Iris Plus Graphics 655 vs Radeon HD 5970

In this comparison between Iris Plus Graphics 655 and Radeon HD 5970 you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people Iris Plus Graphics 655 will be the best choice, for others Radeon HD 5970 will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Iris Plus Graphics 655 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Iris Plus Graphics 655 is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Iris Plus Graphics 655 here:

Main Specs

  Iris Plus Graphics 655 Radeon HD 5970
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 294 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x1 PCIe 2.0 x16
Supplementary power connectors 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
Memory type DDR3/DDR4 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 1 GB
Display Connectors No outputs 2x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort
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  • Radeon HD 5970 has 1860% more power consumption, than Iris Plus Graphics 655.
  • Iris Plus Graphics 655 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x1, and Radeon HD 5970 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 interface.
  • Iris Plus Graphics 655 is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 5970 - in Desktops.
  • Iris Plus Graphics 655 is build with Gen. 9.5 Kaby Lake architecture, and Radeon HD 5970 - with TeraScale 2.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 5970 is 425 MHz higher, than Iris Plus Graphics 655.
  • Iris Plus Graphics 655 is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 5970 - by 40 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 12−14 10−12
ultra / 1080p 7−8 6−7
QHD / 1440p 2−3 1−2
low / 720p 27−30 24−27
medium / 1080p 16−18 14−16
The average gaming FPS of Iris Plus Graphics 655 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 18% more, than Radeon HD 5970.

Full Specs

  Iris Plus Graphics 655 Radeon HD 5970
Architecture Gen. 9.5 Kaby Lake TeraScale 2
Code name Kaby Lake GT3e Hemlock
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 1 September 2017 18 November 2009
Pipelines 48 1600
Core clock speed 300 MHz 725 MHz
Boost Clock 1200 MHz
Transistor count 189 million 2,154 million
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 40 nm
Texture fill rate 50.40 58.00
Floating-point performance 2x 2,320.0 gflops
Length 305 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 128.0 GB/s
Shared memory +
DirectX 12 (12_1) 11.2 (11_0)
Shader Model 6.4 5.0
OpenGL 4.6 4.4
OpenCL 2.1 1.2
Vulkan 1.1.103 N/A
Quick Sync +
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