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Best mobo with integrated graphics?

A

axia55

Platinum Member
I am trying to find opinions on the best integrated video chipset. I don't care if it is for an AMD or Intel proc, I will buy that once I pick out the board. I saw on the nVidia site that they are supposed to have a GF8300 chipset out but I cannot find any boards that use it. Anyone know where I could find one of those or is there a board out there with similar performance?
 
"Best integrated chipset" clearly goes to the AMD 780 at the moment, and there's nothing in the near future that would change that.

There's currently a bit of an outrage because many mainboards with that chipset aren't designed for the top performance CPUs - their CPU power supply circuitry is too weak. So if you want to pair with a quad-core, please watch what you buy.
 
I am now thinking about going with a 780G board with an 5000+ Black Edition chip. Would that work?
 
Maybe you should list what features you want the most. For example, I am looking for a motherboard with IG that can switch between integrated and discrete graphics. I know that some 780 motherboards can do this (the feature is called Hybrid CrossfireX) but you have to use Windows Vista and only certain AMD video cards. Nvidia has a Geforce 8200 chipset that also can do this (it is called HybridPower) and I think it works under Windows XP. I'm not sure if it is only limited to certain Nvidia video cards though.


I was reading over at AVSforums that the first motherboards using the Nvidia 8300 chipset should ship in the middle of May.

I was going to start a new thread specifically on HybridPower vs Crossfire X vs anything similar but maybe I'll see how this goes here. And does anyone know of any other chipsets that can switch between intergrated and discrete? Does Intel offer anything like that or is Nvidia going to make an Intel chipset that does? Any future chipsets that you might know of?


edit: Should have looked it up first but HybridPower only works with 2 cards currently (both 9800s) and Geforce Boost only works with 2 different cards. I expect that many more newer Nvidia cards would support at least one of those features but its a no go with 8800 gt for example.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/hybrid_sli.html
 
The HybridWhatever trick needs matched technology (same vendor and same generation core) in the integrated and discrete card. Then, instead of just disabling the integrated GPU core when a discrete card is present, both cores render into the discrete card's RAM, and that's faster.

Switching back and forth between integrated and discrete card, or using them in parallel at the same time, does not at all require matched hardware. This is becoming popular in notebooks, where the discrete GPU gets completely disabled until there is demand for 3D at all.
In a desktop setup, you'll find this switching rather inconvenient because the two obviously don't share the same monitor jack ... so I doubt that you'll find one.
 
Originally posted by: Peter

In a desktop setup, you'll find this switching rather inconvenient because the two obviously don't share the same monitor jack ... so I doubt that you'll find one.
Click to expand...

Uh, They do use the same jack.

Also found out that Nvidia's version also requires Vista and that ALL their new motherboard chipsets will have this feature sometime this year.

http://www.anandtech.com/tradeshows/showdoc.aspx?i=3193

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardwa...a_hybrid_sli_preview/1
 
Based on recent trends, the only boards you need to worry about having VRM designs limited to ~95W MAX TDP are Micro ATX models. The full ATX boards can support 125W+ TDP.
 
Hybrid SLI/crossfire rendering uses the same monitor jack (the one on the discrete card). Doing that prevents complete disabling of the discrete GPU. That essentially means that in non-3D situations, you'll have to keep the discrete GPU enabled and can only power down the integrated one. The other way round would quite obviously save a lot more power.

There are notebooks with both a discrete and an integrated GPU that can fully disable the former and let the latter drive the display - because it's all on the same PCB, the output lines being muxed to whichever GPU currently produces the picture.
 
Originally posted by: Peter
Hybrid SLI/crossfire rendering uses the same monitor jack (the one on the discrete card). Doing that prevents complete disabling of the discrete GPU. That essentially means that in non-3D situations, you'll have to keep the discrete GPU enabled and can only power down the integrated one. The other way round would quite obviously save a lot more power.
Click to expand...


Are you making all this up as you go along?

Hybrid SLI uses the onboard monitor jack. Why would you want to power down the integrated graphics during non 3D situations? You want it the other way around. The whole purpose is to save power!

 
I am putting together the system to be able to do some casual video/photo editing, surfing, watching TV shows and eventually a few games (I will buy a better VC later on).
 
Originally posted by: solog
Originally posted by: Peter
Hybrid SLI/crossfire rendering uses the same monitor jack (the one on the discrete card). Doing that prevents complete disabling of the discrete GPU. That essentially means that in non-3D situations, you'll have to keep the discrete GPU enabled and can only power down the integrated one. The other way round would quite obviously save a lot more power.
Click to expand...


Are you making all this up as you go along?

Hybrid SLI uses the onboard monitor jack. Why would you want to power down the integrated graphics during non 3D situations? You want it the other way around. The whole purpose is to save power!
Click to expand...
No, it's call hybrid crossfire for a reason, it uses both gpus so that you can get better preformance than from either individually.

 
Originally posted by: solog
Why would you want to power down the integrated graphics during non 3D situations? You want it the other way around. The whole purpose is to save power!
Click to expand...

You're mixing two very different things up.

Hybrid SLI/Crossfire uses the integrated GPU as an extra rendering unit, helping a discrete GPU get stuff done faster. The main engine in this scenario is the discrete GPU. This is not about power saving at all, it's about 3D performance - and for that reason, rendering into the integrated GPU's slow (shared) RAM wouldn't make much sense.

The power saving trick is entirely different. Herein, the integrated GPU is used for non-3D situations, whereas the discrete GPU is fired up only if there is 3D demand, seamlessly taking control of the display output.
 
Additional info, now that the official intro has happened: What NVidia calls "Hybrid SLI" is the power saving approach centered around the integrated GPU on the mainboard. The performance enhancing approach, centering on the discrete card and using the mainboard's GPU as a helper, is officially called "GeForce Boost".
 
Originally posted by: Peter
You're mixing two very different things up.
Click to expand...

No. You are the one mixing things up. I was talking about HybridPower which is part of Hybrid SLi or the "entirely different power saving trick" in your words. You were talking about Geforce Boost which is also part of Hybrid SLi.

And you don't need an official intro to get that info since it was posted in those stories I linked to that are over 3 months old.

 
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