Computer

integrated graphics are useless for gaming

Having a graphics card is essential, since without it we could not see the image on the screen. However, a cheaper solution is to get a processor with a GPU inside. However, all the integrated graphics are, outside of basic tasks, much worse than they should be and despite the fact that AMD is the queen, in this aspect it is not ideal in these cases. Which is the common problem that have all integrated graphics?

To play on a PC it is advisable to have a dedicated graphics card designed for it, the same if you dedicate yourself to 3D modeling. However, having one is essential for any type of user and one way to cut costs in modest equipment is to integrate the graphics into the processor. However, they all suffer from the same problem, making them unsuitable for gaming.

All integrated graphics have the same limitation

We have to start from the fact that an integrated graphics card or GPU shares access to RAM memory, which from the outset already supposes a contention problem that adds latency to memory access. Reality? Unlike CPUs, conventional graphics processors are designed to mask latency by keeping their cores busy for as long as possible. Instead, they are highly dependent on bandwidth and this is where the problems start.

Processor Render Blue

We don’t use graphics card memory in a PC, not for the fact that we can or not, since consoles use them and nothing happens, but they are counterproductive for the central processor. If we could take the same chip with DDR memory, on the one hand, and GDDR, on the other hand, and compare them, then we would see that the first one would win for having less latency in performance. However, this is counterproductive for what the integrated GPU is.

That is why, in consoles, in order to have a larger GPU, they use GDDR memory. Not surprisingly, a Ryzen 6000, which is the processor with the best integrated graphics, has 12 cores in its most advanced configurations. While the PS5 chip, for example, uses 36.

They use inappropriate architectures

However, the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about is the fact that they use graphical architectures designed to use the maximum possible bandwidth, which for the reasons that we have mentioned before is counterproductive. Is there some type of architecture that is ideal for integrated graphics? Well the Tile Rendererswhich have a much lower impact on external bandwidth due to the fact that they subdivide the image into small blocks that are processed internally, reducing the impact on external memory.

Apple M1

Paradoxically, the only brand to have an integrated graphics card with an architecture of this type is Apple due to the fact that they are derived from mobile phones. Curiously, Tile Renderers are used on mobile phones and tablets due to the fact that, since they do not depend on external memory, they consume much less. So, if they had the right type of architecture, the TDP of the processors would be much lower, apart from the fact that RAM would not be a bottleneck.

As a curiosity, and with this we are done, this is one of the problems that the Steam Deck has in terms of energy consumption. The enormous dependence of your graphics card on external memory to function at maximum performance.

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