Asus P8Z68-V LX , should I get a seperate graphics card

[gazza1]

Hi all, need advice /confirmation of my thoughts on graphics for this mobo please as am a bit rusty and need to get back up to speed.

I built a new pc recently with said mobo, with core i7 cpu , corsair 430w psu, plus 8gb of gskill ddr3 2133mhz memory plus a couple of 120gb 6gb/s ssd's. Win 7 64bit.

I think this board has some kind of load switching capability for the graphics between the inbuilt graphics and a seperate graphics card, should you install one. However I thought I'd wait and see how the inbuilt performs 1st.
My main use really is music production with some video making alongside using magix software.. On the whole it has performed well, good quality hd output, but sometimes when my songs and video together get a bit complex it seems to struggle sometimes.
Video converting seems quite fast but maybe room for further improvement.
I'm not really into overclocking or gaming, so I guess what I'm asking is
1)would a seperate graphics card help me improve performance further in terms of removing load off of inbuilt graphics/cpu? (is this basically what the lucidlogix software does?)
2)which graphics cards do asus recommend for this board and support?
3)what card would you suggest? (bearing in mind I only have a 430w psu and limited cooling capability and limited budget)
Sorry if these questions seem a bit nooby.
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[xtreme5]

people fitting external card's for special purpose like gaming,editing,surfing etc yes, external card can improve your performance tightly.

 

[catatafish]

Which CPU do you have? Some have the Intel HD2000 and some have the Intel HD3000. If you have a "K" PSU the auto-overclocking feature is quite nice, easy, and will also bump up your integrated GPU.

Here's a table showing which have which, and a nice review of the capabilities and performance of each.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/intel-sandybridge1

I think the mobo feature you're referring to is "LucidLogix Virtu (Universal Switchable Graphics) - Auto Switching between Integrated Graphics and NVIDIA/AMD Cards". You could put in something like an AMD HD5670 which only requires a 400w power supply and can be had for under $100 and performs quite a bit better than the HD2000/3000 iGPU. http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-Express-Video-100289DDR3L/dp/tech-data/B004W3J0BG

Here's a good link for comparison of performance on all the cards.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

 

[Guest]

ok you say you have an i7 so most likley you have intel HD 3000 the list is here:
http://ark.intel.com/products/family/59136

looks like only the 2600 and 2600s have 2000

how HD 2/3000 stacks up against some entry level cards (Radeon HD 5450/5570):
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/11

which in a nutshell, "While Sandy Bridge can compete in the ~$40-$50 GPU space, anything above that is completely out of its reach. "

however i have looked at gaming . .as afar as media encoding; itunes, media expresso, handbrake.:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandy-bridge-core-i7-2600k-core-i5-2500k,2833-17.html
and
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/9

which states, "Inte’s Quick Sync is untouchable though. It’s 48% faster than NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 460 and 71% faster than the Radeon HD 6970."

really the benefit of lucid is being able to switch from a discrete card for gaming and onboard for encoding. though i understand it is still going through some "growing pains". so unless you are drooling to do some light gaming (anything heavier would require a PSU upgrade) getting an entry card biggest advantage would be more display outputs.

btw, not all software does take advantage of quick sync, you might be interested in the:
ArcSoft ShowBiz* 5 Utilizes Intel® Quick Sync Video for a Fast Video-Editing Experience
http://software.intel.com/sites/billboard/article/arcsoft-showbiz-5-utilizes-intel-quick-sync-video-fast-video-editing-experience

 

[IntelEnthusiast]

Here is some additional information on the Intel® HD 2000/3000 Graphics http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-processor-graphics/ in the end it comes down to what you are going to be doing with the system. Gaming? Get a video card. If you are doing office work, every media stuff on your computer you are going to be fine with IGP (Integrated Graphics on Processor).

Christian Wood
Intel Enthusiast Team

 

[gazza1]

Thanks for all your responses guys. lots for me to ponder and info to absorb. My cpu is the 2600k variety btw, sorry I left this info out.

Maybe I fall between the 2 kinds of situation, I do not intend to do any gaming but neither is it office work. Somewhere in between.
I do not know if you are familiar with magix ,but it would put a heavy load on the sound chip plus it would utilise a fair amount of memory both on disk and ram as it works with some large sound samples across many tracks,but at the same time you can also have video on multiple tracks in the same arrangement,not just sound. Keeping all in tight sync is key, which is why I went for fast disks,cpu's and memory (perhaps overkill on my part with the 2600k)

 

[nikorr]

Hi there, u do have corsair 430w psu,

so any stronger card would be a hazard for the curent PSU, so get one like this @ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102934

$49.99 after mail-in rebate card + FREE SHIPPING

 

[gazza1]

Hi guys. sadly for various reasons I wasn't able to get round to doing anything about this. I guess the market has moved on. can anyone recommend a current gpu card that will be an improvement on my onboard mobo chip? I want one that will not break the bank ,fry my psu or turn my PC into a replacement for central heating for my home.
Would this do the job ASUS GT630-4GD3 - Graphics card - GF GT 630 - 4 GB DDR3 - PCIe 2.0 x16 or is there something better that would suit me?
many thanks