THE INTEGRATION GAME

Gaming on integrated graphics is increasingly viable; Christian Guyton breaks down what’s making it possible

- Christian Guyton

IF YOU’D TOLD US at the beginning of last year that in 2019 we would get Crysis running on a Microsoft Surface tablet, we would have laughed in your collective face. But oh, how the tables have turned. Integrated graphics on CPUs have made huge strides in the past year. AMD has pushed Radeon Vega graphics further with its new 3000-series Ryzen APUs, while Intel rocked the boat with Iris Plus, which is its next generation of integrated graphics for mobile processors.

It was Iris Plus, included in the Surface Pro 7 convertible tablet, which managed to get that trial-by-fire game up and running. OK, it was at 720p minimum graphics, but the frame rate was still stable, and it actually worked. Esports titles, which favor frame rates above all else, thrived on Iris Plus. We played Overwatch, CS:GO, and Dirty Bomb on a tiny Dell 2-in-1, and it was awesome.

Integrated graphics now account for a significant chunk of all PCs worldwide, due to cost, lower power draw, and smaller profile compared to discrete graphics cards. An integrated graphics solution can now handle basic desktop tasks, but older IGPs (Integrated Graphics Processors) weren’t so good for gaming. Basic 2D graphics were just about viable, but 3D and online competitive gaming required a separate, more powerful GPU.

Gaming has now gone mainstream. In 2019, 65 percent of all American adults played games regularly, with a relatively even split between men and women. And as the gaming sphere has expanded and evolved, the ability to game on integrated graphics has become a new necessity for the industry. So how has it become possible? Let’s take a look.