Intel HD GT1 vs. GeForce GT520

[ic3b3rg]

I have a client who currently has a Dell computer with an i5-3550 which includes the integrated Intel HD GT1. In gutting a few other computers he has he found a Zotac GT520 card and wants to know if this will give him any performance benefits over what is built into his computer. I told him I would look into it and am not having much luck finding a direct comparison. Thoughts?

 

[random5]

Should be slightly superior but both intel HD 2500 and Zotac GT 520 are ultra low end cards not suitable for.. anything really.. maybe GTA San Andreas on 720p xD

 

[justaguywithagun]

if nothing else it removes the use of system ram from the performance equation. i would imagine that gt520 to be a bit faster than the iGPU of that i5, but dont expect miracles

 

[Calculagator]

In theory it would give a performance boost, but in practice it is not worth the extra power draw. Intel graphics are sufficient for everything except 3d games and high end computing. If your client is doing either of those, he needs more than a GT520. If he is not doing those things, he wouldn't notice the difference.

A dedicated card can help by possibly freeing up system memory. Since the card has its own video memory, the system would not need to share main memory for graphics processing. It could also improve performance by allowing the CPU to run cooler. If the integrated gpu is disabled, the cpu cores can have more thermal headroom to run at their turbo boost. Of course, using a dedicated gpu will add more heat to the system as a whole so performance increases would depend on the cooling setup.

 

[justaguywithagun]

In theory it would give a performance boost, but in practice it is not worth the extra power draw. Intel graphics are sufficient for everything except 3d games and high end computing. If your client is doing either of those, he needs more than a GT520. If he is not doing those things, he wouldn't notice the difference.

A dedicated card can help by possibly freeing up system memory. Since the card has its own video memory, the system would not need to share main memory for graphics processing. It could also improve performance by allowing the CPU to run cooler. If the integrated gpu is disabled, the cpu cores can have more thermal headroom to run at their turbo boost. Of course, using a dedicated gpu will add more heat to the system as a whole so performance increases would depend on the cooling setup.

i think you nailed everything right on the head. also, this
i see the intel hd4600 ranking rather high...only passmark in this link though

 

[ic3b3rg]

Thanks everyone for the input. I will let him know that it will have minimal impact on his graphics situation but may help with RAM. He isn't into gaming but does want to add on two additional monitors so I will go ahead and install the card so that he doesn't have to buy display port adapters and to help out with the fact he only has 2GB or RAM.