ASUS MOBO Integrated Graphics?

[Rock Vacirca]

Time was you needed a decent graphics card to run SL and Integrated Graphics chips just wouldn't cut the mustard. But I am wondering if times and technology have moved on since then.

I am in a position to buy a decent PC with an i7 2600K with 12GB RAM and a 60GB SSD and 1T second drive. However it has no graphics card installed, and uses its onboard graphics chip instead.

The motherboard is an ASUS P8H77-V LE, and the spec says it supports OpenGL.

Will this MOBO run SL (in any quality) or will it simply not work at all?

 

Rock

 

 

[Jean Horten]

Well, Second Life's technology has moved on too and integrated Intel graphics with shared memory still 'don't cut the mustard'.

If something can run OpenGL, it does not necessarily mean that it will deliver statisfactory graphics speed and quality in Second Life, so don't texpect too much from the auxilliary Intel graphics chip on that mainboard that will even cut off some of your system ram due to using shared memory instead of having own physical memory like a real graphics card  and invest some more money for a decent GPU. Go for nVidia rather than AMD/ATI, or you'll buy  a lot of driver problems for the money you saved on not buying a nVidia card.

J.

 

 

[Coby Foden]

Read this post about integrated Intel graphics:

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/In-Desperate-need-of-help-Distorted-mesh/m-p/1809833#M18694

[Nyll Bergbahn]

H77 boards with integrated graphics are aimed at  2D video and general multimedia rather than gaming despite the promised improved graphics power. Technology has moved on but not far enough for integrated graphics. If you buy that system, you should be able to run SL but not at high levels and many residents have posted issues relating to Intel integrated chipsets, even the latest HD4000 chipsets (from not able to run SL to constant crashing and graphics problems). However, you could add a decent mid to high end discrete graphics card to that mobo and then you are into a completely different ballgame with much superior gaming performance. 

However, I do think it would be better to buy a system with a Z77 based mobo with a discrete graphics card if gaming and SL is a priority. 

If you intend to overclock the H77, please note you can't as the multipliers are locked. You need a Z77 board for overclocking. It does have AMD crossfire support but not Nvidia SLI support. People have differing views on how CPU overclocking affects performance in SL. but it works great for me.

[Chosen Few]

Don't waste your money on a machine with integrated graphics.  Always, always, ALWAYS get a real graphics card.  If you need to sacrifice somehting in your computer to stay in budget, cut down on something else.  Do NOT skimp on the graphics card.

If you go with 8GB of RAM instead of 12, and you hold off on the SSD, you'd probably have enough to get a fairly decent midrange nVidia card, which would be about 10,000 times better than the best IGP imaginable. 

Think about it this way:

• 12GB of RAM, plus IGP, equals you can run a few more programs at once, but they all look crappy.
• 8GB of RAM, plus decent video card, equals you can still do a ton of stuff all at once, and they all look great.
• SSD, plus IGP, equals programs open faster, but they look crappy the whole time they're running.
• HDD, plus decent video card, equals programs open at normal speed, and they look great the whole time they're running.

Any way you slice it, you get more bang for your buck with the video card than with that other stuff. There's just no case to be made the IGP. 

If you really want the extra RAM and the SSD, add them later, when you've got the money for them.  Your video card is the single most important item in your compute.  Don't skimp on that, just to add some bells and whistles that won't do nearly as much for you.

 

By the way, just so you know, "spec says it supports OpenGL" means nothing.  I'm  not aware of any current GPU that doesn't support OpenGL.  It's a standard.

Saying my video card supports OpenGL is like saying my car supports asphalt.  Just because Ferraris drive on the same roadways doesn't mean my Dodge rust bucket will ever perform like a Ferrari.

[Orca Flotta]

Guys, you are so right but here's the twist: if Rock's gonna buy a prefab system, say from Dell or Acer or HP or something the power unit will probably be much too weak to support a real gpu. These things need a lot, and I mean a LOT!, of power. So my advice is to never buy a readymade. Get your dream machine taylor made for the task on hand (gaming), save a lot of money, and end up with a versatile individual system. Upgrade whenever needed and never worry about compatibility stuff.

So these things are important for SL:

- gpu by Nvidia

- power brick at least 650 W

- RAM galore!

 

The super bestest processor and storing units are secondary; nice to have but not super important. Upgrade later.