Which one is better? Onboard or Normal?

[baranyalcin]

Hi,
I want to buy a notebook, and I will use it for design programs like Photoshop, AutoCad, ArchiCad etc..

Notebooks with onboard graphic cards are a little cheaper and lighter.

Here is the graphic card requirements of programs which I want to use :

Photoshop CS :16-bit color or greater video card
InDesign :Video card that supports 256 colors at 1,024x768 monitor resolution
ArchiCad :Video: 256 colors minimum

For these programs and requirements, need I normal Graphic card or a up to 64 Mb shared graphic card is enough for a notebook which have 512 MB DDR RAM

Thanks for answers

 

[splenda20]

An Onboard card is more than enough for those programs. But keep in mind that it'll slow your CPU down by eating away clock cycles that would usually be handled by a graphics card, and the your 512 wouldn't be truly 512, as some RAM would be used by the onboard video.
Personally, if it's not that much more expensive, I'd always opt for an AGP video card, for the simple reason that it doesn't use as much CPU cycles.

 

[Crashman]

The onboard would probably work but it might slow down the pace at which you can spin 3D models in Autocad, as well as draining all the main RAM when using Photoshop.

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<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Obtuse]

How much cheaper? Because seriously, onboard graphics suck. Yeah, they'll run those programs fine, but if you can get a seperate card for maybe $50 - $100 more, do it. Laptops are a lot harder to upgrade, spend well at the beginning. This way, if you get some kind of new program, or decide you want to run games, you're good.

"The only way to overcome temptation is to yield to it" - Oscar Wilde