Having trouble deciding between IGP or discreet [Intel]

autobulb · Post by **autobulb** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:58 am

Greetings all! I enjoy building computers for fun, especially low cost, smallish form factor, silent ones!

I am currently away from home on a little trip, but I will be back at the end of April and I don't have any computers besides this netbook I am typing on, so I will need to build a computer for some basic tasks.

Firstly, here is what I would like: some sort of hybrid between an HTPC and low-medium powered gaming machine. It's kind of an all in one type deal. It will be my main interneting machine, used for high def content, and some light gaming (looking forward to Diablo 3).

There are some components that I am going to reuse, and some components that I am set on, but I am having a hard time choosing a motherboard and whether to go with a higher end IGP or lower end addon graphics card.

Here's the basics: I have this compact little mATX tower that I found on the street that I will be using this time around to save money on a case. I have a Seasonic 300W SFX power supply, basically new, from my last silent PC venture, and an old DVD-RW drive. So basically I just need the core components: motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive, etc.

For the CPU I am set on the Intel E7400 because it's the cheapest, lowest clocked Core 2 Duo from Newegg. I'll probably get some basic 4GB kit for RAM going by whatever has good reviews and lower prices. Same for harddrives though I am thinking about a SSD for booting, and a larger drive for storage. I am open to suggestions regarding that.

The problem is deciding on which motherboard to get. I want to get something new-ish with a decent amount of features and reliability. I originally thought about the Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H which has the nVidia 9400 chipset but scrapped that after learning you can't run HDMI and DVI at the same time. I've been reading that the 4670 from ATI is low powered but packs a punch, and is ideal for HTPCs. If I do go that route, I'm kind of stuck on which chipset to get. It seems hard to find a board without IGP in the mATX formfactor. So I guess I would get whatever is stable and consumes less power. Any suggestions?

InfyMcGirk · Post by **InfyMcGirk** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:54 am

I don't know about mATX mobos, but in case it helps, my Sony Z laptop uses Intel's 4500MHD integrated graphics (and Nvidia 9300gs discrete) and I find the Intel graphics are perfectly adequate for all my day-to-day tasks: DVD, browsing, that sort of thing. I'm told the 4500 is capable of HD video playback although my particular model lacks BD, so I haven't tested this really.
I'm not much of a gamer, so the only thing I really use the discrete chip for is Photoshop CS4 acceleration.

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:16 am

I got a GA-G31M-ES2L which comes with fairly basic integrated graphics, so I added a low-end Nvidia graphics card. It's a very cheap and compact motherboard, with what appears to be a pretty solid Intel chipset. In fact for me, it has worked out cheaper to get this board plus the graphics card than an equivalently spec'd integrated motherboard.

Modo · Post by **Modo** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:52 am

You might get away with an IGP solution if you play only old games, and don't want high resolutions. For real 3D games at any decent resolution, a dedicated graphics card is a must. The only thing that really has improved with IGP, especially on the AMD side, is HD playback. As alleycat said, you might be better off money-wise with buying a cheaper motherboard, and slapping a low- or even mid-range graphics card on it.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:20 am

My ~$400 Gaming System:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 ($99 on eBay)
Gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L ($58 )
Coolink BAT1VS ($21)
Scythe S-Flex F ($15)
eVGA Geforce 9600GSO ($50)
2 x 2GB ADATA DDR2 800 (?)
WD6400AAKS ($60)
Samsung DVD Burner ($29)
In Win Z-Series Mini Tower ($50)

E7200 works fine up to 4.2GHz @ 1.5V (very high power use)
9600GSO works fine at 680/1700/950

I keep it at 3.8GHz @ 1.4V.
With the IGP cpu load is 126W, idle is 62W.
With the video card: cpu load is 166W, idle is 105W.

The overclocked 9600GSO isn't the most efficient video card, but it sure is fast for the price.

autobulb · Post by **autobulb** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 8:44 am

Thanks for your replies. I want to steer clear of the 4500HD. I first tried it out on an Intel mini itx board and it was unstable and quirky as hell. Figuring it was related to the board only, I sold that and got a 15" laptop with the mobile version of that chipset thinking the laptop could do a decent job of being a media player. It had terrible tearing issues that made watching videos really annoying.

I guess I'll go with a budget Intel integrated chip and evaluate the power consumption. Maybe the G41. I was hoping to keep it around 50W or so, if that's even possible. If it's low enough, I'll spring for the 4670 when the time is right.

The Gigabyte G31 board looks nice except the max memory is 4GB and I might want to expand in the future.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:47 am

autobulb wrote:The Gigabyte G31 board looks nice except the max memory is 4GB and I might want to expand in the future.

According to Intel the G33 chipset is the lowest power of any currently available--though G33 motherboards are getting harder to find. My Foxconn Foxconn G33M-S had no trouble with 8GB of DDR2-800. The G4x chipsets are overall a step backwards except for the integrated video (insufficient PCIe lanes being the other major problem.)