Iris Graphics 540 vs Radeon HD 7870

If you are going to buy a new graphics card and are choosing between Iris Graphics 540 and Radeon HD 7870, 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 Radeon HD 7870, check out specs charts below.

Iris Graphics 540 is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Iris Graphics 540 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 Graphics 540 here:

Main Specs

  Iris Graphics 540 Radeon HD 7870
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 175 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x1
Memory type eDRAM GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 64 MB 2 GB
Display Connectors No outputs
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  • Radeon HD 7870 has 1066% more power consumption, than Iris Graphics 540.
  • Iris Graphics 540 has 62 GB more memory, than Radeon HD 7870.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is used in Laptops, and Radeon HD 7870 - in Desktops.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is build with Gen. 9 Skylake architecture, and Radeon HD 7870 - with GCN.
  • Core clock speed of Radeon HD 7870 is 700 MHz higher, than Iris Graphics 540.
  • Iris Graphics 540 is manufactured by 14 nm process technology, and Radeon HD 7870 - by 28 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 8−9 24−27
ultra / 1080p 5−6 14−16
QHD / 1440p 0−1 9−10
4K / 2160p 6−7
low / 720p 20−22 45−50
medium / 1080p 10−12 30−33
The average gaming FPS of Radeon HD 7870 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 163% more, than Iris Graphics 540.

Full Specs

  Iris Graphics 540 Radeon HD 7870
Architecture Gen. 9 Skylake GCN
Code name Skylake GT3e Pitcairn XT
Type Laptop Desktop
Release date 1 September 2015 5 March 2012
Pipelines 48 1280
Core clock speed 300 MHz 1000 MHz
Boost Clock 1050 MHz
Transistor count 189 million 2800 Million
Manufacturing process technology 14 nm 28 nm
Texture fill rate 50.40
Memory bus width 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 4800 MHz
Shared memory + -
DirectX 12 (12_1) DirectX 11.1, Shader 5.1
Shader Model 6.4
OpenGL 4.6
OpenCL 2.1
Vulkan 1.1.97
Monero / XMR (CryptoNight) 0.39 kh/s
Eyefinity +
Decred / DCR (Decred) 0.63 Gh/s
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 16.6 Mh/s
Zcash / ZEC (Equihash) 145 Sol/s
Quick Sync +
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