Intel Chipset Graphics

[Guest]

My son and I are building a PC this summer. In deciding on a mobo/cpu/chipset arrangement, I'm confused by the purpose of the graphics capabilities of some Intel chipsets (those with the "G" after their number such as the 945G). Since mobos don't have a video out port anymore, but must use a PCI, AGP, or PCIe card, how does the chipset's graphics functions interact with the video card. Does it augment them? become redundant? or even interfere with the card?

If chipsets were the only issue, why would someone want the 945G instead of the 945P. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

P.S. Does it make since for future upgrading to get a mobo with a 945 chipset instead of a 925 which Intel still calls a "performance" chipset? Usually newest is best.
Thanks

 

[o1die]

You just disable it in the bios, or some boards will disable the onboard graphics automatically when you install your video card. The only good onboard graphics is the radeon xpress 200 for socket 939, which has directx 9 and 3d support, but it's only for amd systems. The same chipset will be out soon on socket 775 motherboards, but I don't know which cpus it will support.

 

[fishmahn]

The "G" boards do have a video connector, and they share system ram for use as video ram. Some also have an AGP/PCI-Ex16 slot where you can add a video card. When a card is added, it disables the onboard graphics and you don't use that connector, you use the one on the card.

The 945 chipset has dual-core support, the 925 doesn't (but a single-coare CPU still works on them). And the 955 is the performance chipset of the dual-core chipsets, the 945 is the dual-core counterpart to the 915. If the price difference is acceptable, definitely get a 945/955 chipset so you can, if desired, get a dual core cpu.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the prompt replies guys. It helped a lot.

 

[dunklegend]

What about <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153027" target="_new">this one</A>. Is it a good integraded video chipset?

<font color=orange>Anything good in life is either illegal immoral or fattening<font color=orange>

 

[o1die]

Yes. It uses the radeon xpress 200 chipset, but I would post some questions about the board in forums before purchasing. Jetway doesn't have the same level of customer support as the more mainstream boards, and may be slower in providing bios updates for problems.

 

[dunklegend]

The specs say Radeon 300 I thought it would be better than the 200, is this a mistake in newegg's website?

<font color=orange>Anything good in life is either illegal immoral or fattening<font color=orange>

 

[o1die]

No mistake on your part. But did you read the one customer review at newegg? My advice still stands. I would check Jetway's website carefully before purchasing, and try contacting them about direct rma's, since Newegg doesn't warranty it, and they're one of the best venders around.

 

[dunklegend]

I won't buy it for me. But I wanted to know which integrated graphics mobo is OK.
Do you know which one is good enough, or integrated graphics and good can't be on the same sentence?


<font color=orange>Anything good in life is either illegal immoral or fattening<font color=orange>

 

[o1die]

The jetway board may work fine for you. I've used one board from them several years ago, and had no problems with it. But it's still a good idea to check out their website for customer support before ordering. You'll be lucky to find one person that's actually using the Jetway board, so a little homework before ordering wouldn't hurt. Msi makes a similar board with the same chipset, the RS480-M2-IL. I've used msi's direct rma service, so you may prefer it in case something goes wrong.

 

[endyen]

Since no one else has said anything, I guess I should.
Be very carefull when building a system on Intel's newer chips. The P4s that work on them run very hot, may not work (for long) on all boards, may end up with the performance limited by the chip's selfprotection and are overpriced. The celeron chips are not good value.