Desktops forum: Buying a new PC, will I regret the integrated graphics card later?

The integrated graphics chip on the new will be far faster than what you have in your old PC.

If you are unhappy with the performance of the new PC you may always add a graphics card later.

If the integrated graphics uses 256 meg of the PCs memory make sure the new PC has at least, preferably 4 or more gig.

Ideally the motherboard should allow you to upgrade to at least 8 Gb.

Nice comparison. and you are correct

That two hands can type with ease certainly doesn't apply to me, a one finger dolt be I.And yet can type and draw at same time must mean I don't need a graphics card at all but is integrated in my tiny brain.

SLI is 2 or even 3 dedicated graphics cards. You cannot bridge the onboard graphic chipset with an add-on graphics card for dual support. In fact, you would disable the onboard graphics chip in order to use a dedicated video card. Also, most motherboards in store-bought systems are not high-end, but usually entry-level motherboards. An important consideration to look at before buying one of these systems is whether it even has room to add a video card in ... some don't.

There is a lot more to consider besides the amount of Ram dedicated to integrated graphics. Most onboard GPU's would not make good gaming machines. Be sure that the machine you buy has a dedicated slot for an add-on card. If you find the onboard graphics are not up to snuff it is a simple matter of adding a dedicated card and disabling the onboard graphics. Most newer motherboards will see the new card, if not you may have to go to the BIOS and disable there. I would recommend at least 512 megs of RAM for a dedicated card and doing a bit of research. The biggest makers are ATI and Nvidia. Both have good lower priced cards but Nvidia drivers seems to support games developed with Open GL better than ATI so this is something to consider.

If you plan on playing light / moderate cpu taxing games (such as flash games or web games) then you can probably get away with an integrated graphics card with today's CPUs.

If however you are looking to play more graphically demanding games (such as Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, World of Warcraft, Crysis, etc.) you definitely need a dedicated graphics card.

The reason is integrated graphics rely more heavily on the CPU to make all the graphical calculations and renderings which can bog down the computer's overall performance. Memory is also usually shared with the main memory which again can affect performance.

A dedicated card has it's own dedicated GPU and memory which does all the video calcs and rendering which, in turn, frees up the CPU for other tasks. This creates a much more efficient system and gives a huge boost in overall performance especially with the more graphically demanding games.

Also, if you do go with dedicated, do it right! Don't slouch on the quality of the dedicated graphics card's chipset. A low-end/older dedicated graphics card can be almost as bad as using the newer integrated graphics chipsets.

The Bad news: It wont run those graphic intensive games.
It will most likely handle all the general tasks like email,web surfing etc...
The Good News: As Long as the motherboard in the system also has a pci or even better, a pci express slot, or even still better a pci express 2.0 slot available you can upgrade to a good graphics card in the future as a decent video card today at 200-300 dollars, will a year from now be 60-125 dollars!

First of all, all HP computers have integrated graphics that use system RAM instead of having their own memory. Also, if you install a graphics card, you cannot run both the integrated graphics and the PCI card. After installing the PCI card, you have to go into the Device Manager and disable the integrated graphics, otherwise all sorts of weird things will happen. After installing the card and its drivers, and before disabling the integrated graphics, you will have to shut down the computer, disconnect the monitor from the integrated graphics' connector, and connect it to the connector on the new card. Then boot into Windows and disable the integrated graphics in the Device Manager and reboot.

Regarding AlanG59's post, I have an HP computer, too; but I didn't encounter the problems that AlanG59 encountered except the need for a more powerful graphics card with its own GPU and memory.

I do a lot of graphics work, including video editing and compilations, so the integrated graphics were inadequate. It's true that HP only uses integrated graphics that meet the needs of the software and hardware that come with the machine. If you need more graphics rendering capability, then you will have to add a graphics card. To solve my problem, I bought a new Nvidia graphics card. When I opened the computer's case, I found that I had two empty PCI slots. It was a simple matter of installing the drivers and graphics card, connecting the monitor to the new card, and disabling the integrated graphics. The only problem I have had related to the new graphics card was when I installed Linux in a dual boot configuration. I could not get the Nvidia card to work with Linux, no matter what I did. Nvidia did not have Linux drivers for my card, and the application that is supposed to allow Linux to use the Windows drivers did not work. All I got was a black screen. It was either uninstall Linux or uninstall the Nvidia graphics card. I opted to uninstall Linux rather than give up the improved graphics that I had gained from the new graphics card.

So, if you buy an HP computer and you are going to be playing graphics intense games, then you may as well include the price of a good graphics card.

The user manual should give you the specs for the computer, including the total number of PCI slots and the number of PCI slots that are free (as in not being used). Also, a glance at the back of the tower will be an indicator. The number of blank PCI card knock-outs will usually be the same as the number of available PCI slots.

You can also go to HP's Web site before you buy the machine and look up the specs for the computer you are thinking of buying.

All you had to do is buy a newer and better motherboard and transfer everything to it.

Jose,

With regard to graphics processing units (GPUs), there are generally two different types. One type, like that in the computer you're considering, has an integrated GPU. A useful way of thinking of integrated video cards is with the word 'shared' - an integrated card shares some of your computer's memory. So, say that you have 2GB ram in your new PC - 256mb of this is portioned out to the video card.

The other type is a dedicated GPU. These are video cards designed to have their own memory - some these days reaching 1GB. The advantage of this is that, given their name, they have their own dedicated memory, and are generally designed to be much more powerful.

It's difficult to give you full advice without knowing specifically what integrated card the PC uses. What I can say is that an integrated card will never give you the same graphics processing power as a dedicated one. Because the dedicated cards have their own memory, they are not sapping memory from your PC. Consequentially, games will run much more efficiently on a dedicated card. If you want to play more recent, graphically intensive games, an integrated card will only suffice if you turn all the settings down, somewhat defeating the point of it being a recent, graphically intensive game.

Remember that when you plug your monitor into the tower unit, the connection is made at your graphics card. These things are not just for powering games; if you're going to be watching high-quality movies, video- or photo-editing, a more powerful dedicated graphics card will always put you in better stead, and let you do more.

The pure joy of a desktop is that generally speaking you're free to upgrade it whenever you want, and upgrading RAM, sound cards, graphics cards and the like is remarkably straightforward (although note that some manufacturers consider user-upgrades to be a breach of the warranty). A common misconception is that graphics cards cost the earth. Yes, the newest and most powerful ones do, but plump for one of the better models from last year, and you'll get great performance with plenty of bucks left over. Before you do this, you do need to check what type of motherboard you have and match this up to the cards available. But no, if you plump for the cheaper option now it does not mean you'll be stuck playing Solitaire for ever!

Integrated graphics doesn't mean that one cannot simply (in most cases) add a second graphics card in an open PCI slot and disable the graphics that came attached to the motherboard. Then you just need to know to which VGA port you attach your monitor to.

Even if your on a tight budget,you can purchase dedicated cards that are $50 bucks and under that will give you everything you need and more.Also your stuck with a vga monitor connection on almost all integrated gpus.Dvi or digital connection that is on almost all dedicated gpus is by far the way to go with all today's great picture quality options.Remember you do not have to remove your intergrated setup to add a dedicated at any time,that's what I did and if my gpu ever breaks I still can go back to the on board graphics.

When I got my HP PC back in 2004, it was shipped in intergrated graphic card. I didn't know the meaning of it. Due to my own curiosity, I came to realize that having standalone graphic card is always better than having integrated one in term of performance. By having standalone graphic card, the burden of CPU and the amount of RAM that has been used will be reduced. GPU will take over the graphic processiong job and there would be dedicated memory for graphic so that your ram could be used for other tasks. If you don't use your PC for resource-intensive job, integrated graphic card will just do fine. Before running softwares, it's a good practice to check their system requirement. I'm not a hardcore gamer. But I do use Autocad, Adobe Flash and Photoshop. They do consume a lot of resources.

It has been mention numerous times that memory is NOT the key component for graphics but the graphics CPU chip or GPU is the key component. Now I will also agree that your question is "mute", most PCs come with an integrated graphics card and most motherboards have a PCI-e slot or regular PCI slot where you can install your own graphics card....so search the net for that PC and see if find out if the motherboard has an extra slot for graphics. And yes a mid level graphic card a few year;s old between $ 80-150 (w/rebate) will handle all your needs.......unless you are a gamer and gamers are never satisfied...they will always upgrdae.

When I brought my E-machine PC (now retired) back in 2003 the integrated card handle everything I threw at it and play all my son's games which were a few years old. In six months I purchase a seperate card so he could play newer games. And on my current system.....I ordered it with a graphics card so he could play all his games. So find out if it has a slot and don't worry. When you buy a card, to play it safe buy 512 mbyte of ram and if affordable buy 1 gbyte RAM to ease your worries.

see...I did it myself <holding head in shame!>