Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data leaves no ambiguity about the performance hierarchy between these two GPUs. Across every shared test in the database, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 posts a decisive victory over the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200. The most extreme gap appears in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the GTX 970 scores 29,982 points against the Intel part's 4,556 points. That works out to a 558.1% advantage, a margin that reflects the fundamental difference in compute resources and memory architecture between a dedicated graphics card and an integrated processor graphics solution.

The Geekbench Vulkan test tells a similar story, though with a slightly narrower spread. The GTX 970 records 20,005 points, while the Iris Pro 6200 manages 6,032 points. The delta here is 231.6% in favor of the NVIDIA card. Vulkan is a low-level API that can expose scaling differences between architectures, and the results indicate that the GTX 970's larger shader array and dedicated memory subsystem translate directly into far higher throughput.

The smallest relative gap between the two comes in the Geekbench Metal test, but it is still a landslide. The GTX 970 finishes with 13,595 points, compared to 7,764 for the Intel Iris Pro 6200. That is a 75.1% lead for the NVIDIA part. Metal is Apple's graphics API, and while both GPUs support it, the GTX 970's raw compute power and memory bandwidth give it a commanding edge even in a test that tends to favor architectures with efficient driver overhead.

Looking at the broader database context, the GTX 970's average benchmark score sits at 7,157 points, which places it in the 39th percentile of all GPUs tracked. Its nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 (7,170 points, a 0.2% difference), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE (7,171 points, also 0.2% off), the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile (7,203 points, 0.6% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (7,222 points, 0.9% ahead). Notably, the GTX 970 is slightly below all four of these rivals in average score, which suggests that while it dominates the Iris Pro 6200, it sits in a tightly contested cluster of mid-range parts.

The Intel Iris Pro 6200, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 6,117 points and sits in the 35th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 8690M (6,137 points, 0.3% ahead), the NVIDIA RTX A400 (6,078 points, 0.6% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce MX230 (6,077 points, 0.7% behind), and the NVIDIA Quadro P2000 (6,049 points, 1.1% behind). The Iris Pro 6200 is essentially at parity with these parts, sitting in the same performance tier rather than standing out from it.

The head-to-head record is 3 wins for the GTX 970 and 0 for the Intel part. No test in the shared benchmark suite favors the integrated solution.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear separation of roles. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 is a dedicated graphics card designed for sustained 3D workloads, and the benchmark results confirm that it delivers anywhere from 75.1% to 558.1% higher scores than the Intel Iris Pro 6200 depending on the API tested. Anyone choosing between these two for gaming, GPU compute, or any application that stresses the graphics pipeline should select the GTX 970 without hesitation.

The Intel Iris Pro 6200, however, is not without a purpose. It is an integrated GPU with a 15 W TDP, built into a Broadwell processor. It consumes a fraction of the power of the GTX 970, which has a 148 W TDP, and requires no separate power connectors or expansion slot. For a compact laptop or a low-power desktop build where discrete graphics are not an option, the Iris Pro 6200 provides a baseline level of 3D capability that outperforms nothing in this comparison but still offers usable performance for light workloads.

The decision framework is straightforward. If the system can physically accommodate the GTX 970, which measures 267 mm in length and requires a dual-slot footprint plus two 6-pin power connectors, then the GTX 970 is the correct choice on every measurable axis. If the system is constrained to integrated graphics, the Iris Pro 6200 is what it is: a capable-enough IGP for basic tasks, but it loses every benchmark contest in this database.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different manufacturers, different foundries, and different design philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 is built on the GM204 chip using the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 5,200 million transistors into a 398 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.1 million per square millimeter. The Intel Iris Pro 6200 uses the Broadwell GT3e chip with Intel's Generation 8.0 architecture, built on Intel's own 14 nm process. Intel does not report transistor counts or die size for this part in the database.

The compute resources differ massively. The GTX 970 has 1,664 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 56 raster output units. The Iris Pro 6200 has 384 shading units, 48 TMUs, and only 6 ROPs. That ROP count is particularly telling, as it limits the Intel part's pixel throughput to 6.6 GPixel/s, compared to 65.97 GPixel/s for the GTX 970. Texture rate tells a similar story: 122.5 GTexel/s for the NVIDIA card versus 52.8 GTexel/s for the Intel part. Floating-point performance is also lopsided, with the GTX 970 delivering 3.920 TFLOPS of FP32 compute against 844.8 GFLOPS for the Iris Pro 6200.

Clock speeds show a different pattern. The GTX 970 runs at a base clock of 1050 MHz with a boost of 1178 MHz. The Iris Pro 6200 has a much lower base clock of 300 MHz but boosts to 1100 MHz. The NVIDIA part's higher sustained clocks, combined with its larger shader array, produce the benchmark gaps observed.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. The GTX 970 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 224.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1753 MHz, with an effective data rate of 7 Gbps. The Iris Pro 6200 uses system shared memory, with the type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as system dependent. This means the Intel part's memory performance varies with the host system's RAM configuration, while the GTX 970 has a fixed, dedicated memory subsystem that does not compete with the CPU for bandwidth.

API support also differs. The GTX 970 supports DirectX 12 (feature level 12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Iris Pro 6200 supports DirectX 12 (feature level 11_1), OpenGL 4.4, and Vulkan 1.0. The NVIDIA card has a higher feature level in DirectX and newer versions of both OpenGL and Vulkan.

Power and physical design are the areas where the Intel part has the advantage. The GTX 970 has a TDP of 148 W and requires a 300 W power supply, dual-slot cooling, and two 6-pin power connectors. The Iris Pro 6200 has a TDP of just 15 W, uses the ring bus interface, and has no power connectors or slot width requirement since it is an integrated GPU. The NVIDIA card outputs video through 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.2. The Intel part's display outputs are motherboard dependent.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench Metal performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 scores 13,595 points in the Metal test, which is 75.1% higher than the Intel Iris Pro 6200's score of 7,764 points.

Q: How large is the gap in OpenCL compute performance?

A: The GTX 970 scores 29,982 points in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Iris Pro 6200 scores 4,556 points. This is a 558.1% difference, the largest margin of any shared benchmark between the two.

Q: Does the Intel Iris Pro 6200 win any benchmark against the GTX 970?

A: No. In the three shared tests (Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan), the GTX 970 wins all of them. The head-to-head record is 3 wins for NVIDIA and 0 for Intel.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 970 has an average benchmark score of 7,157 points, placing it in the 39th percentile of all GPUs. The Iris Pro 6200 averages 6,117 points, placing it in the 35th percentile.

Q: What are the power consumption figures for each GPU?

A: The GTX 970 has a TDP of 148 W and requires a 300 W power supply. The Iris Pro 6200 has a TDP of 15 W and requires no additional power supply recommendation.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The GTX 970 has 4 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 224.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Iris Pro 6200 uses system shared memory, with bandwidth listed as system dependent.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970:

The GTX 970 wins every shared benchmark in the database, so the list of scenarios where it is the better choice is extensive. It dominates in Vulkan compute, scoring 231.6% higher than the Intel part. It dominates even more in OpenCL, with a 558.1% lead. It wins in Metal by a still-large 75.1% margin. For gaming, GPU-accelerated rendering, video encoding, or any workload that can use the 1,664 shading units and 224.4 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth, the GTX 970 is the clear pick. Its 56 ROPs and 65.97 GPixel/s pixel rate make it vastly better suited to high-resolution rasterization than the Intel part's 6 ROPs and 6.6 GPixel/s. The GTX 970 also supports newer API versions, including Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6, which may matter for compatibility with recent software.

Intel Iris Pro 6200:

The Iris Pro 6200 does not win any benchmark, but it wins in system integration and power efficiency. Its 15 W TDP is less than one-tenth the power draw of the GTX 970. It requires no dedicated power connectors, no expansion slot, and no extra cooling beyond what the host processor already has. It uses system shared memory, which means no separate VRAM purchase is needed. For a thin laptop, a mini PC, or any system where a discrete GPU physically cannot fit, the Iris Pro 6200 provides baseline 3D acceleration with support for DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.4, and Vulkan 1.0. Its average benchmark score of 6,117 points places it near parts like the NVIDIA Quadro P2000 and GeForce MX230, so it is not an irrelevant performer in the integrated graphics tier. It simply cannot compete with a dedicated card that has over four times the shading units and over 33 times the pixel rate.