Re: Determining if onboard VGA is used

On Wed, 11 Jul 2007 12:27:08 +1200, Nicholas Sherlock
<N.sherlock@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Capabilities and performance aren't determined by the connection method.

Not by the method, but certainly by internal versus external.
If someone tells me they have an internal (onboard) video card, I
immediately know exactly what to expect from such a machine. I don't
even need to ask any follow-up questions. Just set the program's
parameters to use bare-bones minimum settings...and that's all there
is to it.


Nothing stops manufacturers from making good onboard video that is better than crap
PCI-E cards.

It's called "cost".

There's one (and only one) reason why you find onboard video on a
motherboard...and that is convenience. The motherboard manufacturer
wants to offer the customer an all-in-one solution...and the only way
such a product becomes viable is to keep costs at an absolute minimum.
And the only way to keep costs at an absolute minimum is to use the
low-end of whatever chipset you're integrating into the board -- be it
audio, video, etc. You're never going to find a motherboard with a
$700 nVidia processor onboard or a $300 Creative audio card onboard.
Instead, what you'll get are the $25 varieties of video and audio
chipsets.

This is precisely why such boards are targetted mostly at server
environments (or office environments, dentists offices, doctors
offices, lawyers, etc etc) where the last thing the customer cares
about is video or audio card performance.

If you need just one single piece of evidence to prove that onboard
video sucks, all you have to do is ask any gamer. You'll never find a
gaming machine with an onboard video...because that would be an
oxymoron. You need performance...and performance costs money. That
immediately rules out onboard anything.
.

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