Intel 3000 vs GeForce GT 220; Windows Exp. Scores

[Zeckiris]

I know this will come off silly I am sure but I was hoping someone could help explain some Windows Experience Scores to me. I made a rookie mistake when looking at newegg's deal of the day and bought a video-card that is lower than my current one. (luckily it was only $10)

What sucked me into it was that the video card already in my computer was a Zotac Geforce GT 220 with 512MB DDR2, and the new one was a Gigabyte GeForce 210 with 1GB of DDR3. Obviously here I attached to the more/better memory on the card. After installing the new card (I didn't know my mistake at this point) I re-ran the Windows Experience and it lowered my Desktop Performance for Windows Aero from a 5.2 to a 5.1. So I put the old card back but left the HDMI cord plugged into my motherboard, re-ran the score and now its at a 6.2.

In short I was curious which setup was best at the end of the day and should I even have any of these videocards plugged into my computer if they are apparently just lowering the score. Second part of that is how valid is that score to real world applications (I run games like SCII and Minecraft on this computer, as well as ArcGIS software for 2D and 3D mapping)

The hardware I am working with is
- Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Motherboard
- Intel Core i5-2500K
- Zotac GeForce GT220 (512MB DDR2)
OR
- Gigabyte GeForce 210 (1GB DDR3)

 

[Rockdpm]

Well just to bring up something, the Intel 3000 video you speak of is integrated into the CPU. which in my opinion the GeForce cards are better. I don't prefer onboard CPU graphics....but it helps to accelerate the other video cards

 

[Zeckiris]

That is part of the reason I was kind of confused about the apparent drop in score between just being plugged into the Motherboard vs plugged into the card. I don't understand why that alone would change the index score by a full point. Does changing where I am plugged in change where the computer goes to test the graphic capabilities?

 

[larkspur]

WEI scores can be odd sometimes. I can tell you that in gaming, the 220 should beat the hd3000: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

That hierarchy chart shows the 220 ddr2 model many tiers higher. I usually disable onboard graphics when using a discrete graphics card. But my guess is that yeah, when you plug in your monitor to the motherboard's connector you are using the onboard graphics. Look closer at the scores. The 220 should beat it in the 3d gaming category. Desktop/Aero performance should be irrelevant unless you notice an actual problem.

 

[Zeckiris]

So at the end of the day I should probably leave it plugged into the video card then and ignore the WEI scores for this (oddly the 3d stayed the same either way...it was down around 5.5 to begin with, then after I installed the 210 card, realized my mistake and put my old 220 back the 3d jumped up to 6.3 and has stayed there no matter which place it is plugged into)

 

[RetiredChief]

It sounds like you are getting three scores that are based on 3 GPUs (one of which is the HD3000 (iGPU). the proble with WIE when you have two GPUs, The iGPU (HD3000) and a dGPU (the 210, or 220) is figuring out WHICH GPU the wei is related to. Is it testing the iGPU, or is it testing the dGPU.

In My laptop I have the iGPU (HD3000) and a 540M dGPU. If the application is a 3D app then the 540 dGPU is used, if the application is a 2 D app then the HD3000 iGPU is used. Windows during it's test may test the HD3000 even though a dGPU is installed.
I think it depends on the settings in windows.

Try your Game and see if there is a difference. NOTE: if you plug into the HDMI output from the MB, you are using the iGPU.