2077 14−16 0−1
Far Cry 5 27 0−1
Forza Horizon 4 65 0−1
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 55−60 0−1
Watch Dogs: Legion 21−24 0−1

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 42
+2000%
2−3
−2000%

This is how GTX 1080 and HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) compete in popular games:

  • GTX 1080 is 1714% faster in 1080p

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 1080 is 5150% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • Without exception, GTX 1080 surpassed HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in all 29 of our tests.

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 40.35 0.34
Recency 27 May 2016 1 May 2011
Chip lithography 16 nm 32 nm

GTX 1080 has a 11767.6% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 5 years, and a 100% more advanced lithography process.

The GeForce GTX 1080 is our recommended choice as it beats the HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) in performance tests.

Be aware that GeForce GTX 1080 is a desktop card while HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge) is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
GeForce GTX 1080
Intel HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)
HD Graphics (Sandy Bridge)

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


4.3 5394 votes

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2.7 84 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about this comparison, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.