When considering the Intel Z68's integrated graphics performance over the following benchmark charts it's wise to remember that the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD motherboard provides only one HDMI video output at 1920x1200, and that the IGP core is dependent on the Intel Core i3/i5/i7 2xxx 'SandyBridge' processor. Furthermore, Intel's HD 3000 IGP is only DX10.1 so 3DMark11 and other DX11 benchmarks were omitted.

Since the Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD motherboard supports Lucid Virtu there's a lot more flexibility with this Intel Z68 platform to use IGP and switch to discreet graphics than any other board except the Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3. What's also really interesting is how the Intel HD 3000 graphics that the Intel Z68 enables fair in comparison to AMD new A75 chipset and socket FM1 A8-3850 APU (with Radeon HD 6550D graphics core)...

Futuremark 3DMark Vantage (On IGP Graphics) Performance Overall: (P) Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1745 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1738 Intel DH67BL (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1539 Biostar TH67XE (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1978 ECS H67H2-M (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1707 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 3711 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 385 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 420 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 249 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 287 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 287 GPU score: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1342 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1337 Intel DH67BL (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1182 Biostar TH67XE (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1527 ECS H67H2-M (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 1313 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 3073 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 291 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 318 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 188 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 216 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 217 CPU score: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 17364 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 17383 Intel DH67BL (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 16441 Biostar TH67XE (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 17319 ECS H67H2-M (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 16914 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 9839 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 10767 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 10920 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 10942 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 10942 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 10880

The Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD supports Virtu, a good thing considering how the Intel IGP stacks up (1745) against AMD's new A75 chipset and IGP on the GA-A75M-UD2H motherboard (3711). Where previous Intel IGPs are concerned the Intel Z68 platform is certainly quicker, relatively speaking.

Futuremark 3DMark06 (On IGP Graphics) Overall: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4301 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4292 Intel DH67BL (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 3322 Biostar TH67XE (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4689 ECS H67H2-M (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 4265 Intel DG45ID (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 1043 Asus P5Q-EM (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 1162 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 6356 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 2027 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 2224 ASUS M3A78-T (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 2084 Foxconn A7DA-S (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 1718 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 1682 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 1790 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 1794 CPU: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6098 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 6051 Intel DH67BL (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 3802 Biostar TH67XE (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5977 ECS H67H2-M (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 5958 Intel DG45ID (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 2218 Asus P5Q-EM (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 2228 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 4033 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 4447 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 4513 ASUS M3A78-T (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 3208 Foxconn A7DA-S (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 1879 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 4456 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 4456 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 4445

3DMark06 says pretty much the same thing; the Intel Z68 platform offers up a much needed boost to Intel IGP graphics. Intel's IGP is still relatively weak compared to AMD's newest socket FM1 A8-3850 APU. It's surprising how far behind the Intel G45 platform falls!!! Yikes!

Sierra FEAR (On IGP Graphics) 1024x768 Maximum: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 36 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 19 Intel DH67BL (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 24 Biostar TH67XE (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 36 ECS H67H2-M (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 32 Intel DG45ID (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 9 Asus P5Q-EM (Intel GMA X4500HD IGP) 11 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 57 Biostar TA890GXE (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 12 ASUS M4A89GTD-Pro (Radeon HD 4290 IGP) 10 ASUS M3A78-T (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 13 Foxconn A7DA-S (Radeon HD 3300 IGP) 12 Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 10 MSI 785GM-E65 (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 10 ASUS M4A785TD-V Evo (Radeon HD 4200 IGP) 10 1600x1200 Maximum: Points Ranking Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 18 Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3H-B3 (Intel HD 3000 IGP) 8 Gigabyte GA-A75M-UD2H (Radeon HD 6550D IGP) 28

FEAR is a DX9 title that really demonstrates just how far IGPs have come in the last couple years. What used to be nearly impossible for Intel and AMD IGPs to render at 1024x768 at anything over 12FPS, can now be tackled at 1600x1200 at 18-28FPS! The Gigabyte GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD test system does well here with an IGP-driven result of 36FPS at 1024x768 resolution, 18FPS at 1600x1200 resolution. AMD's A8-3850 Fusion APU wins hands down, as expected.

For the final round of IGP benchmarks we have Call of Juarez and Crysis, that's next....