Intel, you should honestly think before you speak
Manufactured on Intelโs 14nm FinFET technology, Skylake processors have actually done an impressive job in delivering heavy amounts of processing power and efficiency. Now, with the release of Broadwell-E, we might actually get to witness the first ever 10-core consumer based processor that is being called Intel Core i7-6950X. However, while these chips are able to handle everything that is thrown in their direction, their integrated graphics is one area where the tech giant falls short substantially. However, according to Intel, if you happen to be a casual or mainstream gamer, then you will not have to spend unnecessary funds on dedicated graphic cards because the integrated GPU is going to fulfill that purpose.
Gregory Bryant, the vice president and general manager of Intelโs desktop clientโs platform has stated the following regarding Intelโs Iris or Iris Pro, which according to the individual can perform at 80 percent of discrete graphic cards.
โWe have improved graphics 30 times what they were five years ago.โ
Sure, the latest integrated chips can definitely render 4K video with three monitors connected simultaneously, but rendering heavy textures in demanding gaming titles is a whole new ball game altogether. They might have picked up substantially where performance compared to their predecessors is concerned, but in our opinion, iGPUs have a very long to go before they can come remotely to the performance of mid-ranged and high-end graphic cards. They might be able to give the lower tier lineup of graphic cards a healthy competition, but Intel suggesting that you can immerse in gaming titles without the use of a dedicated graphics chip is completely ridiculous.
With virtual reality expected to take gaming capabilities beyond the regular desktop platforms, Intel will definitely have to put in a lot of effort with its upcoming Cannonlake processors, which are expected to be processed on the 10nm FinFET technology. Hopefully, as the lithography of processors get smaller with every processor generation, we will see thorough improvements when the graphical performance of Intel iGPUs are concerned.
However, right now, is it possible to replace your entire graphics chip with integrated ones? Absolutely not.