Re: A case for Dual System Cabinets

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips kony <spam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in part:
> Even a low end 25W video card is easily double the performance
> of integrated video.  Yes a high powered gaming video card can
> consume 75W, but remember that even those that consume a lot,
> consume significantly less when not gaming.

Sure, but remember these numbers are for the card alone, and
have to be multiplied by a factor reflecting the PSU inefficiency.

It may be that a low end vidcard has better video performance
than integrated graphics.  That might matter for gaming and
3D activities where the GPU functions ****ne.  But it makes no
detectable difference at 2D like desktop or websurfing.

I used to be very concerned about integrated graphics spoiling
desktop performance by stealing bandwidth.  Then I tested my
new Xmas present:  2.44 GB/s increases to 2.50 with a separate
vidcard.  Round-trip latency goes from 82 to 81ns.  I'm very
underwhelmed and doubt I'll buy a vidcard for it.

The point is:  times change!  1024x768x32bpp@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 is 189 MB/s.
That was a lot on older chipsets like PC100 that could only
burst 400 MB/s.  Modern dual channel DDR2 is more like 6.4 GB/s,
and hardly notices the hit that once was cru****ng.

-- Robert