AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 vs Intel HD Graphics P530 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and the Intel HD Graphics P530 holds a clear advantage. The Intel part scores 4549, while the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 scores 3977. That is a 14.4% delta in favor of Intel, a meaningful margin in synthetic compute workloads. The Intel GPU wins the sole head-to-head test, giving it a 1 to 0 win count in direct comparisons.

Looking at the broader database context, the Intel HD Graphics P530 sits at the 26th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 4560. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 560 at 4569 (only 0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon R5 M230 at 4577 (0.4% higher), the AMD FirePro W4190M at 4505 (1.2% lower), and the NVIDIA Quadro M3000M at 4621 (1.3% higher). The P530 is essentially trading blows with these parts, landing within a narrow 1.5% band of all four neighbors. That clustering indicates the Intel iGPU is competitive with entry-level discrete mobile GPUs from the same era, despite being an integrated solution.

The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2, by contrast, sits at the 24th percentile, just two points below the Intel part. Its average score is 3977, and its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro K2000 at 3964 (0.3% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 830M at 3957 (0.5% lower), the AMD Radeon R5 M420 at 3956 (0.5% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M at 3953 (0.6% lower). The HD 6850 X2 is marginally ahead of all four of these, but the deltas are all under 1%, meaning the performance differences are effectively negligible in real-world terms. The AMD card is not a performance outlier in either direction; it is simply an older, mid-range part that has aged into the same performance tier as much newer low-end hardware.

The 14.4% gap between the two compared GPUs is substantial when placed against the rival clusters. The Intel part is competitive with parts that score in the 4500 to 4620 range, while the AMD card is competitive with parts that score in the 3950 to 3965 range. That is roughly a 550-point separation between the two GPUs, which is more than the entire spread of each GPU's nearest rival group. In other words, the Intel HD Graphics P530 is performing in a class that is about 14% faster than the class where the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 resides.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two products is wide, reflecting their different origins and design goals. The Intel HD Graphics P530 is built on the Skylake GT2 chip, using Intel's Generation 9.0 architecture from the HD Graphics-W (Skylake) family. It is fabricated on a 14 nm+ process at Intel's own foundry, with a die size of 123 mm². The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 uses the Barts chip, built on TeraScale 2 architecture from the Northern Islands (HD 6800) generation. It is fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC, with a much larger die size of 255 mm² and 1,700 million transistors, giving a transistor density of 6.7M per mm².

The compute resources differ dramatically. The Intel part has 192 shading units, 16 texture mapping units, and only 3 raster output pipelines. The AMD card has 960 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. On paper, the AMD card has 5 times the shading units, 3 times the TMUs, and over 10 times the ROPs. However, the actual benchmark result shows Intel ahead, which indicates that raw hardware counts do not translate directly into performance in these workloads. The Intel part delivers 3.000 GPixel/s pixel rate, 16.00 GTexel/s texture rate, and 384.0 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, with 768.0 GFLOPS of FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio). The AMD part delivers 25.60 GPixel/s, 38.40 GTexel/s, and 1.536 TFLOPS of FP32, with no FP16 data recorded.

Clock behavior also diverges. The Intel GPU has a base clock of 350 MHz and a boost clock of 1000 MHz, while the AMD card has no base or boost clock listed, only a memory clock of 1050 MHz (4.2 Gbps effective). The Intel part uses system-shared memory, with bandwidth described as system dependent. The AMD card has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 134.4 GB/s of bandwidth. That is a massive memory bandwidth advantage for AMD, yet the compute benchmark still favors Intel, suggesting that the OpenCL workload is more sensitive to shader efficiency and driver execution than to raw memory throughput.

Power and physical requirements are also starkly different. The Intel HD Graphics P530 has a TDP of 15 W and is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a Ring Bus interface, requiring no power connectors and fitting into the motherboard as a built-in component. The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 has a TDP of 254 W, is a dual-slot card, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and needs a suggested 600 W power supply. It uses a PCIe 2.0 x16 interface. The display outputs also differ: the Intel part is motherboard dependent, while the AMD card offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.3a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.1.

API support shows the Intel part is more modern. The P530 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The HD 6850 X2 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0), OpenGL 4.4, and has no Vulkan support recorded. Release dates also reflect the generational gap: the Intel part was released on 2015-08-31, while the AMD card came out on 2011-09-18, over four years earlier. Both are end-of-life products, and the AMD card lists Evergreen as its predecessor and Southern Islands as its successor.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel HD Graphics P530 wins the only direct benchmark in the database, the Geekbench OpenCL test. That makes it the clear choice for any compute workload that relies on OpenCL performance, at least as measured by this synthetic test. Its 14.4% lead over the AMD part is not trivial, and it sits in a higher performance tier when compared to its nearest rivals. For users who need a low-power integrated solution that can still handle basic OpenCL tasks, the P530 is the better option based on the data. Its 15 W TDP and IGP form factor also mean it can be used in systems where a discrete card would be impractical, but those are qualitative advantages, not benchmark-derived.

The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 does not win any benchmark in the database. It loses the head-to-head OpenCL test, and its average score is lower. However, the AMD card has architectural strengths that are not reflected in the single benchmark score. It has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory with 134.4 GB/s bandwidth, which is far beyond the Intel part's system-shared memory. It also has a much higher pixel rate (25.60 GPixel/s) and texture rate (38.40 GTexel/s), suggesting that in workloads that are fill-rate bound or memory-bandwidth bound, the AMD card could outperform the Intel part, even if the OpenCL compute test does not show it. The AMD card also has 960 shading units and 32 ROPs, which are significantly higher counts, and a 1.536 TFLOPS FP32 rate that is 4 times the Intel part's 384.0 GFLOPS. These figures imply that the AMD card is better suited for traditional rasterization tasks, though no direct gaming or graphics benchmark is present in the database to confirm this.

For use cases, the Intel part wins on modern API support and compute efficiency. It supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 11.2 and OpenGL 4.4. The Intel part also has a much lower power draw, which is a practical advantage for laptops or compact desktops. The AMD card wins on raw hardware specifications: more memory, more bandwidth, more ROPs, more TMUs, and a higher pixel fill rate. It is also a dual-slot card with a suggested 600 W PSU, meaning it is intended for a full desktop build with adequate power delivery.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The Intel HD Graphics P530 scores 4549, which is 14.4% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2's score of 3977.

Q: How does the Intel HD Graphics P530 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The P530's average score is 4560. It is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 560 (4569), 0.4% lower than the AMD Radeon R5 M230 (4577), 1.2% higher than the AMD FirePro W4190M (4505), and 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M3000M (4621).

Q: What are the memory configurations of the two GPUs?

A: The Intel HD Graphics P530 uses system-shared memory, with bandwidth described as system dependent. The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with 134.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU supports more modern APIs?

A: The Intel HD Graphics P530 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan support.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The Intel HD Graphics P530 has a TDP of 15 W, while the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 has a TDP of 254 W.

Q: Does the AMD card have any benchmark win over the Intel part?

A: No. The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 loses the only head-to-head benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL) and has zero wins in the database, while the Intel part has one win.

The Verdict

The data clearly favors the Intel HD Graphics P530 in the only directly comparable metric. The 14.4% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is a decisive margin, and the Intel part also holds a higher percentile ranking (26th vs 24th) and a higher average benchmark score (4560 vs 3977). For any user whose primary concern is OpenCL compute performance, the Intel part is the better choice.

The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 remains a viable option only if the workload is heavily dependent on memory bandwidth or fill rate, where its 2 GB GDDR5, 134.4 GB/s bandwidth, 25.60 GPixel/s pixel rate, and 38.40 GTexel/s texture rate provide clear hardware advantages. However, none of these advantages are validated by the recorded benchmarks, which show the AMD card trailing in the one test that was run. The AMD card also requires a 254 W TDP, dual-slot cooling, and a 600 W power supply, making it a much heavier system burden compared to the 15 W IGP Intel solution.

In practical terms, the Intel HD Graphics P530 is the better choice for modern software, thanks to its support for DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, as well as its higher compute score. The AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 is an older, power-hungry part that has been surpassed in compute efficiency, despite having more raw hardware resources. Users who need a low-power integrated GPU with competitive compute performance should pick the Intel part. Users who need a discrete card with dedicated memory and high fill rates, and who are willing to accept lower OpenCL scores and higher power draw, might still consider the AMD part, but the benchmark data does not support that choice for compute-heavy tasks.