how much difference does a dedicated video card make?

On my new 1505, I just got the standard Intel® Media Accelerator 950 Graphics, but I have noticed many other posts about the dedicated video cards.

Just wondering what difference do they really make, if you are not a gamer? do they improve the actual quality of the graphics, or is it mainly the speed of displaying them?

Since I am not a gamer, would I notice the difference?

 

Cacoast,

Makes a huge difference. Having a dedicated graphics card increases the look 3D graphics majorily (slight difference on 2D graphics). If your not a gamer though the intel should work fine for you as it apparently it does handle lower end 3D graphics ok

 

The big deal right now is most of us buying new systems are doing so with the intent of running the next soon to be released version of the next Windows Operating System.

If your not doing your homework and buying a new system right now capable of running what is soon to be released then your throwing your money away because your buying into whats about 6 months if that away from being completely obsolete.

Once Windows Vista hits the market these systems some people are paying top dollar for right now will be of no value to most of the world and the manufacturers are going to have trouble even giving them away. Thats why they're pushing them off like they are right now, to move them out and get rid of them before getting stuck with warehouses full of hardware nobody is going to want.

The biggest issue right now is the video card and since Microsoft has released the required hardware specs for the new OS to be released here soon it's clear that the graphics card on any system expecting to run the new OS is going to be your number one priority to consider.

Think of it as you just thought you got a great deal buying a new car that runs on 4 wheels, but you made the mistake in buying that car because in 6 months there will no longer be roads capable of supporting cars that drive on wheels. Instead all the roads as you know them are about to be ripped out of the ground and replaced by high speed rail systems.

 

The 950GMA should be able to run the areo glass feature in windows vista. However if it doesn't run well then you can just turn off this feature and still be able to use windows vista just fine. The 950GMA should be more then enough for everyday tasks. But in the feature it might not be. But you should always have the option to turn cretin features down that require a lot of graphics power. So you should be fine.

 

Thats correct, the 950 makes it in the door as the absolute minimum you can get by with according to the new hardware specs.

Try running any software though on the absolute minimum required and tell us how well it runs for you.

 

Actually, experts are predicting that Vista will come out in quarter two of 2007 which is spring, so it will be almost another year yet before the new Windows OS comes out. And when it does come out, the market will not switch to 64-bit immediately. There will be a time of transition, which allows software producers to switch to 64-bit. By the time vista becomes mainstream, the systems you've configured right now will probably be one and a half or two years old. Computer hardware advances in technology rather quickly, so your current system is probably useless compare to those. So, if you're willing to wait two years for a new system, then wait, but for those of us who have uses for computers then get the current 32-bit Core Duos and buy a new computer when Vista becomes mainstream. Also, it's not that expensive to buy a good computer nowdays. With 1400, you can buy a computer that is capable of pretty much doing anything--even running top of the line games--from Dell.

 

OEM's are expected to be selling systems with Vista preinstalled by fall of this year. Those of us who work directly in the computer industry will likely have the final release version in our hands as early as late July for testing and development.

I certainly don't mean to imply anyone should smash their system with a hammer right now if it's not capable of running Vista to it's full potential. They'll still be able to run their current versions of XP just fine and XP is a fine operating system.

My only intent was answering the question, as to why the graphics card selected is so important to many of us right now. Which is what was asked.

 

If you are not a gamer, 3D artist, CAD/CAM user: nothing.

There is indeed the Vista story, but even then it is only for some specific eye candy which is not really required. Furthermore, no one is forcing you to move to Vista and I will actually not switch when it comes out. I don't feel like acting as an unpaid debug peson for MS

 

I would, in fact, encourage most people not to immedately upgrade to Vista. Give it some time to settle, figure out all the bugs they missed and the holes they didn't plug. Probably after a year of it being on computers will it be a good time to upgrade.

Not only that, but they are releasing different "versions." Much like XP Home is much less stable than XP Pro, I am sure one version of Vista won't be as solid as another. So that time will be a good period to figure out which version is going to give you the least headaches.

 

My sentiments exactly. I will wait until Vistal SP3 is released.

 

Sorry, but that analogy makes no sense. The release of Windows Vista does not change the entire computing infrastructure. I still have an old notebook with Windows 98 SE because I use it only to surf the Web and there is no reason to upgrade the operating system. Windows XP will be supported for years to come.

cacoast, you wrote that you are not a gamer and therefore I can assure you that you won't notice a difference between the Intel GMA 950 and a dedicated video card. Just make sure that you have enough RAM. I would suggest at least 1 GB because the integrated card uses system memory. Congratulations on the purchase of your E1505, you made a good choice.

 

Are there any drawbacks to getting a video card? Like heat, weight or noise?