Radeon HD 6950M vs Iris Graphics 550
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Iris Graphics 550 and Radeon HD 6950M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.
Iris Graphics 550 outperforms HD 6950M by a minimal 4% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 718 | 729 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Power efficiency | 17.12 | 4.96 |
| Architecture | Generation 9.0 (2015−2016) | TeraScale 2 (2009−2015) |
| GPU code name | Skylake GT3e | Blackcomb |
| Market segment | Laptop | Laptop |
| Release date | 1 September 2015 (9 years ago) | 4 January 2011 (14 years ago) |
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 cores | 384 | 960 |
| Core clock speed | 300 MHz | 580 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1000 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 189 million | 1,700 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm+ | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 50 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 48.00 | 27.84 |
| Floating-point processing power | 0.768 TFLOPS | 1.114 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 6 | 32 |
| TMUs | 48 | 48 |
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).
| Laptop size | no data | large |
| Interface | Ring Bus | MXM-B (3.0) |
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 type | System Shared | GDDR5 |
| Maximum RAM amount | System Shared | 1 GB |
| Memory bus width | System Shared | 256 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | System Shared | 900 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | no data | 115.2 GB/s |
| 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 Connectors | Portable Device Dependent | No outputs |
Supported technologies
Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.
| Quick Sync | + | no data |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 11.2 (11_0) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 5.0 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| OpenCL | 3.0 | 1.2 |
| Vulkan | 1.3 | N/A |
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.
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.
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.
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 HD | 20
+11.1%
| 18−20
−11.1%
|
| 1440p | 28
+3.7%
| 27−30
−3.7%
|
| 4K | 50
+11.1%
| 45−50
−11.1%
|
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+12.5%
|
8−9
−12.5%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+12.5%
|
8−9
−12.5%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
+8.3%
|
12−14
−8.3%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 18−20
+5.6%
|
18−20
−5.6%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
+6.3%
|
16−18
−6.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 7−8
+16.7%
|
6−7
−16.7%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| Valorant | 50−55
+2%
|
50−55
−2%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 9−10
+12.5%
|
8−9
−12.5%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
+8.3%
|
12−14
−8.3%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 54
−14.8%
|
60−65
+14.8%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 28
−14.3%
|
30−35
+14.3%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 18−20
+5.6%
|
18−20
−5.6%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
+6.3%
|
16−18
−6.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 7−8
+16.7%
|
6−7
−16.7%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 6
−66.7%
|
10−11
+66.7%
|
| Metro Exodus | 3
−100%
|
6−7
+100%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 8
−25%
|
10−11
+25%
|
| Valorant | 50−55
+2%
|
50−55
−2%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 12−14
+8.3%
|
12−14
−8.3%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 7−8
+0%
|
7−8
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 25
−28%
|
30−35
+28%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 16−18
+6.3%
|
16−18
−6.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 7−8
+16.7%
|
6−7
−16.7%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 14−16
+0%
|
14−16
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 10−11
+0%
|
10−11
+0%
|
| Valorant | 50−55
+2%
|
50−55
−2%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 18−20
+5.6%
|
18−20
−5.6%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 28
+12%
|
24−27
−12%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 2−3
+100%
|
1−2
−100%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 24−27
+4%
|
24−27
−4%
|
| Valorant | 35−40
+5.9%
|
30−35
−5.9%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 5−6
+25%
|
4−5
−25%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 3−4
+50%
|
2−3
−50%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 6−7
+0%
|
6−7
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 8−9
+0%
|
8−9
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 5−6
+0%
|
5−6
+0%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 7−8
+16.7%
|
6−7
−16.7%
|
4K
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 3−4
+0%
|
3−4
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 16−18
+0%
|
16−18
+0%
|
| Valorant | 18−20
+5.9%
|
16−18
−5.9%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 10−12
+10%
|
10−11
−10%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 4−5
+33.3%
|
3−4
−33.3%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 1−2
+0%
|
1−2
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 4−5
+0%
|
4−5
+0%
|
This is how Iris Graphics 550 and HD 6950M compete in popular games:
- Iris Graphics 550 is 11% faster in 1080p
- Iris Graphics 550 is 4% faster in 1440p
- Iris Graphics 550 is 11% faster in 4K
Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:
- in Metro Exodus, with 1440p resolution and the High Preset, the Iris Graphics 550 is 100% faster.
- in Metro Exodus, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the HD 6950M is 100% faster.
All in all, in popular games:
- Iris Graphics 550 is ahead in 27 tests (44%)
- HD 6950M is ahead in 6 tests (10%)
- there's a draw in 28 tests (46%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 3.68 | 3.55 |
| Recency | 1 September 2015 | 4 January 2011 |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 40 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 15 Watt | 50 Watt |
Iris Graphics 550 has a 3.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 4 years, a 185.7% more advanced lithography process, and 233.3% lower power consumption.
Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Iris Graphics 550 and Radeon HD 6950M.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
