Intel HD Graphics P4600 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 Comparison

The benchmark data places the NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 and Intel HD Graphics P4600 in nearly the same performance tier, with the GT 545 holding a consistent edge in the available compute test. The GeForce GT 545 scores 3594 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Intel HD Graphics P4600 scores 3389, a difference of 6% in favor of the NVIDIA part. This margin is meaningful enough to establish a clear hierarchy between the two, though both occupy the bottom fifth of the overall GPU performance distribution. The GT 545 sits at the 21st percentile among all GPUs, while the P4600 is at the 20th, indicating that neither part is positioned for demanding workloads. The delta between them is modest, but it is consistent across the sole head-to-head benchmark, giving the GT 545 a 1-0 win tally in the comparative analysis.

The 6% lead in OpenCL performance translates to a tangible, if not dramatic, advantage for the GT 545 in compute-oriented tasks. When examining the nearest rivals for each part, the context becomes clearer. The GT 545’s score of 3594 places it just 0.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation (3596) and 0.6% behind the GeForce GT 735M (3616), though it trails the GeForce GTX 1050 (3629) by 1% and the AMD Radeon HD 6770 (3649) by 1.5%. For the Intel HD Graphics P4600, the score of 3389 is 1.2% behind the GeForce GT 740 (3431) and 1.3% behind the Quadro 2000M (3434), while it sits 1.7% ahead of the Intel HD Graphics 530 (3332) and 2.2% ahead of the GeForce GT 730M (3316). These nearest-rival comparisons show that the GT 545 is competitive with a slightly faster cluster of GPUs, whereas the P4600 is closer to the slower end of its own peer group.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, which measures general-purpose compute performance on the GPU. In this test, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 achieves a score of 3594, while the Intel HD Graphics P4600 achieves 3389. The resulting delta is 6%, with the winner being the GT 545. This is a straightforward numerical victory, but the interpretation requires nuance given the architectural differences between a discrete add-in board and an integrated graphics processor. The GT 545’s higher score suggests it can handle OpenCL workloads with greater efficiency, likely due to its dedicated memory subsystem and higher memory bandwidth. The P4600, by contrast, relies on system memory, which is a shared resource and inherently slower for GPU access.

The 6% margin is not overwhelming, but it is consistent with the overall percentile ranking: the GT 545’s 21st percentile versus the P4600’s 20th percentile. In practical terms, this means the GT 545 should complete compute tasks slightly faster, though the difference may be imperceptible in real-world applications that are not heavily GPU-bound. The data does not show any benchmark where the P4600 wins, reinforcing the GT 545’s position as the faster part in this pairing. However, the narrowness of the gap suggests that for lightly threaded or memory-bound workloads, the P4600 could close the distance, even if the aggregated score does not reflect it.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 scores 3594, which is 6% higher than the Intel HD Graphics P4600’s score of 3389.

Q: How does the GT 545 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The GT 545’s score of 3594 is 0.1% below the NVIDIA RTX 5000 Mobile Ada Generation (3596) and 0.6% below the GeForce GT 735M (3616), but it is 1% ahead of the GeForce GTX 1050 (3629) and 1.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 6770 (3649). Note that this implies the GT 545 is slower than the GTX 1050, not faster.

Q: What are the closest competitors to the Intel HD Graphics P4600?

A: The P4600’s score of 3389 is 1.2% behind the GeForce GT 740 (3431) and 1.3% behind the Quadro 2000M (3434), while it leads the Intel HD Graphics 530 (3332) by 1.7% and the GeForce GT 730M (3316) by 2.2%.

Q: Does the Intel HD Graphics P4600 win any benchmark in this comparison?

A: No. In the sole head-to-head benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL), the P4600 loses to the GT 545, resulting in 0 wins for the P4600 and 1 win for the GT 545.

Q: How do the percentile rankings of the two GPUs compare?

A: The GT 545 is at the 21st percentile among all GPUs, while the P4600 is at the 20th percentile. Both are in the bottom quarter of performance, but the GT 545 ranks slightly higher.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference that might explain the performance gap?

A: The GT 545 has 1536 MB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 192-bit bus with 38.40 GB/s bandwidth, whereas the P4600 uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth, which is typically slower and contends with the CPU for access.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 is the faster GPU. It wins the only available compute test by 6%, and its percentile ranking (21st) is one point higher than that of the Intel HD Graphics P4600 (20th). For any user prioritizing raw OpenCL compute performance, the GT 545 is the clear choice. The discrete GPU’s dedicated memory interface and higher pixel rate (4.320 GPixel/s versus 2.400 GPixel/s) further support its advantage in graphics-intensive tasks, even though the P4600 has a higher texture rate (24.00 GTexel/s versus 17.28 GTexel/s). The GT 545 also has a higher FP32 throughput at 414.7 GFLOPS versus the P4600’s 384.0 GFLOPS, reinforcing the compute lead.

However, the P4600 is not without merit. It is an integrated processor, meaning it requires no separate card, no power connectors, and draws its memory from the system pool. For users building a system where a discrete GPU is not an option, the P4600 offers a baseline level of 3D acceleration that sits within 6% of the GT 545 in compute performance. The choice between the two comes down to whether the user can accommodate a single-slot, 70 W discrete card with a 250 W suggested PSU, or whether they must rely on the IGP’s motherboard-dependent outputs and system shared memory. From a pure performance standpoint, the GT 545 wins. From a system integration standpoint, the P4600 may be the only viable option in certain configurations.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ fundamentally in their memory architecture. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 features 1536 MB of dedicated DDR3 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 38.40 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel HD Graphics P4600, by contrast, uses system shared memory with a system dependent bandwidth, meaning its performance is tied to the host system’s RAM speed and configuration. The GT 545 has a memory clock of 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective), while the P4600 has no dedicated memory clock. The GT 545’s memory clock is a fixed specification, whereas the P4600’s memory clock is irrelevant due to its shared design.

The rendering pipelines also differ. The GT 545 has 144 shading units, 24 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 raster output units (ROPs). The P4600 has 160 shading units, 20 TMUs, and only 2 ROPs. This results in a pixel rate of 4.320 GPixel/s for the GT 545 versus 2.400 GPixel/s for the P4600, while the texture rate favors the P4600 at 24.00 GTexel/s versus 17.28 GTexel/s. The GT 545’s FP32 performance is 414.7 GFLOPS, slightly ahead of the P4600’s 384.0 GFLOPS. The power characteristics are also distinct: the GT 545 has a 70 W TDP with no power connectors, while the P4600 has an 84 W TDP (as part of the CPU package) and is an IGP. The GT 545 is a single-slot card, 145 mm in length, with a PCIe 2.0 x16 interface, while the P4600 uses a Ring Bus interface and has no physical dimensions.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 is built on the GF116 chip using the Fermi 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It contains 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 4.9M per mm². The Fermi 2.0 architecture is a mature discrete GPU design, optimized for standalone graphics processing. The Intel HD Graphics P4600, on the other hand, is based on the Haswell GT2 chip using Intel’s Generation 7.5 architecture, built on a 22 nm process at Intel. The datasheet does not list transistor count, die size, or density for the P4600, but the process node advantage (22 nm versus 40 nm) suggests a more modern manufacturing technology. The P4600 is part of the HD Graphics-W (Haswell) generation, while the GT 545 belongs to the GeForce 500 series.

The GT 545 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and has no Vulkan support listed. The P4600 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.3, and Vulkan 1.0. This gives the P4600 a slight API advantage in Vulkan availability, though the GT 545 has a newer OpenGL version. The GT 545’s display outputs are 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.3a, and 1x VGA, while the P4600’s outputs are motherboard dependent. The GT 545 has a launch MSRP of 149 USD, while the P4600 has no listed launch MSRP. The GT 545 was released on 2011-05-13, while the P4600 came later on 2013-05-31. Both parts are end-of-life, but the GT 545 has a clear predecessor (GeForce 400) and successor (GeForce 600), while the P4600 lists neither.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 wins in raw compute performance, as evidenced by the 6% lead in Geekbench OpenCL scoring. It also excels in pixel throughput (4.320 GPixel/s versus 2.400 GPixel/s), which is critical for fill-rate-bound scenarios like high-resolution 2D rendering or basic 3D scenes. Its dedicated 38.40 GB/s memory bandwidth is a significant advantage for any workload that relies on large textures or frequent data transfers, as it does not contend with the CPU for memory access. The GT 545 also has more ROPs (16 versus 2), which directly impacts anti-aliasing and post-processing effects. For users running legacy DirectX 11 titles or OpenCL compute tasks, the GT 545 is the stronger candidate.

The Intel HD Graphics P4600 wins in texturing throughput, with a 24.00 GTexel/s rate versus the GT 545’s 17.28 GTexel/s. This makes it potentially faster in texture-heavy shaders, even if its overall compute score is lower. The P4600 also has a higher shading unit count (160 versus 144), which could benefit certain parallel workloads, though the FP32 data contradicts this (384.0 GFLOPS versus 414.7 GFLOPS). The P4600’s Vulkan 1.0 support gives it an edge in modern API compatibility, and its 22 nm process node suggests better power efficiency per transistor, despite the higher 84 W TDP (which is shared with the CPU). For systems where a discrete card is physically impossible or undesirable, the P4600 provides a baseline level of graphics capability that is surprisingly close to the GT 545 in compute terms, making it the pragmatic choice for integrated-only builds.