Iris Graphics 540 vs Maxwell GPU Surface Book

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Iris Graphics 540 and Maxwell GPU Surface Book, there are a couple of things to consider. Cards with more VRAM in general perform better and allow you to play on higher graphics settings. Size also makes a difference. A model with a large heatsink can occupy up to three expansion slots on a motherboard. Be sure you have enough room in your PC case. When comparing GPUs with different architectures, more processing cores and even higher TFLOPS will not always translate to better performance. To help you decide which GPU you need, we have measured frame rates in a number of popular games. For more on how the Iris Graphics 540 stacks up against Maxwell GPU Surface Book, check out specs charts below.

Iris Graphics 540 and Maxwell GPU Surface Book are Laptop Graphics Cards

Note: Iris Graphics 540 and Maxwell GPU Surface Book are only used in laptop graphics. They have 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 Graphics 540 or Maxwell GPU Surface Book here:

Main Specs

  Iris Graphics 540 Maxwell GPU Surface Book
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x1
Memory type eDRAM GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 64 MB 1 GB
Display Connectors No outputs
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  • Iris Graphics 540 has 63 GB more memory, than Maxwell GPU Surface Book.
  • Both cards are used in Laptops.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is build with Gen. 9 Skylake architecture, and Maxwell GPU Surface Book - with Maxwell.
  • Core clock speed of Maxwell GPU Surface Book is 654 MHz higher, than Iris Graphics 540.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and Maxwell GPU Surface Book - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 8−9 8−9
ultra / 1080p 5−6 5−6
QHD / 1440p 0−1 0−1
low / 720p 20−22 20−22
medium / 1080p 10−12 10−12
Iris Graphics 540 and Maxwell GPU Surface Book have the same average FPS in Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Full Specs

  Iris Graphics 540 Maxwell GPU Surface Book
Architecture Gen. 9 Skylake Maxwell
Code name Skylake GT3e Surface Book
Type Laptop Laptop
Release date 1 September 2015 1 October 2015
Pipelines 48 384
Core clock speed 300 MHz 954 MHz
Boost Clock 1050 MHz 993 MHz
Transistor count 189 million
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 50.40
Memory bus width 64 Bit
Memory clock speed 5012 MHz
Shared memory + -
DirectX 12 (12_1) DirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0
Shader Model 6.4
OpenGL 4.6
OpenCL 2.1
Vulkan 1.1.97
CUDA +
Optimus +
Quick Sync +
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