New computer on board video question

I've decided to build my next computer and am a bit strapped for cash.
It will be using Intels new Clarkdale chip which has video on the CPU and is reported to be better than other on board video. It will also stream Blu-Ray.

Does anyone have any experience running two (or even one) monitors with motherboard based systems?
I have no intention of playing any of the high end games.
Access, Internet, a little Excel, etc.

Thanks.

Mike Painter said:

I've decided to build my next computer and am a bit strapped for cash.
It will be using Intels new Clarkdale chip which has video on the CPU and is reported to be better than other on board video. It will also stream Blu-Ray.

Does anyone have any experience running two (or even one) monitors with motherboard based systems?
I have no intention of playing any of the high end games.
Access, Internet, a little Excel, etc.

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I use to run 2 22" screens off onboard video it worked fine for basic needs (excel word etc)

Shouldn't be a problem. I ran two monitors from my laptop for years although it was a slight upgrade from standard. It's a four year old machine. You should be fine for everyday stuff.

My current laptop can allocate up to approx 700mb ram to video use, which seems like a lot for normal use. Interesting, there have been times I exceeded this need.

One was for a ppt presentation with moving pics and lots of data

Second - A Scanned photo. I have a pretty decent film scanner and scanned a large format negative for a friend. This ended up as a file size approx 1 GB. The computer could not open and display the image.

There are some other times where it was getting real close, but it turned out ok.

If you are budget tight, I would be really tempted to look hard at AMDs offerings. Usually, you get a bit more for your $, at least that is my experience. (last 3 computers - all AMD, all the time)

Thanks, just the info I wanted.

HarryN said:

If you are budget tight, I would be really tempted to look hard at AMDs offerings. Usually, you get a bit more for your $, at least that is my experience. (last 3 computers - all AMD, all the time)

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Intel's new Clarkdale i3 530 and 540 seem to be targeted at them. Close in price with better video, the ability to stream blu-ray and a motherboard that tends to be about $100.00 cheaper for equivalent performance may hurt them. Lower power needs or the ability to overclock adds to the fun.
The Clarkdale Review at AnandTeck has a bit of information.

This should work fine - really only need dedicated for high end video processing or gaming!

And ddr3 ram is cheaper, future upgrade paths.

How big are your monitors and at what resolution do they run?

If they're over 19" and running at a fairly high resolution, you'll probably be better off buying a low-end dedicated video card. Something like an ATI 4350 should do very good and they can be found for $25-50.

This XFX video card would do well: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150335

If that breaks the budget, this Asus card is only $22 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121310

Just to add something here, I'm running on onboard video @ 1920x1080 on a 23-inch monitor. That's on an Asus MB w/ an Nvidia GeForce 8300 chipset.

I don't do gaming on it. The most demanding stuff I do would probably be higher resolution video, like this stuff here. It plays em' just fine. I am running a dual-core 3g processor tho which probably helps.

Lite_me said:

Just to add something here, I'm running on onboard video @ 1920x1080 on a 23-inch monitor. That's on an Asus MB w/ an Nvidia GeForce 8300 chipset.

I don't do gaming on it. The most demanding stuff I do would probably be higher resolution video, like this stuff here. It plays em' just fine. I am running a dual-core 3g processor tho which probably helps.

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That's actually a pretty good onboard graphics processor. Many onboard graphics processors on Intel socket motherboards are simple Intel GMA units that are pretty under powered for large/multiple monitors and high resolution.

If your strapped for cash just go here

http://www.dellauction.com

You can get a mint fast system for 100 to 200 bucks

A nice dell monitor for 80 to 100 bucks

I got two of them

They came absolutely mint, cannot be told from new

Some have warranty time left