We all know that gamers need graphical power, but what about other users?
If you visit any graphics card website you’ll quickly be bombarded by images and screenshots from all sorts of games and gaming-related media. Specifications for graphics cards are usually focused entirely on how well they can deliver the latest graphical performance in the latest games, and many of the features of a card are designed to appeal to those who play games on a daily basis. Even a card’s physical appearance these days is often made to look sleek and attractive, much like something out of one of the games to be run using it.
This is understandable, as the gaming market has fuelled graphics card evolution for a long time now, and without the push of the hugely popular medium, it’s doubtful that GPUs would be in the same state they’re in now. Like them or not, games have paved the way for a lot of PC hardware.
Still, the PC is more than just a games machine, and there’s a huge market for PC users, both in the home and at work who simply need a good, dependable system that runs smoothly and is powerful enough for their uses. Often these systems are less powerful than the regular entertainment-focused models used by gamers, and most will come with on-board graphics as standard.
This modest setup is usually all that’s required for many users, but we’ve had requests from readers to look into the possible benefits for the use of discrete graphics cards outside of gaming. Is there any reason for non-gaming users to buy a dedicated graphics card, or is the on-board option the best choice? What benefits would a discrete GPU bring, and could these outweigh the extra cost? Let’s find out.
Share And Share Alike
It’s common knowledge that a discrete GPU is more powerful and efficient than an on-board model. The reasons for this are obvious. There’s only so much space on a motherboard to work with, and the more powerful GPUs have chipsets and architecture that simply wouldn’t sit well on a motherboard. This is not just due to physical space, but also power and resources. Discrete GPUs eat up a lot of power, and they’re also very memory hungry. Even a modest card these days will come with 2-4GB of RAM, and the power used will be much more than an on-board equivalent. Add to this the need for better cooling, and you’ve got hardware that simply can’t fit onto a motherboard without some compromise. This is why on-board graphics are always behind discrete cards in terms of power.
The reduced space and limited resources an on-board GPU has available means power and overall performance is restricted, so such GPUs are not able to perform anywhere near the level of a discrete GPU. There’s also the small matter of shared resources, and this gives us our first, non-gamer reason for opting for discrete.
On-board GPUs may not be all that powerful when compared to discrete models, but they still need memory and other system resources in order to function. Integrated GPUs handle this by sharing the motherboard’s resources, including system RAM. This has the effect of reducing the amount of RAM your PC, and operating system has available for use, and can in turn lead to performance issues. If your PC doesn’t have a great deal of RAM, you’ll be left with less memory than you may actually need to run smoothly.
Often, this can be altered in the system UEFI/BIOS, and you can specify how much of the system RAM the on-board GPU will use, but no matter how you configure things, you’re still going to be losing some RAM and other resources, as you need a GPU in order to use your PC.
Fitting a discrete GPU, even a cheap one, can help alleviate this issue as the discrete card will have its own RAM and won’t have to utilise any system RAM, leaving the lot free for your system. This single change could improve your PC’s performance, even if you barely use the actual power of the graphics card.
We should also mention that a lot of modern GPUs feature the ability to harness GPU-accelerated computing. These processors can actually work with the CPU, and help to perform non-graphicsrelated tasks. Essentially, you’re getting an extra CPU that can handle intensive tasks, taking some of the work from the main CPU.
This works as GPUs have thousands of cores designed to perform the multiple tasks processing graphical tasks requires at the same time. This hugely parallel architecture makes the chips well-suited for intensive tasks. System CPUs, on the other hand, have a handful of cores that are optimised for handling larger, multiple tasks in sequence, using serial processing. They’re extremely powerful, for sure, but with the aid of the GPU’s setup, a big performance boost can be grabbed.
Nvidia cards make this possible with the company’s CUDA technology, while AMD/ATI cards utilise OpenCL. Both of these technologies provided parallel programming and processing, and with the right software, can be very beneficial.
Hardware Benefits
The benefits of a discrete graphics card aren’t just restricted to the under the bonnet, but also greatly affect other aspects of your PC use, including monitor setups. Although some on-board GPUs are able to handle multiple monitors, by far the best setup for more than one display is to use a discrete card. They’re much better at handling multiple monitors thanks to their often superior arrays of connectors. Generally, they’ll also support higher resolution models too, including the use of 4K, which older on-board options are very unlikely to manage, or at least manage well.
Discrete cards often come with more than one HDMI or DisplayPort option, and the software used to control them makes it easier to work with several screens. This can be taken to extremes if you consider cards designed for three, four, or even more displays, such as Matrox’s range of cards. These specially designed cards can easily run several monitors are a favourite of users who need the added space. Flight Sim fans, for example, often use this setup, but non-gamers like artists and 3D modellers also embrace this approach, one that’s usually not possible without a discrete card.
4K
We briefly mentioned 4K support, and as this is the latest highend visual tech aside from VR, it’s important to note as it relates to everyone, not just gamers. Given the far higher resolution, 4K video is a demanding task for any system and display. Needless to say, older on-board GPUs are not likely going to have fun here. Most will probably be unable to support 4K at all, and those that do manage to run it will do so badly, and deliver results that are far from smooth.
Earlier this year Intel did release updated drivers for its range of HD GPU chips that added support for 4K, so you can check if your on-board model supports this, but even then, the overall performance is just not going to be the same as a more powerful, dedicated GPU. If you’re serious about getting into 4K and have invested in a new monitor or TV to take advantage of this, you really should think about upgrading to a more capable discrete GPU. You’ll really notice the difference.
GPU And Display Relations
A question we also get asked from time-to-time concerns the relationship between a GPU and the monitor or TV you’re using. People often wonder if there’s any point in upgrading a GPU if they plan to stick with an older monitor, or if upgrading to a new display also requires a new GPU to make the most of it.
There are a few factors that come into play here, but from the display side of things it’s really all about the resolution. A new discrete GPU will likely have the ability to support much higher resolutions than an older card, or an on-board model. This resolution support will, however, be limited by your display. If you get a card that can handle 4K, but have a display that has a maximum resolution of 1280 x 1024, you’re obviously going to be losing out on the potential your new GPU brings. Likewise, owning a 4K monitor or TV and using an on-board or lower-end GPU that can only output 1280 x 1024 will severely limit the quality of the display provided by your shiny, expensive 4K unit. Therefore, it’s important to use hardware that works well together and can support each other’s capabilities.
There is an exception here, though, and that’s with the GPU side of things. You see, even if you have an older display that may not support the high resolutions your GPU can handle, the new GPU, be it an upgrade, or a move away from on-board graphics, will likely be much more powerful in other areas, such as having more RAM, or a more powerful GPU. So, although you may not be taking advantage of the higher resolutions, you’ll still be benefiting from the increased power offered by the card, which will improve your system’s performance. For this reason, we’d say that user who can only afford one upgrade go for the GPU first, as it offers the wider range of improvements.
4K Requirements
As a side note, we should also mention the potential need for a more powerful CPU for 4K. We’re not really looking at CPU upgrades here, but if you’re upgrading from an on-board GPU to a discrete card that supports 4K, it’s possible your CPU will also need to be upgraded. 4K visuals take quite a lot of power to pump out, not just from the GPU, but the system as a whole, so be aware that older systems may be deficient in more areas than just the GPU or physical display.
As we’ve covered video editing as a reason to move from on-board to discrete, it’s important to consider minimum specs should you want to make this switch. Editing video, as we’ve said, is a very intensive task that can tax the system, with 4K video editing even more so.
The general minimum specification we’d advise for this task would include at least an Intel Core i7 2.3GHz CPU, 8GB or RAM, and a decent GPU such as Nvidia’s Geforce GT 750M. If you plan to work with online video, you could increase these specifications greatly.
On Or Off?
There’s really no question which is better between on-board and discrete in terms of technical prowess. Discrete cards are always going to perform better than their on-board counterparts, and for almost all uses, they outshine integrated models in every way. Even if you’re not a gamer, the increased system performance they can grant could make it worth the extra cost. Quite simply, they can make PCs run all sorts of software better, not just games.
However, on-board cards are hugely popular for a reason, and that’s because for most users out there, they do the job, and that’s all that matters. For daily use they’re fine, and if you have no problems, there’s really no reason to worry. Just be aware that even a cheap discrete GPU could deliver a faster system, and you don’t need to go for the expensive options.
Price
A major concern for anyone looking to upgrade to discrete graphics, regardless of the intended use, is price. Leaving out any issues to do with performance of an integrated GPU, already having a workable graphics card obviously saves money. As it’s part of the motherboard, there’s no need to spend any more.
Buying any discrete card to add to your system will cost more money, and is often seen as a downside. However, it’s not necessarily so. As we’ve said, even a low-end discrete GPU can have a big effect on system performance, and can even save money in other upgrades, such as a new CPU or more RAM. Without the on-board GPU leeching from your system resources and RAM, there just may be no need to worry, at last for more casual users who just want a faster system for everyday use.
On-board Stress
There are many uses an on-board GPU is perfect for, and even if it faces a bit of a challenge, it can run with moderately acceptable results. However, there are also many tasks where an on-board unit simply doesn’t cut it, and will either fail outright at a task or leave you struggling with highly reduced performance.
We’re focusing on non-gamers here, but it still needs to be covered to some degree, given the growth of more casual gamers that may eventually decide to dabble in the form of entertainment. For this, on-board cards just aren’t the best choice. Such models can run some lower-end games, and some genres are more suited, such as puzzle games, point and click adventures, and even some online MMOs that often feature less powerful graphics engines due to their online nature. For first person shooters, third person action, sports, racing and other more intensive titles, on-board GPUs can often struggle. Old, retro games are usually fine for on-board graphics, although some emulators – even ones emulating inferior systems – still need a surprising amount of graphical power.
Non-gaming tasks that can seriously tax the system’s GPU include video editing and image work, as well as simply watching video.
Video editing is a constantly growing home market these days, what with the rise of sites like YouTube and more and more home-based broadcasters getting involved in the industry. On-board GPUs can handle some video editing, but this will usually be at a much-reduced efficiency, and with limitations and far longer rendering times. Discrete GPUs are by far the better option, not to mention cards that are designed with video editing and import in mind.
Image editing may not be seen as being of the same intensity as video work, but don’t be fooled. Working with large images and multiple layers, effects and filters can quickly eat away at your system resources, and on-board GPU limits coupled with their need to share your system resources and RAM means a lacking setup for such activities. A discrete card that can handle the visual side on its own, and also help the main CPU handle data is going to be far better, and is the best choice.
If you recall the rise of the DVD many years ago when a PC DVD drive was seen as a luxury, you’ll remember the specifications that mentioned the need to a certain level of GPU, as well as the system overall. This still applies, especially to the likes of 4K as we’ve mentioned in the main feature. Video may seem like something that just plays without fuss. After all, your TV can handle it, right? This isn’t so, and to output HD video, including 4K, it requires a display that’s capable of supporting it, as well as the actual monitor or TV, of course. If you’ve got an older PC with on-board graphics only, you may not be able to do this, so 4K will be unavailable unless you upgrade.