Question about Sandy Bridge's "Integrated Graphics"

[DesiPower]

I was reading this article and I have a few questions.

1. Do all Sandy Bridge have integrated graphics? or just the ones with a "K" and/or "S" at the end have it, also what is the difference between "K", "S" or other available alphabets.

2. The above article shows the awesomeness of the integrated graphics, but how exactly can I use/utilize it?
a. Do they have special mobo that do not have any on-board video chip but still have video output?
b. Does it require on-board video but boosts its performance through its integrated graphics?
c. or does its simply boost the performance of any video card, on-board or PCI 16x BUT needs one anyways?

What is this "2C SB Graphics" mentioned in the above article? Google did not produce any meaningful result...

 

[stargazr]

1. Yes. The non-k's have Intel HD Graphics 2000, k's have 3000

2. You need to have a motherboard that uses the H67 or Z68 (NOT RELEASED YET) chipset. H67 can use the integrated graphics, but not overclock. The Z68 allows using the integrated graphics AND overclocking. It has other features also like quick sync and SSD caching.

There's also a P67 chipset which cannot use the integrated graphics, but can overclock. This is a popular chipset.

The integrated graphics can only be used alone, not to boost a stand-alone card.

Here's an idea of performance:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/...core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/11

 

[DesiPower]

ahhh! wonderful, thank you, looked up H67s at newegg, they indeed are mobos with no onboard video but have HDMI and DVI outputs! that's exactly what I was looking for! Thanks

 

[stargazr]

:thumbsup:

 

[betasub]

^^^ H61 is also a valid chipset for enabling SandyBridge integrated graphics.