Graphic Card Comparisons

Please note: These graphics card rankings are approximate. Performance will vary from game to game. When possible, we suggest doing your own performance research on the games you want to play or at the Graphics Cards Advisors site. In some games, some graphics cards will perform slightly better than cards above them, or slightly worse than cards below.

Intel HD Graphics are the more common version of mobile integrated graphics. You’ll find some version of the chip in most laptops, even those equipped with discrete graphics. HD Graphics chips aren’t built for taxing tasks like AutoCAD or playing titles like Doom, For Honor or Rise of the Tomb Raider. They can however, reliably stream video and play certain games including the ever-popular Overwatch.

Since most people purchase graphics cards for their gaming capability, we view real gameplay benchmarks (as opposed to synthetic benchmarking programs) as the best way to measure the performance of a graphics card. Graphics card performance can vary from game to game, but this comparison table reflects the general rankings of each card.

With so many desktop graphics card models out there, it is impossible to keep up with the different configurations. This is where the Desktop Graphics Card Comparison Guide comes in. It is designed to be an easy reference for those who want to quickly compare the specifications of the various desktop graphics card models in the market, as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

If you want to play high-end games or do serious 3D modeling, you need to get a laptop with a more powerful, discrete graphics chip from Nvidia or AMD that takes over from the Intel GPU when you launch graphics-hungry programs. However, most mainstream users can get good enough performance from Intel’s built-in graphics.

The main benefit that integrated graphics deliver is affordability as laptops with discrete graphics can costs hundreds more. The combined workload also means less heat output and less power usage, which can translate to longer battery life. To enhance battery life, most laptops with discrete graphics on board switch to their integrated chips when not performing demanding tasks.

AMD’s latest Ryzen APUs have the most powerful integrated GPUs, which are powerful enough to run less demanding games with graphics turned up, or modern games with graphics turned down. These are the best options for the absolute cheapest gaming builds.

While your Intel Core i7 CPU can render graphics, it’ll do so at a much slower rate than a GPU. In fact, GPUs have so much power that some programs tap them into service to help out the CPU on non-graphics tasks, which drastically increases speed and performance. That’s why every laptop, whether it’s designed for business, gaming or education, has some sort of GPU under the hood.

There are two main types of graphics processor: integrated and discrete. As the name suggests, integrated graphics means that the GPU is integrated onto the CPU die and shares memory with the processor. Discrete chips are contained on their own card and come equipped with their own memory, called video memory or VRAM, leaving your system RAM untouched.

If you want the best possible graphics performance, discrete graphics chips beat integrated GPUs every time. The amount of VRAM allocated to current GPUs ranges between 2 and 8 GBs. Since integrated chips rely on the system RAM, they don’t have the computing power of their discrete counterparts. That’s something to keep in mind if you’re planning to play one of your favorite PC titles on the highest settings.

Currently covering 808 desktop graphics card models, this comprehensive comparison allows you to easily compare 24 different specifications for each and every graphics card. We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly, so do check back for the latest updates.

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