:HGLGQ¶WWHVWJDPHVRQWKDWODSWRSMXVWV\QWKHWLF'
tests, but the Core i7-1185G7’s Iris Xe graphics cruised
SDVWLWRQ'0DUN¶V)LUH6WULNHWHVW DJRRGSUR[\IRU
gaming tests) by a couple thousand points. The GeForce
0;OLQHPD\¿QGLWVHOIVTXHH]HGZLWKOHVVRIDUHDVRQWR
exist, since it generally shows up in the same type of
ODSWRSVWKDWDUHSULPHGWRXWLOL]H&RUHLDQGL7LJHU
Lake processors. The cost of Iris Xe is also baked into
the CPU, whereas adding a GeForce MX GPU tends to
DGGWRWKHSULFHRULVDQH[WUDFRVWFRQ¿JXUDWLRQRSWLRQ
2QHRIWKH¿UVWXOWUDSRUWDEOHVJHDUHGWRZDUGJDPLQJ
WKDWZHVDZXVH*H)RUFH0;JUDSKLFVZDVWKH5D]HU
Blade Stealth 13. Since then, the 13-inch laptop line has
switched to the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, which still holds
DSUHWW\VLJQL¿FDQWDGYDQWDJHLQSHUIRUPDQFHRYHU,ULV
Xe. For example, Iris Xe averaged exactly 30fps on Far
Cry 5 at 1080p and Medium settings, while the Blade
Stealth 13 and its GTX 1650 Ti averaged 54fps (and that
in a more limited 13-inch chassis).
This goes to show that even the lower end of discrete,
gamer-minded GPUs are, for now, still a clear, safe step
above the improvements that could be wrought by Iris
Xe. Intel has closed the gap a whole lot, though, since
2019’s Ice Lake, and we can only assume more
improvements will come down the line. The most
LQWHQVHRQOLQHJDPLQJEDWWOH¿HOGLQ\HDUVWRFRPHYHU\
well might be not some umpteenth iteration of Call of
'XW\EXWDZDUEHWZHHQ,QWHODQG$0'IRULQWHJUDWHG
graphics dominance.
Intel has
closed the gap
a lot since
2019’s Ice
Lake, and we
can only
assume more
improvements
will come.PC MAGAZINE DIGITAL EDITION I SUBSCRIBE (^) I OCTOBER 2020