Intel Iris Pro Graphics P6300 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti vs Intel Iris Pro Graphics P6300

The GeForce GTX 550 Ti and the Iris Pro P6300 land within a hair of each other on the sole benchmark in this comparison, with the NVIDIA card scoring 5731 and the Intel integrated solution scoring 5712. That 0.3% gap places both firmly in the 33rd percentile of all GPUs, meaning they are statistically inseparable in raw compute performance. Yet these two parts could hardly be more different under the hood — one is a 2011 discrete graphics card built on a 40 nm process with a 116 W power draw, while the other is a 2014 integrated processor graphics solution on 14 nm that sips just 15 W. The data presents a classic clash: dedicated hardware versus platform integration.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on the benchmark results, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti takes the only head-to-head victory, winning the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 5731 against the Intel Iris Pro P6300's 5712. That margin of 0.3% is within noise, but the win is nonetheless recorded in the data as a single win for NVIDIA and zero for Intel. In practical terms, the GTX 550 Ti's advantage lies in its dedicated memory subsystem: 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus delivers 98.50 GB/s of bandwidth, compared to the Iris Pro's system-shared memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." For workloads that saturate memory bandwidth, the discrete card's fixed allocation should hold an edge.

The Intel Iris Pro P6300, however, wins in every category that does not show up in a benchmark score. Its 15 W TDP versus 116 W means it consumes dramatically less power — roughly 87% less by the numbers. It requires no additional power connectors, no dual-slot cooler, and no external PSU recommendation; the GTX 550 Ti needs a 1x 6-pin connector and a 300 W suggested PSU. The Iris Pro is an IGP with a "Ring Bus" interface, which means it is embedded into the Broadwell processor itself, requiring no separate card. For compact or power-constrained systems, the Intel part is the only viable option. The GTX 550 Ti, by contrast, is a 210 mm dual-slot card that demands physical space and cooling.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two is generational and philosophical. The GTX 550 Ti uses the GF116 chip built on Fermi 2.0 architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 40 nm process. It packs 1,170 million transistors into a 238 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 4.9 million per square millimeter. The Iris Pro P6300 is built on Intel's Generation 8.0 architecture (Broadwell GT3e) using a 14 nm process from Intel's own fabs; its transistor count and die size are not listed in the data, but the process node tells the story — Intel's 14 nm is dramatically denser than TSMC's 40 nm, which explains how the Iris Pro can fit 384 shading units where the GTX 550 Ti has just 192.

The shading unit count is a key divergence. The Iris Pro has exactly double the shading units (384 vs 192) and 50% more texture mapping units (48 vs 32). Yet the GTX 550 Ti wins on pixel rate: 7.200 GPixel/s versus 4.800 GPixel/s, thanks to its 24 ROPs against the Intel part's 6 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also leads in raw FP32 compute at 691.2 GFLOPS versus 614.4 GFLOPS for the Iris Pro. Texture rate flips the other way: the Iris Pro delivers 38.40 GTexel/s versus 28.80 GTexel/s for the GTX 550 Ti. These numbers suggest the GTX 550 Ti is optimized for fill-rate-bound rasterization, while the Iris Pro leans toward shader-heavy and texture-heavy workloads.

Clock behavior also differs fundamentally. The GTX 550 Ti lists no base or boost clock, only a 1026 MHz memory clock (4.1 Gbps effective). The Iris Pro runs at a 300 MHz base clock with an 800 MHz boost — a variable range that allows it to scale down to save power and up for performance. The GTX 550 Ti is a fixed-clock discrete card; the Iris Pro is a dynamically clocked integrated solution. API support shows Intel leading on DirectX 12 (11_1 versus 11_0) and Vulkan (1.0 versus none), while NVIDIA leads on OpenGL (4.6 versus 4.4).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is close to a tie. The GTX 550 Ti scores 5731, the Iris Pro P6300 scores 5712, giving NVIDIA a 0.3% advantage. To put that in perspective, look at the nearest rivals for each card. The GTX 550 Ti's closest competitor is the GeForce GTX 670MX at 5721 (0.2% ahead of the 550 Ti), followed by the Iris Pro itself at 5712 (0.3% behind). The AMD Radeon HD 8790M comes in at 5691, a 0.7% gap. On the Intel side, the nearest rival is the GTX 670MX at 5721 (0.1% ahead), then the GTX 550 Ti at 5731 (0.3% ahead of the Iris Pro), then the HD 8790M at 5691 (0.4% behind the Iris Pro). The data shows a four-way cluster of GPUs within a 0.7% performance band — any of these cards would be interchangeable in OpenCL compute.

The only meaningful outlier in the rival lists is the AMD Radeon R7 M465, which scores 5841 and sits 1.9% above the GTX 550 Ti. Both cards also show the NVIDIA Quadro M500M at 5604, which trails the Iris Pro by 1.9%. The takeaway: neither the GTX 550 Ti nor the Iris Pro P6300 has a decisive performance advantage over the other. The 0.3% delta is smaller than the margin between either card and its nearest rival. If the benchmark had run twice, the winner could plausibly flip.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti scores 5731, while the Intel Iris Pro P6300 scores 5712. The NVIDIA card wins by 0.3%.

Q: How do these cards compare in power consumption?

A: The GTX 550 Ti has a 116 W TDP and requires a 1x 6-pin power connector plus a 300 W suggested PSU. The Iris Pro P6300 has a 15 W TDP and requires no power connectors, as it is an integrated GPU.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: The GTX 550 Ti has 1024 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus with 98.50 GB/s bandwidth. The Iris Pro P6300 uses system-shared memory with a system-dependent bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports Vulkan?

A: Only the Intel Iris Pro P6300 supports Vulkan (version 1.0). The GTX 550 Ti has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: How do their shading unit counts compare?

A: The Iris Pro P6300 has 384 shading units, exactly double the GTX 550 Ti's 192. The Intel part also has 48 TMUs versus 32 on the NVIDIA card, but the GTX 550 Ti has 24 ROPs versus 6 on the Iris Pro.

Q: What is the release timing difference?

A: The GTX 550 Ti was released on 2011-03-14, while the Iris Pro P6300 came out on 2014-09-04 — roughly three and a half years later.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti | Intel Iris Pro P6300 |

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

| Architecture | Fermi 2.0 | Generation 8.0 |

| Process Node | 40 nm (TSMC) | 14 nm (Intel) |

| Transistors | 1,170 million | Not listed |

| Die Size | 238 mm² | Not listed |

| Shading Units | 192 | 384 |

| TMUs | 32 | 48 |

| ROPs | 24 | 6 |

| Base Clock | Not listed | 300 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not listed | 800 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1026 MHz (4.1 Gbps effective) | System Shared |

| Memory Size | 1024 MB GDDR5 | System Shared |

| Memory Bus | 192 bit | System Shared |

| Bandwidth | 98.50 GB/s | System Dependent |

| Pixel Rate | 7.200 GPixel/s | 4.800 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 28.80 GTexel/s | 38.40 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 691.2 GFLOPS | 614.4 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 116 W | 15 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | Ring Bus |

| Display Outputs | 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a | Motherboard Dependent |

| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (11_1) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.4 |

| Vulkan | None | 1.0 |

| Dimensions | 210 mm (8.3 inches) | Not listed |

| Launch MSRP | 149 USD | None |

The Verdict

The benchmark data says these two GPUs are effectively equal in compute performance, with the GTX 550 Ti ahead by 0.3% — a margin that disappears when you account for the 0.2% gap to the next rival. The decision between them must therefore rest on factors other than raw OpenCL scores.

Choose the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti if you need dedicated graphics with fixed memory resources. Its 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus provides a known, consistent 98.50 GB/s of bandwidth, and its 24 ROPs deliver a 50% higher pixel rate than the Iris Pro. It also supports OpenGL 4.6, which is newer than the Intel part's 4.4. The 691.2 GFLOPS FP32 compute is 12.5% higher than the Iris Pro's 614.4 GFLOPS. If you have a desktop system with a 300 W PSU and a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, the GTX 550 Ti is the more capable rasterizer.

Choose the Intel Iris Pro P6300 if power efficiency and platform integration are paramount. At 15 W versus 116 W, it consumes a fraction of the power. It needs no power connector, no extra slot, and no additional PSU headroom. Its 384 shading units and 48 TMUs give it a shader and texture throughput advantage, and its Vulkan 1.0 support opens API options the NVIDIA card simply lacks. For a laptop or a low-power compact desktop built around a Broadwell processor, the Iris Pro is the only sensible choice — you cannot install a dual-slot 210 mm card into a system without a PCIe slot.

The data shows a tie in performance. The context decides the winner.