Aside from gaming, what is the use of a graphics card?

I'm not really sure if this would be the best spot to ask this, so point me in the right direction if need be.

Anyways, I'm looking at getting the Inspiron E1505, and at first I planned to upgrade to the best graphics card they offered while customizing it, but now I'm having second thoughts. I already don't play very many games on my desktop, however part of the reason is because my comp can't handle it. But I'm not really a big FPS/RTS gamer which pretty much eliminates the majority of great comp games. So I'm starting to think maybe its not worth upgrading the graphics card and just spending the money on improving something else.

So I guess my question is, are there any other draw backs aside from slower frame rate on games that comes along with an integrated graphics card? I do plan on using graphics/video editing programs as well as watching TV on my second monitor that will hook up to the laptop. Those are the only intense graphical things I can think of that I would be doing.

So do I really need to upgrade the card, or what?

 

hey.. if you intend to run Windows Vista and would like to see some nice effects (Aero style), then you should also consider getting a dedicated graphic card (rather than an internal chip) with at least 128MB RAM. If you however don't care about those effects, just turn them off and you should be fine.

 

graphic card is used in 3d applications such as 3d studio max, maya, etc.etc.
also in autocad, photoshop and other graphic applications.

if your computer is only for Office/solitaire then a low end notebook would cover almost anything.

 

Anything 2D graphics based is mostly computed by the CPU, and anything 3D based is by the GPU. Vista runs fine in aero mode with the integrated cards AFAIK, even the Intel 950 GMA.

 

The graphics card has two basic purposes:

- Manipulating 3d graphics (games, as well as apps such as CAD stuff, or Max or Maya). I'm not away of Photoshop using the GPU for anything (since it doesn't deal with 3d. It would be possible to offload some computations to the GPU, but I dont think they do so, and I doubt there'd be much benefit speed-wise). Encoding/decoding movies can be accelerated with a decent GPU as well (which is especially important with high-definition content that is basically unplayable without GPU acceleration)

- Putting stuff on the screen. Someone needs to tell the screen which pixels to light up, and that's the job of the GPU.

So, if you only need the second point, *any* GPU will do.
If you need any of the first, you have to be a bit more careful what you choose.

 

Alright then, thanks guys. Looks like I'll be doing the upgrade after all.

 

Yep, although for Windows versions prior to Vista, the CPU handles rasterizing the desktop and all the included windows. If you think about it, a GPU is just another CPU with hardware specialized for the pipelining of graphics data in accordance to a standardized API such as OpenGL and DX.

 

what about watching video or TV? In near future I'll have to choose a laptop for my sister. the only game she plays is solitaire. but she insists on good video playback. will integrated card do?

 

Yup. Nothing taxing for the GPU with that.

 

But it would not hurt to choose anything better than the GMA 950, just in case.

 

Dedicated graphics cards have technologies like PureVideo, etc. which will help with motion compensation and the decoding of various compressed videos, especially high-definition video. They also help with DVD playback, making it look more fluid with less CPU usage. Integrated graphics will work well for you, and save battery power, but a dedicated card does do more than just 3D graphics.

 

thank you. she's really not so demanding, so i think I'll go with integrated card and spend the money on sth else.