Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT vs onboard motherboard's ATI Radeon 3000

[bmilner]

Thanks in advance for your opinions and help here.

The situation is I just built my first custom rig and need help deciding which graphics card to go with. The motherboard itself, GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128565) has ATI Radeon 3000 onboard. However, I have an older Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT card from my old computer as well. My assumption was that the Nvidia card would be the better option but I wanted to get the experts advice. I know the Nvidia is an older card. Could the ATI onboard actually be better than the Nvidia card I have from just a few years back?

Just in case it's important, I would be using the graphics mostly for gaming.

Thank you!

 

[clutchc]

Almost any discrete card is better than the on-board 3000. Your 8600 GT is about the equivalent of the Intel HD 4000 on-die graphics of the newer Intel IB chips. Roughly twice the speed of the Radeon 3000. Besides, that will be a good way to test out the motherboard's PCIe system. Then do the integrated to be sure it works too.

 

[haider95]

Overclock the 8600GT with GPU Tool .. Answering your question. No, The 8600GT is in fact a lot better than the radeon 3000 on board. In fact any discrete card with dedicated memory is better than on-board.. well any discrete card from the past 5 years that is.

 

[bmilner]

Thanks for the answers! I'll take your advice and overclock the card...should be fun...at least until I can pony up for a real video card.