Is On Board Video useful for anything? aka: Why is it included???

[bobbo123]

This has actually been bugging me for several years now as I have upgraded my video cards to get multiple monitors. It burns me that "most" motherboards will run 2 now 3 separate monitors but even when getting a high performance board and cpu most of us are getting separate video cards for their gpu performance...so my question is...why do most motherboards have on board video at all? We are paying for it but hardly ever using it. It would make more sense if the on board could have been used in coordination with the add on cards but it looks like they are universally deactivated when a video card is used?

So...I have spotted a few basic boards that do not have on board video. If I get the latest video card such as the NVidia 1080 card...am I giving anything up if I get a video free mother board?

My target goal is to run a VR program of some sort, but saving $50 on the board to skip on board video isn't worth it if it might cause some kind of glitch/bottleneck...or whatever?

 

[CryoWolf]

Because IGPU are not powerful enough to handle things like VR, Maxed settings of games, latest game titles. In workstations there are no IGPU mainly as they just don't cut it. Maybe one day IGPU's will become good enough to be up there. Ontop of that IGPU's require system resources as a dedicated card has its own. I do a lot of work with Zbrush and what not, the VRAM on my 1070 has proven to be very helpful. My IGPU can't even cope with the detail of a few hundred poly levels

 

[Rogue Leader]

Onboard video is provided by the CPU, very few boards have actual chipsets (no consumer boards do, but some server boards have them for Xeon CPUs that mostly don't have onboard video). It is useful for troubleshooting and costs very little to add (just the ports and circuitry which is already in the board spec anyway). Its also good as a starting point if you can't afford the GPU you want when you do the build, or your GPU fails and needs to be warrantied and you want to at least be able to use the PC to check email, etc. Also there are a lot of people who build PCs and don't use GPUs. We are a bit of a microcosm here of folks who want to build up gaming or work rigs, but there is a very large world out there of people who want to build the fastest excel machine they can.

 

[CryoWolf]

Onboard video is provided by the CPU, very few boards have actual chipsets (no consumer boards do, but some server boards have them for Xeon CPUs that mostly don't have onboard video). It is useful for troubleshooting and costs very little to add (just the ports and circuitry which is already in the board spec anyway). Its also good as a starting point if you can't afford the GPU you want when you do the build, or your GPU fails and needs to be warrantied and you want to at least be able to use the PC to check email, etc. Also there are a lot of people who build PCs and don't use GPUs. We are a bit of a microcosm here of folks who want to build up gaming or work rigs, but there is a very large world out there of people who want to build the fastest excel machine they can.

What he said.

 

[notlim981]

Most of the motherboards come with video input connections (DVI, VGA, HDMI, etc) to accept iGPU that comes with some of both Intel and AMD chips. The onboard video on those chips are meant for people who are building a pc over a really tight budget. They just can't compete with dedicated GPUs performance wise. They are also useful in case you have problems with your GPU and need the screen to troubleshoot a problem in the pc. Nevertheless onboard videos have gotten a lot better with time.

As for the motherboards that do not come with video input, those are more expensive boards, usually server grade ones. Also worth noting here that some Intel and AMD chips do not come with onboard video: for intel the i5 and the i7 "K" SKUs and for AMD all the FX series and the Athlon X2 and X4 series.

 

[USAFRet]

We are a bit of a microcosm here of folks who want to build up gaming or work rigs, but there is a very large world out there of people who want to build the fastest excel machine they can.

Exactly this.
My wife's PC runs just fine with a Pentium G8something, dual 19" monitors, 8GB RAM, a single 250GB SSD.
Firefox, gmail, Excel, Facebook.
Some jigsaw puzzle game and solitaire.
That's it.

Not everyone needs a hot rod GPU.

 

[bobbo123]

Good answers as to "why" motherboards have video components...but if I buy a motherboard WITHOUT built in video and rely on the gpu...will there be possible glitches/bottlenecks or some other problem not readily apparent?

I strongly suspect the answer is no from the answers above....but computers are quite "specific" on many issues. Of note it was said that the "circuitry" for video is already on the motherboard in order to "meet specs" but I'm assuming that "all" of the needed circuitry is in the video card?

Perhaps closely related to this is why are motherboard based video connections disabled when a video card is added? It would have been a nice feature a few years back when video cards were more expensive.

 

[CryoWolf]

Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kypaBjJ-pg

Linus will help you.

 

[Saga Lout]

Just make sure you have some spare parts to hand.

 

[Rogue Leader]

As for the motherboards that do not come with video input, those are more expensive boards, usually server grade ones. Also worth noting here that some Intel and AMD chips do not come with onboard video: for intel the i5 and the i7 "K" SKUs and for AMD all the FX series and the Athlon X2 and X4 series.

This is mostly incorrect. In fact many server boards DO have basic onboard video for configuration and troubleshooting purposes (because most Xeon processors don't have onboard video). Also Intel i5 and i7 k processors have the same onboard video as their non k counterparts.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Good answers as to "why" motherboards have video components...but if I buy a motherboard WITHOUT built in video and rely on the gpu...will there be possible glitches/bottlenecks or some other problem not readily apparent?

I strongly suspect the answer is no from the answers above....but computers are quite "specific" on many issues. Of note it was said that the "circuitry" for video is already on the motherboard in order to "meet specs" but I'm assuming that "all" of the needed circuitry is in the video card?

Perhaps closely related to this is why are motherboard based video connections disabled when a video card is added? It would have been a nice feature a few years back when video cards were more expensive.

Onboard video is a segregated part of the CPU, whether you do or don't use it has no bearing on the operation of the rest of the processor. The motherboard based video is disabled so it doesn't conflict with the gpu you have added to the system. That said there are sometimes ways around this to use both, for driving multiple monitors with seperate desktops.

 

[turbopixel]

My brother plays videogames on his laptop with integrated GPU, no dedicated graphics card. He plays Counter Strike:Global Strike for example. Some demanding games aren't working for him.

 

[bobbo123]

Re onboard video being disabled to prevent conflicts....that sounds like a design choice meant to encourage the sales of video cards? Such conflicts have been solved when adding a second video card for instance?

But I take it there will be no "drawback" beyond lack of backup video should I choose such a board...I have seen a few.

Bottom line...I think its the cost factor of mass production...easier/cheaper to have video on board rather than a whole with or without product line. When I build my computers, I do the first boot off the on board video just to reduce the number of variables on boot problems. After that though...the video card is first thing installed. Seems like a waste and I'd rather have additional usb connectors... or smoother multi-tasking??

Thanks for the replies. I have gained a comfort level.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Having an on-board video chip is handy if your add-on GPU goes belly up and needs replacing.

While your waiting for a new one your screwed using your PC for anything if there's no other means of getting a display.

Also, as has already been said, for any PC user who just uses it for word-processing, email and other basic stuff, having to buy a GPU just for that would be an unwelcome expense when an on-board GPU is quite adequate for that.

 

[Rogue Leader]

After that though...the video card is first thing installed. Seems like a waste and I'd rather have additional usb connectors... or smoother multi-tasking??

Again, no.

As we told you the iGPU being on or off has nothing to do with the operation of the rest of the processor.

 

[bobbo123]

To the Mod: yes, I get there are separate components that operate independtly from one another...but having the the video components on boards does cost money that I would rather spend on the other components. but that is the issue I tried to highlight, that in an age of mass production, it probably is cheaper to mass produce motherboards with the video even when X% of the boards will have video cards installed immediately. Reduces the cost of inventory management as well.

different issues.