Iris Graphics 540 vs GeForce GTX 550 Ti

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared GeForce GTX 550 Ti and Iris Graphics 540, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

GTX 550 Ti
2011
2 GB GDDR5, 116 Watt
4.02
+22.9%

GTX 550 Ti outperforms Iris Graphics 540 by a significant 23% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking691742
Place by popularity73not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.69no data
Power efficiency2.4015.09
ArchitectureFermi 2.0 (2010−2014)Generation 9.0 (2015−2016)
GPU code nameGF116Skylake GT3e
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date15 March 2011 (13 years ago)1 September 2015 (9 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$149 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 cores192384
Core clock speed900 MHz300 MHz
Boost clock speedno data1000 MHz
Number of transistors1,170 million189 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm14 nm+
Power consumption (TDP)116 Watt15 Watt
Maximum GPU temperature100 °Cno data
Texture fill rate28.8048.00
Floating-point processing power0.6912 TFLOPS0.768 TFLOPS
ROPs246
TMUs3248

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 support16x PCI-E 2.0no data
InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16Ring Bus
Length210 mmno data
Height4.376" (11.1 cm)no data
Width2-slotIGP
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-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 typeGDDR5System Shared
Maximum RAM amount2 GBSystem Shared
Memory bus width192 BitSystem Shared
Memory clock speed4.1 GB/sSystem Shared
Memory bandwidth98.4 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 ConnectorsTwo Dual Link DVI-IMini HDMIPortable Device Dependent
Multi monitor support+no data
HDMI+-
Maximum VGA resolution2048x1536no data
Audio input for HDMIInternalno data

Supported technologies

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

Quick Syncno data+

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 (11_0)12 (12_1)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.24.6
OpenCL1.13.0
VulkanN/A1.3
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 550 Ti 4.02
+22.9%
Iris Graphics 540 3.27

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

GTX 550 Ti 1552
+23.2%
Iris Graphics 540 1260

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

GTX 550 Ti 2272
+2.7%
Iris Graphics 540 2212

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 550 Ti 10229
+15.9%
Iris Graphics 540 8828

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:

900p38
+26.7%
30−35
−26.7%
Full HD38
+72.7%
22
−72.7%

Cost per frame, $

1080p3.92no data

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+50%
16−18
−50%
Hitman 3 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+17.4%
21−24
−17.4%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+10.3%
35−40
−10.3%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Battlefield 5 9−10
+80%
5−6
−80%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Far Cry New Dawn 10−12
+37.5%
8−9
−37.5%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+50%
16−18
−50%
Hitman 3 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+17.4%
21−24
−17.4%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+100%
4−5
−100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
−6.3%
17
+6.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+10.3%
35−40
−10.3%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 3−4
+200%
1−2
−200%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 9−10
+28.6%
7−8
−28.6%
Cyberpunk 2077 7−8
+16.7%
6−7
−16.7%
Far Cry 5 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
Forza Horizon 4 24−27
+50%
16−18
−50%
Hitman 3 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Horizon Zero Dawn 27−30
+17.4%
21−24
−17.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 14−16
+15.4%
12−14
−15.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+14.3%
14−16
−14.3%
Watch Dogs: Legion 40−45
+10.3%
35−40
−10.3%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 10−11
+42.9%
7−8
−42.9%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 7−8
+40%
5−6
−40%
Far Cry New Dawn 6−7
+20%
5−6
−20%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 4−5
+33.3%
3−4
−33.3%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
+0%
2−3
+0%
Far Cry 5 5−6
+66.7%
3−4
−66.7%
Forza Horizon 4 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%
Hitman 3 8−9
+0%
8−9
+0%
Horizon Zero Dawn 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Watch Dogs: Legion 24−27
+38.9%
18−20
−38.9%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Far Cry New Dawn 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Hitman 3 0−1 0−1
Metro Exodus 0−1 0−1

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 3−4
+50%
2−3
−50%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 0−1 0−1
Far Cry 5 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Forza Horizon 4 2−3
+100%
1−2
−100%
Watch Dogs: Legion 1−2
+0%
1−2
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 5−6
+25%
4−5
−25%

This is how GTX 550 Ti and Iris Graphics 540 compete in popular games:

  • GTX 550 Ti is 27% faster in 900p
  • GTX 550 Ti is 73% faster in 1080p

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

  • in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the GTX 550 Ti is 200% faster.
  • in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the Iris Graphics 540 is 6% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • GTX 550 Ti is ahead in 57 tests (92%)
  • Iris Graphics 540 is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • there's a draw in 4 tests (6%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 4.02 3.27
Recency 15 March 2011 1 September 2015
Chip lithography 40 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 116 Watt 15 Watt

GTX 550 Ti has a 22.9% higher aggregate performance score.

Iris Graphics 540, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 4 years, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 673.3% lower power consumption.

The GeForce GTX 550 Ti is our recommended choice as it beats the Iris Graphics 540 in performance tests.


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

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti
GeForce GTX 550 Ti
Intel Iris Graphics 540
Iris Graphics 540

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.


4.9 59424 votes

Rate GeForce GTX 550 Ti on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.5 92 votes

Rate Iris Graphics 540 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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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.