Intel HD Graphics 2500 vs Intel HD Graphics 4400

Intel HD Graphics 2500

The Intel HD Graphics 2500 (or Ivy Bridge GT1) is an integrated graphics card in the Ivy Bridge codenamed desktop processors. It is the successor the the Intel HD Graphics 2000 in the Sandy Bridge CPUs and performs between the old HD 2000 and 3000 GPU (see benchmarks below). Usually it is used in the cheaper desktop Ivy bridge CPUs. The mobile version is simply called Intel HD Graphics and integrated in the Pentium and Celeron line.

Compared to the faster HD Graphics 4000, the 2500 one features less Execution Units (6 versus 16) and only one texture sampler. Therefore, the performance is clearly worse and only suited for low demanding gaming. Intel states a 10 to 15% higher performance compared to the old Sandy Bridge based HD Graphics 2000. Therefore, only older casual games with low requirements are playable with the HD 2500.

A speciality of the Ivy Bridge GPUs is that 4x MSAA is supported in hardware now. However, 2x is only supported through software.  The algorithm to support 2x is going through the 4x pipeline with a software algorithm, so performance is similar to 4x MSAA.

The integrated video decoder called Multi Format Codec Engine (MFX) was also improved and should allow even simultaneus 4K video decoding. DXVAChecker lists MPEG2, VC1, WMV9, and H264 as supported codecs. QuickSync for fast transcoding of videos was also optimized for higher performance and better image quality.

Another new feature is the support for up to 3 independent displays as AMD offers with theirs Eyefinity support (up to 6 displays).

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, the power consumption is relatively low (the development was focused on performance per Watt). 

Intel HD Graphics 4400

The Intel HD Graphics 4400 (GT2) is a processor graphics card included in some of the ULV Haswell processors of 2013. The relatively low base clock can be automatically overclocked using Turbo Boost technology. Depending on the processor model, the turbo clock rates may differ, resulting in varying graphics performance between models.

In comparison to the HD 4000, the HD 4400 graphics core has been modified extensively. The GPU now supports DirectX 11.1, OpenCL 1.2 and OpenGL 4.0. It also features an improved decoder for 4K videos and the fast Quick Sync encoder. Compared to the faster 4600, the 4400 offers the same amount of shaders, but lower clock speeds (see table of clock speeds of the different CPU models below).

The performance of the HD Graphics 4400 is somewhat below the HD 4600, since the GPU is designed for ULV models. Therefore, the clock rates are relatively low. Furthermore, the reduced TDP limits the Turbo Boost. Compared to the ULV versions of the Ivy Bridge HD 4000, the HD 4400 is about 20 - 30 percent faster. This performance boost is achieved by architectural improvements and an increased number of execution units: The GT2 version integrates 20 EUs, compared to 16 EUs for the old HD 4000. Depending on the clock rate, the HD 4400 matches the performance of a dedicated Radeon HD 7550M.

Due to the 22nm 3D Tri-Gate production process, the power consumption is relatively low. The HD Graphics 4400 can be found on ULV dual-core Haswell models with a TDP of 15 watts.