AMD Radeon HD 8690M vs Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable measurement between the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 and the AMD Radeon HD 8690M is the Geekbench OpenCL test. The results are decisive: the Intel part scores 9082, while the AMD part scores 6137. That is a 48% advantage for the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 in this single recorded head-to-head benchmark.

Looking at the database-wide percentile placement confirms this gap. The Intel GPU sits at the 39th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 7170. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M sits at the 36th percentile, with an average score of 6137. The 48% delta in the direct comparison is substantial, but context from the nearest rivals adds nuance.

For the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580, its average score of 7170 places it essentially level with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE (7171, 0% delta), slightly ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (7157, 0.2% delta), and marginally behind the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7203, -0.5% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (7222, -0.7% delta). The Intel part is thus clustered in a tight band of mid-range desktop and mobile GPUs, with no rival in its nearest group separated by more than a fraction of a percent.

For the AMD Radeon HD 8690M, the average score of 6137 positions it just ahead of the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 (6117, 0.3% delta), the NVIDIA RTX A400 (6078, 1% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce MX230 (6077, 1% delta). It trails the AMD Radeon HD 6950 (6210, -1.2% delta) by a slightly larger margin. The AMD part's nearest rivals are all within about a point or two in either direction, indicating that its performance is consistent with a specific tier of GPUs from the same era.

The single benchmark result is unambiguous: in OpenCL compute workloads, the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 outperforms the AMD Radeon HD 8690M by a wide margin. The Intel part also has a second benchmark result, a Vulkan score of 5258, which the AMD part lacks entirely. No Vulkan measurement exists for the AMD Radeon HD 8690M in the database, so no comparison is possible on that API.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only directly comparable benchmark?

A: The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 9082 versus 6137 for the AMD Radeon HD 8690M, a 48% advantage.

Q: How does each GPU rank among all GPUs in the database?

A: The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is at the 39th percentile, while the AMD Radeon HD 8690M is at the 36th percentile.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 has an average benchmark score of 7170 across its recorded tests. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M has an average score of 6137 from its single recorded test.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 8690M have any benchmark where it wins?

A: No. The database records only one head-to-head test, and the AMD part loses that test. It has no Vulkan benchmark result at all, while the Intel part scores 5258 in Vulkan.

Q: Which GPUs are closest in performance to the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580?

A: The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE (7171, 0% delta), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (7157, 0.2% delta), AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7203, -0.5% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (7222, -0.7% delta).

Q: Which GPUs are closest in performance to the AMD Radeon HD 8690M?

A: The nearest rivals are the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 (6117, 0.3% delta), NVIDIA RTX A400 (6078, 1% delta), NVIDIA GeForce MX230 (6077, 1% delta), and AMD Radeon HD 6950 (6210, -1.2% delta).

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural lineages. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is built on the Skylake GT4e chip, using Intel's Generation 9.0 architecture. Its process node is listed as 14 nm+, and it is fabricated by Intel itself. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M uses the Sun chip, based on GCN 1.0 architecture, and is fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The process node difference is significant: the Intel part uses a smaller, more advanced manufacturing process.

The transistor counts reflect the different design approaches. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M has 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 does not have a recorded transistor count or die size in the database, so no direct density comparison is possible.

The compute resources differ substantially. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 has 576 shading units, 72 texture mapping units, and 9 ROPs. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The Intel part has nearly double the shading units and more than triple the TMUs, which explains its much higher texture rate of 72.00 GTexel/s versus 19.50 GTexel/s for the AMD part. Pixel rates are closer: 9.000 GPixel/s for Intel versus 7.800 GPixel/s for AMD.

The clock speeds tell a different story. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M runs at a base clock of 925 MHz and a boost clock of 975 MHz, while the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 runs at a base of 350 MHz and a boost of 1000 MHz. The AMD part has a much higher base clock, but the Intel part's boost clock is slightly higher. The Intel part's higher shading unit count compensates for its lower base clock, resulting in 1,152.0 GFLOPS of FP32 performance versus 624.0 GFLOPS for the AMD part. The Intel part also has a recorded FP16 performance of 2.304 TFLOPS (2:1), which the AMD part lacks entirely.

Memory configurations are fundamentally different. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 uses system shared memory, with a system-dependent bandwidth and no dedicated VRAM. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus, with a fixed bandwidth of 32.00 GB/s and an effective memory clock of 4 Gbps. This means the AMD part has guaranteed memory bandwidth, while the Intel part's performance depends on the host system's memory configuration.

The bus interface also differs. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 uses a Ring Bus interface, consistent with its integrated nature, while the AMD Radeon HD 8690M uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

API support is broadly similar but not identical. Both support DirectX 12, but the Intel part supports version 12 (12_1) while the AMD part supports 12 (11_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6. For Vulkan, the Intel part lists version 1.3, while the AMD part lists version 1.2.170. The Intel part has a newer Vulkan version, and it also has a recorded Vulkan benchmark score, while the AMD part does not.

The AMD Radeon HD 8690M has a recorded predecessor, London, and a successor, Gem System. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 has no recorded predecessor or successor. Both are marked as end-of-life production status. The AMD part was released in February 2013, while the Intel part was released in August 2015.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for compute performance. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 beats the AMD Radeon HD 8690M by 48% in the only directly comparable benchmark, the Geekbench OpenCL test. It also has a higher average benchmark score (7170 versus 6137), a higher percentile ranking (39th versus 36th), and a Vulkan benchmark result that the AMD part cannot match. For any workload that relies on OpenCL or Vulkan compute, the Intel part is the stronger choice.

However, the two GPUs serve different roles. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is an integrated GPU with system-shared memory, meaning its real-world performance in memory-bound tasks will vary with the host system's RAM and memory configuration. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M is a discrete GPU with 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory and a fixed 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. In scenarios where dedicated memory bandwidth is critical and the host system's memory is slow or insufficient, the AMD part could potentially close the gap, though the database provides no direct benchmark to confirm this.

The AMD Radeon HD 8690M also has a much higher base clock (925 MHz versus 350 MHz), which could translate to more consistent performance in lightly threaded or latency-sensitive workloads that do not scale with shading unit count. But the recorded benchmark data does not include any such tests, so this remains speculative.

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput, the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is the clear choice based on the recorded measurements. For users who need a discrete GPU with dedicated memory and a known, fixed bandwidth, the AMD Radeon HD 8690M offers that attribute, though at a lower compute performance tier. The database shows one winner in every recorded test, and that winner is the Intel part.

Specification Differences

| Specification | Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 | AMD Radeon HD 8690M |

| --- | --- | --- |

| Manufacturer | Intel | AMD |

| Chip | Skylake GT4e | Sun |

| Architecture | Generation 9.0 | GCN 1.0 |

| Generation | HD Graphics-W (Skylake) | Solar System (HD 8600M) |

| Process Node | 14 nm+ | 28 nm |

| Foundry | Intel | TSMC |

| Transistors | Not recorded | 690 million |

| Die Size | Not recorded | 56 mm² |

| Transistor Density | Not recorded | 12.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 350 MHz | 925 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1000 MHz | 975 MHz |

| Memory Clock | System Shared | 1000 MHz, 4 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | System Shared | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | System Shared | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | System Shared | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | System Dependent | 32.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 576 | 320 |

| TMUs | 72 | 20 |

| ROPs | 9 | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 9.000 GPixel/s | 7.800 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 72.00 GTexel/s | 19.50 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 1,152.0 GFLOPS | 624.0 GFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 2.304 TFLOPS (2:1) | Not recorded |

| TDP | 15 W | Not recorded |

| Slot Width | IGP | Not recorded |

| Bus Interface | Ring Bus | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | Motherboard Dependent | Not recorded |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (11_1) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2015-08-31 | 2013-02-28 |

| Predecessor | Not recorded | London |

| Successor | Not recorded | Gem System |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |