I5 Integrated HD Graphics vs. Discrete Graphics Card

Good questions.

Integrated graphics in Sandy Bridge is just a marketing trick. It's just a bit better than any Intel graphics of the past. You can watch HD movies, play a few games on low/very low settings (sometimes medium) and it is only possible to use it on Intel H67 chipset, which doesn't let you overclock your CPU, rendering i5-2500K and i7-2600k useless compared to their non-K (i.e. not unlocked) counterparts.

If you have both IGP (integrated graphics processor) and a dedicated graphics card, you can choose which one to use - plug the screen into onboard graphics port (available only on H67 chipset motherboards) to use IGP (graphics inbuilt into Sandy Bridge) or into graphics card to use dedicated GPU.

Basically, integrated graphics in Sandy Bridge is useless compared to any dedicated GPU. Buy a Sandy Bridge (such as i5-2500K) because it's a very good CPU and pair it with a discrete graphics card. That is, if you want to do gaming/3D design/other heavy work. If you just want to watch movies and browse the internet, you'll be fine with integrated graphics. But then again, you don't need such a powerful CPU!  

Hope this helps!

If you are purchasing a "k" version like the i5-2500k, then it comes with the Intel HD 3000 graphics core. If you are buying a "non-k" version like the i5-2500, then it comes with the slower Intel HD 2000 graphics core.

The Intel HD 3000 is a little more powerful than the Radeon HD 5450.

To use the integrated core, you must use a motherboard with a H67 chipset (which lack overclocking abilities), or the Z68 chipset (which has overclocking abilities). Motherboards based on the P67 chipset cannot access the graphic core, therefore you must install a video card, however it does have overclocking abilities.

I do not believe you can use the integrated graphics core and a video card at the same time. It has to be one or the other. The graphics core will draw a power whether you use it or a video card, but when not in use it will draw minimum power.

The only way to actually stop the integrated graphics core from consuming any power while the PC is on is to take a hammer and smash open the CPU so that you rip out the graphics core. Of course this means your CPU will be destroyed.

Thanks amk.

I believe the H61 also supports IGP. I just finished ordering parts for a small media PC that I'm building for the folks. i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz with a ASRock H61 board. I'm hoping that it can handle HD videos without any problems.

Now, let me just try and clarify, so if you were to have both the IGP and a dedicated graphics card, you can only make use of one or the other. They don't benefit or help each other in any way?

Seems like a terrible way to up the price of a perfectly good CPU by adding mediocre graphics support. Would be nice if they worked together and shared the processing load or something of the sort.

Edit -

Jaguarskx,

I see. That explains a lot. I just scanned the intel site looking for an i5 cpu that does not have IGP to get a cheaper price. Looks like its not happening. So if I'm building a video editing, gaming computer with an i5-2500 Processor, which mobo chipset would be best considering I will be getting a dedicated video card?

Yes, I believe H61 also supports it, though it's a much more rare chipset, that's why I didn't mention it  

Yes, IGP and GPU don't help each other in any way.

And of course this setup will handle HD videos. HD videos aren't much of a stress, even my Celeron M 1.8 GHz can handle them.

To address your edit:

Best chipset would be P67, which doesn't even have onboard graphics port and allows you to overclock the CPU. That means, if you put a Sandy Bridge with inbuild graphics on such a mobo, the CPU will run fine, but inbuilt graphics won't be utilized, you'll need a discrete GPU.

Another great chipset would be the new Z68, which allows both overclocking and the use of integrated graphics. It also offers some new SSD caching technology, which improves the SSD performance.

And I assume you mean i5-2500K, not i5-2500 =)

Well, I was considering the i5-2500 rather than the i5-2500K because, from what I can tell on the intel website,
http://ark.intel.com/ProductCollection.aspx?familyID=59...
the only difference is that the "K" gives Intel Graphics 3000 rather than just the Intel Graphics 2000.

Since I plan on getting a dedicated graphics card, thought I would save $11? lol

I was looking into P67 boards, but I think I'll take your advice on the Z68 for its ability to use the IGP in case my dedicated graphics card craps out on me. Plus it will keep me future proof on the SSD game if and when it becomes a standard.

I'm new to the overclocking game but I've done a good amount of reading on the topic. I'm sure its not too hard to figure out. I hope.  


Thanks everyone. I'll post how everything goes once everything is put together.
Here is my tentative build. I'm buying pieces as they go on sale and as my paycheck comes in. $$$$$
Trying to keep everything around $800.00

i5-2500 Sandy Bridge
ASUS P8Z68-V LGA 1155 Intel Z68
- (Asus is at least 20-50$ more expensive than everyone else for similar specs, but I've always liked their customer support.)
EVGA GeForece GTX 1GB 256bit
- (Waiting for a model to go on sale)
Liquid Cooling for my CPU

No! That's not the only difference! i5-2500K is UNLOCKED, unlike i5-2500, that means you can overclock it by simply changing the multiplier in BIOS.

Ah!!!!
Thank you thank you!
You saved me the trouble of chucking it at the wall after finding out I can't overclock it later.

You did mention it was a video editing computer as well, correct?

Yes

Ahh, so I may be a bit too late, but if money isn't really a concern and you haven't bought the 2500k yet, I would recommend getting the 2600k.
HT can be extremely helpful with CPU intensive tasks such as video editing.
Most gamers tend to go for the cheaper 2500k as games have really no use for HT, but having a system for both gaming and editing (like myself), HT can come in very handy.
You should also note, that HT is pretty much the only difference, as well as a additional 100mhz in stock clock speeds.
So overclocking should work just as well.

I think you got a bum steer here. First of all, you do video and picture encoding and editting, and this is specifically what the HD 3000 was built for. In fact, vs. many discrete video cards, the HD 3000 is better at encoding due to special technology Intel infused, which you can read about on their website, or you can even look at the independent comparison tests done on Tom's Hardware (I think that's where I saw it). Second of all, you don't game, and that's practically the sole purpose for discrete cards.

You should spend the extra money for the i7 2600K, and skip the video card entirely.

After installing an external card i disabled my onboard Integrated HD 2000 so i could free up the RAM/Resources for the system.

CPU - i3 2100 (w/HD 2000, currently disabled)
MB - ASRock H61iCafe
RAM - Patriot 4GB G2 10666
HDD- 500GB SATAIII 6GB/s
Video - nVidia 7950 GT OC 256MB DDR3 (not OC)

Hey guys, very interesting thread, but i wanted to ask, if i have a hp pavilion g series LAPTOP with 6Gb ram, intel core i5 (locked) how could i possibly get a separate video card/GPU to run high end games?

Im not sure if its specifically what u guys were talking about but ..yeah haha

Hi - leohzboy - If u hav not yet purch ur mobo & processor, there is actually a config where the IGP & discrete GPU work together:
The Intel Ivy Bridge 3570k (containing Intel hd4000 IGP) with a z77 Lucid Virtu compatible mobo (Gigabyte-Asus & possibly others have offerings),
do exactly that - they work tohether to improve performance. The Caveat of course is - how effective are they?
You need to do some research if you haven't already gone with Sandy Bridge build.

Tom