Onboard Graphics

[ShadoWolf]

Hay all

Is there any cheapish motherboards with good on-board graphics? if there are any. Can anyone recomend any half desent cheap Graphics cards?

The rig will not be used for extensive gaming and will not need to be overclocked, just a standard PC.

Thanks

[DDY]

For what socket?

There are loads of motherboards with onboard graphics but I don't know what you mean by 'good'.

[staffsMike]

Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

This is currently the best IGP solution (780G chipset)

It's a great board with essentially a shrunk desktop card. Capable of playing half decent games in low ish resolutions and certainly very strong with HD playback.

There are no intel boards to match it.

for a cheap intel board, the nvidia 630i isn't bad but has single channel RAM and Intels G35 is OK but the graphics isn't great and it's really expensive.

[Rosaline]

Wow, thanks for pointing those out!

Has anyone had any experience actually using any of those boards for a media centre setup? Most importantly, how quiet can you get it to run - is it possible to passively cool and have only a single, large, system fan?

[staffsMike]

I would think it's pretty reasonable to expect it to run with limited airflow.

Decent review here
AMD 780G: Best Ever Integrated Mainstream Chipset? | silentpcreview.com

The other good thing about it is (if they ever release the drivers) if you add in an ATi HD3450 it will run in crossfire with the integrated as the integrated is essentially a shrun HD3450

[Rosaline]

We're in need of a replacement media server, see, yet I can't (yet ) afford one of those spangly no-fans-at-all systems.

So I'm very keen on looking into practical alternatives for once the exam season is over, could be a nice treat and a fun project if it works!

(And I'm hoping I can find a setup that is perfectly silent - my folks have started using a terrible little multimedia playing portable hard drive, and its time they got a proper system and I want to give something nice and useful back to them as a present )

[staffsMike]

Deffiantly have a read around on that site then, there are some great silent combo's.

SPCR's own PC used to be, (might still be) an antec fusion with 420w earth watts, with a scythe ninja mini cooling the CPU passively and western digital AAKS hard drives. It's a great setup for a silent media PC

[Agent]

Do Abit do one like the Gigabytes above?
Their uGuru is blinking brilliant for media centres - adjusts the fan speeds / voltages / frequency's depending on load / temp etc.
Use one in the MCE 2005 machine down stairs

[MadduckUK]

Do Abit do one like the Gigabytes above?
Their uGuru is blinking brilliant for media centres - adjusts the fan speeds / voltages / frequency's depending on load / temp etc.
Use one in the MCE 2005 machine down stairs

A-S78H is what methinks it "will" be called.

doesnt cool n quiet + speedfan do all that stuff anyway? cool n quiet to regulate speed/voltages then speedfan to alter the fan speed in relation to temp

[ShadoWolf]

Sorry guys but I was looking with a 775 socket.

Im basicly building a budget rig and was wondering if i can save money buy buying a motherboard with an onboard graphics card.

It wont be used for any extensive gaming but it would be nice to have the option if needed.

[staffsMike]

grab one of these then
Computer hardware and software at amazing prices, available online from Scan Computers UK

even with single channel RAM they perform pretty well and can take upto 4GB

[Methanoid]

I wish someone would still do a 3 PCI slot mATX board for AM2+ or 775 ... There are hardly any devices that need a PCI-E 1x slot.... so its wasted!

[Webby]

PCIe 1x is becoming more widespread most things can be had in both flavours now but you do pay a price premium for the PCIe

Back on topic light gaming wise the only board with an Intel socket will be the 630i (as mike says) and even then you will be running low resolution low graphic detail on anything more modern than WoW.

Cheap graphics card wise you can get a 3450 for less than £30 which will play most games at higher res than onboard graphics, or if you can stretch to £50 then an 8600GT 512MB is probably the best bet gaining wise. Multimedia content wise the ATi 3xxx series are superior with sound over HDMI as the main benefit.

[Thorsson]

I don't think that any onboard graphics motherboard is suitable for gaming. Not unless you are happy with 1024x768 medium detail and still getting some jerkiness. I agree with Webby. An 8600GT is about as low as you should go.