Intel launched its first discrete GPU, the Iris Xe Max, otherwise known as the DG1 a while back (rather quietly) for budget gaming laptops. Although the GPU performs closer to integrated parts such as the Radeon Vega 7/8 and Intel’s own onboard Gen11 and Gen12 offerings, the price puts it side-by-side with the much faster GeForce GTX 1650, and at times, even the 1660 Ti. Although laptops featuring the DG1 or the Iris Xe Max are quite rare, NBC was able to test one such product. The gaming benchmarks are as follows:
As you can see, the DG1/Iris Xe Max graphics card consistently falls behind the GeForce GTX 1050 mobile which is essentially on par with the MX450, while also being slower than much older and cheaper parts such as the MX350 in popular titles like GTA V, Dota 2 and The Witcher 3. These deltas can be largely blamed on the still immature drivers and lack of game optimizations but considering that the Xe-HPG GPUs are slated to launch this year, just how long will it take before Intel runs out of chances:
