Intel Integrated Graphics vs Geforce 7900GS?

[cohenfive]

i just bought an hp p7-1120 pc to replace an 8 year old compaq that we use as our second pc. the new box is a decent build for the money--2nd gen i3, 8gb ram, 1.5tb hd, etc, but it has intel integrated graphics. i have a 2 yr old evga geforce 7900gs gpu that was in the pc that just died and i'm trying to figure out whether i will get better performance with the card or with the current generation integrated graphics. any insights would be much appreciated. thanks.

 

[tweakboy]

The 7900GS will perform better then onboard video. gl

 

[Stuka87]

Yeah, stick with the nVidia card. You will get far better performance and compatibility with it.

 

[Magic Carpet]

If you don't plan to play games on it, I'd stick with Intel.

 

[OlafSicky]

If you don't play games use intel since it will use less power and generate less heat

 

[T_Yamamoto]

If you plan on gaming. Keep the card.

If not. Don't use it

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Intel integrated will run nearly silent. It only will be worth it if you play games.

Most likley you don't because of how old that card is.

Also gl...whatever that is supposed to mean.

 

[Fallengod]

Its pretty obvious and I think its been answered like 10 times but, if you game, integrated isnt all that great. In fact, the speed of integrated is probably slower than even an AMD 5450 or similar. If you dont game, that 7900gs is pretty outdated and will consume much more power, produce more heat and obviously be louder since integrated is silent....

 

[Obsoleet]

It adds power requirements, adds heat, adds noise, it also adds in more 3rd party drivers in your system.

I wouldn't want it, or them, in my system if not necessary. If you were playing Left 4 Dead, you'd have an i5 I'd assume.
For any gaming you might do with an i3, the HD3000 is sufficient. The Sims, Quake Live, Plants vs Zombies, stuff like that will be more than fine on it.

I'm guessing since you built an i3 your gaming is limited. HD3000 isn't THAT terrible.
Therefore ditch the old Geforce.

 

[Obsoleet]

Intel integrated will run nearly silent. It only will be worth it if you play games.

Most likley you don't because of how old that card is.

Also gl...whatever that is supposed to mean.

Exactly, silent HD3000 vs an ancient video card.. I know what I'd want.. a more streamlined system without the power/heat/noise.. yeah it might be a little faster (not even 100% sure how much faster to be honest, the card is that old...)
But there's no shortage of guys who don't care about having a NICE system, but rather just a hodge-podge rig that is as fast as you can get it to go, with what you have.

If you want to game, build a new system, or put in a worthy card like a low end Radeon (which is the speed level that HD3000 is).

Intel's integrated graphics are getting better every year. For my uses, I suspect it will only be a few more years until I no longer buy a dedicated card. My gaming consists of everything besides the hottest graphical games. I think FarCry/Crysis sucks, as a game.

The OP sounds like he's already at that point if he's building i3s and unsure if he should bother with an old Geforce7.

 

[Qbah]

The OP probably has a HD2000 though, as most Core i3s come with that:

http://ark.intel.com/products/family/59133/2nd-Generation-Intel-Core-i3-Processors/desktop

Anyway, for non-gaming there's no difference between the two IGPs. You'll watch vids on YT, watch other vids, browse the web and what not.

For gaming a 7900GS is too slow anyway. And if you bought that 7900GS 2 years ago someone pulled a "fast one" on you... The card came out in mid-2006. EOL'd March 2007, that's almost 5 years ago.

If you don't want the PC to play games, you're good to go with the IGP. If you want to game on it, just tell us how much you want to spend and what screen do you use with that PC.

 

[General Kenobi]

Stick with the integrated graphics if you don't play retro games or something (because that's all the 7900 will run at this point). If we were talking about a 250 GTS, then it'd be another story.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Gaming on a 7900GS would be a nightmare.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Going by 3dmark06:

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/inno3d_7900gs/page_2.shtml

7900GS = 3625 pts

http://hwbot.org/submission/2110302_djsub_3dmark06_gma_hd_2000_3463_marks

HD2000 i3-2100, 850MHz = 3463 pts

Going by this trend HD3000 is going to bury anything 7900GT or below.

You guys really forgot how slow cards pre-G80 are. I won't even bother using the 7900GS AT ALL.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Exactly. Total madness to put a 6 year old video card in a sandy bridge machine.

 

[IonusX]

Exactly. Total madness to put a 6 year old video card in a sandy bridge machine.

no its not actually. a voodoo with a SBE preforms better in fluids than it with an older gen cpu. 7900GS will slay hd 3000 as a result. bottlenecks never go away. they just get smaller. and with SB they get pretty small.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'd still run a game or two and benchmark them head-to-head. That way you'd know the true difference

Geforce 7900 was a fine DirectX 9.0c card.

 

[Qbah]

Going by 3dmark06:

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/inno3d_7900gs/page_2.shtml

7900GS = 3625 pts

http://hwbot.org/submission/2110302_djsub_3dmark06_gma_hd_2000_3463_marks

HD2000 i3-2100, 850MHz = 3463 pts

Going by this trend HD3000 is going to bury anything 7900GT or below.

You guys really forgot how slow cards pre-G80 are. I won't even bother using the 7900GS AT ALL.

Umm... no. Look at the CPU in that 7900GS test - Athlon X2. Put that 7900GS in a Sandy Bridge and it will destroy a HD3000. Hell, most likely a 6800GT will be faster. 3DMark is a severely CPU limited game (you just couldn't tell it back then as the CPUs weren't as fast ).

Doesn't change the fact that it's not really a good card these days, by any stretch of imagination.

 

[tynopik]

More importantly, is an HD3000 faster than my 8400GS

 

[daveybrat]

More importantly, is an HD3000 faster than my 8400GS

Yes, 8400GS is extremely slow.

 

[frozentundra123456]

The answer seems simple to me. Dont use that old card. If you dont game, the integrated should be fine.

If you want better gaming, just put in a low to mid range modern card. You should be able to get a GT240 ddr5 for around 50.00 and an HD5670 for around 75-100.

Something that no one has brought up yet either is the power supply. Not sure how much that 7900 requires or if it needs an external power connector, but I would be sure to check it out before putting it in a new PC. The PC you bought sounds like an off the shelf system and probably has only a 300 watt or less power supply.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I had a 7900GT and it didn't use much power. 300W PSU is plenty.

 

[yhelothar]

7900gs, as outdated as it is, is still on the same level of graphics as an xbox360/ps3, so you can at least get that level of graphics on any of the latest games.

 

[jimpatrick]

my 9800gt is better than hd300 but i keep both of them activated for virtu

 

[Cerb]

More importantly, is an HD3000 faster than my 8400GS

An 8400GS was good to get two quality DVI or VGA outputs, with video offloading capability. Only when it was brand new was it at all faster than IGP, and it even then, it was 'better' in the sense that a FX5200 was 'better' than IGP (mainly: NVidia drivers v. Intel/VIA/SIS drivers); though there was a bonus for the poor student, in that early 8400GS models could be made into Quadros via INF hack.