Onboard graphics AND expansion card?

[MassMan]

Hi, been a while since I built a system and I noticed your test system has onboard gpu, so I've got 2 questions:

Does it makes sense (noise/heat/money-wise) to get a motherboard with onboard GPU to use when idle/browsing/movie, and then a "real" graphics card for gaming use?

Could it cause problems with games that refuse to use the proper gpu and insist on using the onboard? (asking because a friend was at my house last weekend and we played the Tera beta, and his laptop strait up refused to use the proper gpu)

[CA_Steve]

Hi, been a while since I built a system and I noticed your test system has onboard gpu, so I've got 2 questions:

Does it makes sense (noise/heat/money-wise) to get a motherboard with onboard GPU to use when idle/browsing/movie, and then a "real" graphics card for gaming use?

Yes. It's one of the big features of Lucid's Virtu software that ships with most H67, Z68 and the upcoming H/Z Ivy Bridge mobos. Plug your monitor into the mobo's gfx port and graphics load will toggle between the iGPU and the gfx card depending on how you set up Virtu's preferences. You lose some fps for this overhead.

Could it cause problems with games that refuse to use the proper gpu and insist on using the onboard? (asking because a friend was at my house last weekend and we played the Tera beta, and his laptop strait up refused to use the proper gpu)

There's always a chance Virtu won't work well with a given game. I haven't built a Sandybridge system, so don't have first hand experience. Perhaps a current user can post their experiences.

[kuzzia]

If you look at the latest generations of graphic cards they don't really consume that much power at idle. The Radeon HD 7850 is estimated to consume 10 W at idle:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-radeo ... 0-review/7

Personally, I'd choose the extra idle power consumption over the technical hassle of switching between two types of graphic cards.

[smilingcrow]

Keep in mind that the desktop versions of graphic switching don’t appear to put the discrete card into a fully powered off state so the power saving is minimal to non existent. Unless newer versions have resolved this?

[CA_Steve]

Unless you run 2 monitors...then having the iGPU in charge for 2D saves anywhere from 20W to 50W.

[CA_Steve]

Keep in mind that the desktop versions of graphic switching don’t appear to put the discrete card into a fully powered off state so the power saving is minimal to non existent. Unless newer versions have resolved this?

Still waiting to hear if Virtu (in Sandy bridge and IVB) puts the HD7xxx series into long idle (that's ~3W).

[smilingcrow]

Keep in mind that the desktop versions of graphic switching don’t appear to put the discrete card into a fully powered off state so the power saving is minimal to non existent. Unless newer versions have resolved this?

Still waiting to hear if Virtu (in Sandy bridge and IVB) puts the HD7xxx series into long idle (that's ~3W).

I don’t see why that shouldn’t work and that would be a great solution.
Recent high end cards from both camps have low idle power consumption anyway so the issue isn’t so great these days. It would be good if by default they all had a long idle state that was passively cooled.