DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

Onboard v Dedicated

28 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/onboard-v-dedicated.96371/

furious_gamer
furious_gamer Original post #1
Aug 25, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Hi friends,
See my siggy for my system spec. Just a few days ago i remove my gfx card and i want to know about my onboards capabilities. My onboard video is NVIDIA 7050 with 512MB of VRAM and when i play farcry with very high settings, the frame rates seems to be lower than my previous test that i made with my 7600GS...
My 7600GS is just 256MB DDR2 VRAM and it yields above 50fps in FarCry with all Very High.. but my onboard which has 512MB on VRAM just gets me 30-35fps in the same with all very high. The same continues with Crysis, where with 7600GS i got 13-19fps at all high(err.. i turn off some options) and with onboard it just crawl with 6-9fps.....

* Is the additional 256MB of memory in my onboard gfx is not fully utilised?
* Or this is the full capability of my onboard?
Ethan_Hunt
Aug 25, 2008 at 1:17 PM
That's where most people's concepts go wrong.Counting only the video memory doesn't make anything strong/weak.Your dedicated graphics card may have only 256MB of VRAM but the bandwidth & clock frequencies are more than your onboard video_Onboard video memory is shared with your Physical memory (RAM) so don't expect a huge performance in them.They may claim upto 512MB but that doesn't equate it to a good performance in games.Onboard memory is just present to take care of basic gaming needs.Plus I'm shocked you're expecting high performance with onboard video for Crysis.That's asking for too much.

A dedicated graphic card would anyday perform better than an onboard video memory.Check out Yesh's thread for the Intel X3000's onboard testing which really amazes me that an onboard chipset is able to run so many games.
furious_gamer
Aug 25, 2008 at 3:35 PM
Onboard video memory is shared with your Physical memory (RAM) so don't expect a huge performance in them.They may claim upto 512MB but that doesn't equate it to a good performance in games.Onboard memory is just present to take care of basic gaming needs.Plus I'm shocked you're expecting high performance with onboard video for Crysis.That's asking for too much.

Not like that... I just want to know the fact.. That's it..
Infact the onboard just share 128MB of my RAM only.The remaining 384MB is dedicated. OK... Leave that...
Tell me how could i check those frequencies of onboard gfx card.. Is there any free softwares available?
And one last ques. Do i able to run GTA:SA,NFS:MW(as i still not try them with this mobo) with all settings set to very high at a resolution of 1024*768pixels with my onboard gfx....:D
just asking....
Please let me know...
MetalheadGautham
Aug 25, 2008 at 3:48 PM
Well, 7050GS gpu which you have in your motherboard is VERY VERY weak compared to the 7600GS. Its weaker than most things out there. Video RAM only acts as a temporary storage area for your GPU's processor. You need to worry about the shader units, clock speed, memory clock, etc of your GPU. All these for the onboard is very low compared to your 7600GS.

For an example with dedicated cards, take nVidia 8500GT with 1GB RAM. It might be more attractive than ATI HD4870 which has only 512MB RAM. But the performance difference is HUUUUUUGE.
furious_gamer
Aug 25, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Well, 7050GS gpu which you have in your motherboard is VERY VERY weak compared to the 7600GS. Its weaker than most things out there. Video RAM only acts as a temporary storage area for your GPU's processor. You need to worry about the shader units, clock speed, memory clock, etc of your GPU. All these for the onboard is very low compared to your 7600GS.

For an example with dedicated cards, take nVidia 8500GT with 1GB RAM. It might be more attractive than ATI HD4870 which has only 512MB RAM. But the performance difference is HUUUUUUGE.

Do u mean that i cant able to play GTA:SA and NFS:MW with all its eye-candy turned on with the onboard gfx..... But they are such older games.
asingh
asingh #6
Aug 25, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Well, 7050GS gpu which you have in your motherboard is VERY VERY weak compared to the 7600GS. Its weaker than most things out there. Video RAM only acts as a temporary storage area for your GPU's processor. You need to worry about the shader units, clock speed, memory clock, etc of your GPU. All these for the onboard is very low compared to your 7600GS.

For an example with dedicated cards, take nVidia 8500GT with 1GB RAM. It might be more attractive than ATI HD4870 which has only 512MB RAM. But the performance difference is HUUUUUUGE.

Yes..for sure. Though the 8500GT has more RAM, HD4XXX will be much much much better. Things like ROPs, clock frequencies, Shaders, Pxl Fill rate, Txt Fill rate, and of course number of transistors on the core come into play when assessing the power of a GPU. RAM just is a holding area before the processor crunches out the calculations and pushes them for output. More RAM means...more data can be held for "waiting"....but the calculation time/rendering depends on what MetalheadGautham has mentioned above.
furious_gamer
Aug 25, 2008 at 4:10 PM
Yes..for sure. Though the 8500GT has more RAM, HD4XXX will be much much much better. Things like ROPs, clock frequencies, Shaders, Pxl Fill rate, Txt Fill rate, and of course number of processors on the core come into play when assessing the power of a GPU. RAM just is a holding area before the processor crunches out the calculations and pushes them for output. More RAM means...more data can be held for "waiting"....but the calculation time/rendering depends on what MetalheadGautham has mentioned above.


But no one seems to answer my quest that..
* Could I able to play GTA:SA and NFS:MW with all settings very high @ 1024*768 res... Is it possible with my onboard?


Zangetsu
Aug 25, 2008 at 4:26 PM
But no one seems to answer my quest that..
* Could I able to play GTA:SA and NFS:MW with all settings very high @ 1024*768 res... Is it possible with my onboard?

u r onboard can play both games but @ wat settings i dont know...the best way is 2 try
it urself...:D
furious_gamer
Aug 25, 2008 at 4:32 PM
u r onboard can play both games but @ wat settings i dont know...the best way is 2 try
it urself...:D
As i give the DVD to my brother i cant able to play it until he return it to me... Thats y i ask here..... And my next ques is... Will it play all PoP Series at med-high settings...
channabasanna
Aug 25, 2008 at 4:52 PM
As i give the DVD to my brother i cant able to play it until he return it to me... Thats y i ask here..... And my next ques is... Will it play all PoP Series at med-high settings...

With your 7600GS you can play POP series games with medium-high settings without any hasles.
This was my old rig
P4 2.66GHz, Intel D101GGC board, 1GB(Transcend) and 512MB DDR400MHz RAM, XFX 7600GS 256MB Card.

In this rig i used to play NFSMW in med-high settings, also POP series.
quan chi
quan chi #11
Aug 25, 2008 at 5:58 PM
I am sorry i think lot of people answering here are mostly correct.but i also see some doubts in one of the members answer.(consider the last post)

allright now to your question.

consider a car 'X'(just take one example).which has the power of holding 50 litres of petrol in its fuel tank.but its acceleration is consider 0-60 in 20 sec. and average speed is about 100.18 mph.
car x has low powered engine

and

consider a car 'Y'(just take one example).which has the power of holding 25 litres of petrol in its fuel tank.acceleration 0-60 in 5 sec. and average speed is about 210.18 mph.car y has high powered engine.

so which one will be faster?

obviously the car 'Y'.

same here.

engine:-gpu.

clock speed , memory speed:-acceleration, velocity.

fuel tank:-ram.

Well, 7050GS gpu which you have in your motherboard is VERY VERY weak compared to the 7600GS. Its weaker than most things out there. Video RAM only acts as a temporary storage area for your GPU's processor. You need to worry about the shader units, clock speed, memory clock, etc of your GPU. All these for the onboard is very low compared to your 7600GS.

For an example with dedicated cards, take nVidia 8500GT with 1GB RAM. It might be more attractive than ATI HD4870 which has only 512MB RAM. But the performance difference is HUUUUUUGE.

yes i know you have stated the above as an example.:D

but this not only for you but for all.

8500gt is not too much different than a 8600gt when fully overclocked.
since 8600gt is not that much costlier than a 8500gt.and it also gives more fps than the former at the stock speeds.therefore it is more popular.

and yes you cannot compare a racing car with a standard daily life usage vehicle.

eg: you cannot compare a wrc Citroen with maruti swift.

cars are made according to their type of usage.

therefore cards are made according to the resolutions you want to play with.

8500gt can play games maximum upto 1280x1024 resolutions with high settings or customed settings(crysis type of games not applicable)
8600gt can play games maximum upto 1600x1050 resolutions with high or customed settings(crysis type of games not applicable).

and so on...
furious_gamer
Aug 26, 2008 at 10:40 AM
I am sorry i think lot of people answering here are mostly correct.but i also see some doubts in their answers.(consider the last post)

allright now to your question.

consider a car 'X'(just take one example).which has the power of holding 50 litres of petrol in its fuel tank.but its acceleration is consider 0-60 in 20 sec. and average speed is about 100.18 mph.
car x has low powered engine

and

consider a car 'Y'(just take one example).which has the power of holding 25 litres of petrol in its fuel tank.acceleration 0-60 in 5 sec. and average speed is about 210.18 mph.car y has high powered engine.

so which one will be faster?

obviously the car 'Y'.

same here.

engine:-gpu.

clock speed , memory speed:-acceleration, velocity.

fuel tank:-ram.



yes i know you have stated the above as an example.:D

but this not only for you but for all.

8500gt is not too much different than a 8600gt when fully overclocked.
since 8600gt is not that much costlier than a 8500gt.and it also gives more fps than the former at the stock speeds.therefore it is more popular.

and yes you cannot compare a racing car with a standard daily life usage vehicle.

eg: you cannot compare a wrc Citroen with maruti swift.

cars are made according to their type of usage.

therefore cards are made according to the resolutions you want to play with.

8500gt can play games maximum upto 1280x1024 resolutions with high settings or customed settings(crysis type of games not applicable)
8600gt can play games maximum upto 1600x1050 resolutions with high or customed settings(crysis type of games not applicable).

and so on...

Well.... :rolleyes: A good explanation....
channabasanna
Aug 26, 2008 at 11:01 AM
I am sorry i think lot of people answering here are mostly correct.but i also see some doubts in their answers.(consider the last post)

Hi Buddy, Can i know what is the doubts in my answer.
Zangetsu
Zangetsu #14
Aug 26, 2008 at 2:22 PM
@quan chi: *s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj44/visio159/Unismilies/44.png But Car X will cover more distance than Car Y

So, more RAM in a GCard means good performance in higher resolutions..otherwise all
r same...:D
prasath_digit
Aug 26, 2008 at 8:37 PM
Topics like shouldn't exist i believe this is a waste of time, comparing onboard with a gfx card is like asking, " Hey My Hummer 4WD has a 6000cc engine, but why it is still slower than Kimi Raikonen's 2398cc F2008 Ferrari?" !!!!!!!!!!!!! :confused:
furious_gamer
Aug 27, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Topics like shouldn't exist i believe this is a waste of time, comparing onboard with a gfx card is like asking, " Hey My Hummer 4WD has a 6000cc engine, but why it is still slower than Kimi Raikonen's 2398cc F2008 Ferrari?" !!!!!!!!!!!!! :confused:

Do u think that all the users here know the details about gfx cards?:rolleyes:
Since i don't know much abt that:D, so i m asking here..Whats wrong with that friend?
Zangetsu
Zangetsu #18
Aug 27, 2008 at 5:42 PM
Do u think that all the users here know the details about gfx cards?:rolleyes:
Since i don't know much abt that:D, so i m asking here..Whats wrong with that friend?

golden rule is dat even an entry level card is better than IGP....:D
furious_gamer
Aug 27, 2008 at 6:39 PM
golden rule is dat even an entry level card is better than IGP....:D
That means Geforce FX5200 is better than 7050 IGP.... Is so...:rolleyes:
Huhh... i read a lot for now and eventhough its hard to believe i must accept that.. coz i buy that mobo especially for that onboard IGP and for some casual gaming.....?
toofan
toofan #20
Aug 27, 2008 at 10:07 PM
@ rajkumar_pb you can play POP series will all the settings set to maximum. at a resolution of 1024x768. Because I am playing POP: warrior within at a resolution of 1440x900 at my HP w 1907.(19 inch). It a glory to watch. and I had set the settings at medium level means mans shadows and fog turned off & filtering bilinear.And I use integrated ATI200X 256mg graphics. with 1 GB ram.

Actually The onboard graphics depends upon your RAM. I have 1Gb ram and after 256mb of Graphic memory I am left with only 768Mb. Here also its depends upon the free memory you are having.

With Onboard graphics don't expects much of a eye candy dear. because it has limitations like the shader model. Mine have shader model 2. then the clock speeds.

Try playing Medal of Honour: Airbourne Assualt. I bet it will not even get installed in your machine.

And Playing Crysis is just a joke with this machine. Because there is no graphic card made till date in this earth that can run Crysis at its full glory. We had to import it form Mars or some other planet.:D:D:D:D

So buy a HD 4850 to have a decent gaming machine.
quan chi
quan chi #21
Aug 27, 2008 at 10:25 PM
^^ please rephrase that to a single card.two 4870 in crossfire can play crysis better.



@rajkumar_pb

well considering that you have not much idea about this.please dont mind but
for others your post no 19 will be a joke.
6600gt was a big hit when it was launched.the fact is that even it beats 7300gs.and still holds the power to run many games of today at decent speed at higher resolutions.
toofan
toofan #22
Aug 27, 2008 at 11:02 PM
^^ please rephrase that to a single card.two 4870 in crossfire can play crysis better.

Are you sure just check once more, its only better.
Zangetsu
Zangetsu #23
Aug 28, 2008 at 10:17 AM
That means Geforce 6600 is better than 7050 IGP.... Is so...:rolleyes:
coz i buy that mobo especially for that onboard IGP and for some casual gaming.....?

i guess so...bcoz an entry level Gcard has its own cooling system & better overclocking
options than a IGP :rolleyes:
for casual gaming an IGP is OK...:cool:
furious_gamer
Aug 28, 2008 at 12:16 PM
@ rajkumar_pb you can play POP series will all the settings set to maximum. at a resolution of 1024x768. Because I am playing POP: warrior within at a resolution of 1440x900 at my HP w 1907.(19 inch). It a glory to watch. and I had set the settings at medium level means mans shadows and fog turned off & filtering bilinear.And I use integrated ATI200X 256mg graphics. with 1 GB ram.

Actually The onboard graphics depends upon your RAM. I have 1Gb ram and after 256mb of Graphic memory I am left with only 768Mb. Here also its depends upon the free memory you are having.

With Onboard graphics don't expects much of a eye candy dear. because it has limitations like the shader model. Mine have shader model 2. then the clock speeds.

Try playing Medal of Honour: Airbourne Assualt. I bet it will not even get installed in your machine.

And Playing Crysis is just a joke with this machine. Because there is no graphic card made till date in this earth that can run Crysis at its full glory. We had to import it form Mars or some other planet.:D:D:D:D

So buy a HD 4850 to have a decent gaming machine.

Why?
I play Crysis with this machine man!!! It plays fine and of course not at full glory as u said. Can i add a 8800GS to this machine to make it run new games?????
quan chi
quan chi #25
Aug 28, 2008 at 2:51 PM
read this for your answer.*www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=771&num=6
furious_gamer
Aug 29, 2008 at 10:44 AM
read this for your answer.*www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=771&num=6
OK.... I read it... and ofcourse not a good news for me.. If i read this before then surely i go for any 680i based chipset... OK... Then my ques is can i add 8800GS to improve my gfx performance or wait and go for HD4850!!!!
toofan
toofan #27
Aug 29, 2008 at 5:21 PM
HD 4850 is the best mid range solution available at this time and it will remain so for quite some time, it has everything to give at a price of 9.5k and its performance till 1900x...... resolution is good enough.

Don't wait just go.
furious_gamer
Aug 29, 2008 at 6:08 PM
HD 4850 is the best mid range solution available at this time and it will remain so for quite some time, it has everything to give at a price of 9.5k and its performance till 1900x...... resolution is good enough.

Don't wait just go.
OK...Bro.. i sure get a HD4850 ASAP but not now.. I must wait until October since now i'm running outta money coz i juz now buy this Mobo:mad: