How to recognize motherboard without on-board graphics but with graphics out?

[Guest]

I have built couple of desktop PCs based on AMD CPUs in the past, one was AMD Athlon way back in 2006 and another was AMD Athlon II X2 based PC. I knew that PC needs a graphics card, but if mobo has on-board graphics you do not need a separate GPU card. However my yardstick for understanding was that if mobo has VGA/HDMI/D-SUB output it means it has graphics card on-board!!

I think I was so wrong! Now when I explore AM4 boards for AMD Ryzen Series CPUs I find posts on the internet clearly stating that the AM4 boards B350 chipset do not have onboard graphics and the VGA/HDMI outputs on those boards are meant for the AM4 A-Series APUs (Not yet released I guess). So building a system with AMD Ryzen and AM4 board would need a discrete graphics card.

So I guess CPU and mobo combination would work if CPU has IGPU and mobo has video out or CPU lacks IGPU but mobo has onboard graphics. Is this more correct understanding?

This is learning for me. Now my question is how do I ascertain that the mobo has indeed on-board graphics or the video out of mobo are actually meant to be coupled with IGPU on CPU? Is this explicitly mentioned in mobo manuals? I find it hard to conclude. Even AMD does not clearly state this information on their website.

For example Gigabyte mobo specs here http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350M-HD3-rev-10#sp
It does mention on-board graphics but it does not have GPU on-board.

Thanks.

 

[alexoiu]

"So I guess CPU and mobo combination would work if CPU has IGPU and mobo has video out or CPU lacks IGPU but mobo has onboard graphics. Is this more correct understanding?"
Yes.
"For example Gigabyte mobo specs here http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350M-HD3-rev-10...
It does mention on-board graphics but it does not have GPU on-board"
It states: "Integrated Graphics Processor"
Processor mentioned.

 

[Guest]

"So I guess CPU and mobo combination would work if CPU has IGPU and mobo has video out or CPU lacks IGPU but mobo has onboard graphics. Is this more correct understanding?"
Yes.
"For example Gigabyte mobo specs here http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GA-AB350M-HD3-rev-10...
It does mention on-board graphics but it does not have GPU on-board"
It states: "Integrated Graphics Processor"
Processor mentioned.

Thank you for the reply. Are the definitions changing over a period of time? For example both these sites below refer to Integrated Graphics Processor as a chip integrated on the motherboard which then becomes synonymous to on-board graphics.

http://hexus.net/tech/tech-explained/graphics/19311-the-integrated-graphics-processor-igp/

https://techterms.com/definition/igp

Instead of calling it as IGP probably for AM4 socket they should have called it as 'Supported on AMD APUs', I guess.

 

[alexoiu]

You're welcome.
Indeed, it changed. The article states it: "It is well-documented that IGPs attached to a motherboard’s chipset, which make up the entire market right now, will be phased out completely by 2012. That does not mean that IGPs will disappear, though. Rather, both Intel and AMD will integrate IGPs directly on to the CPU."

ASUS for example specifies for AMD: "Integrated AMD Radeon™ R Series Graphics in the 7th Generation A-Series APU"
and for Intel "Integrated Graphics Processor- Intel® HD Graphics support "

For an older board with graphics on board: "Integrated ATI Radeon™ HD 4290 GPU"