How good are the i7 integrated graphics?

[paul1224]

Hi

Just a quick query regarding the i7 integrated graphics.

How good are these? I'm wondering as may need a new PC at some stage and I only play relatively basic games like football manager and use the PC for internet. Based on price was wondering if it was betetr to get the better processor, i.e. the i7 and then just drop the dedicated graphics card entirely and have the integrated?

 

[Gorman]

If you dont want to play anything other than text based games then the integrated should do it.

 

[Wozza63]

actually i7 2600 integrated graphics are pretty good for integrated, looked at some benchmarks for it and it can play modern shooters with decent fps at minimum settings, on my integrated graphics, id be lucky to top 5 fps on minimum on WaW or 15 fps on minecraft :/

 

[mantadog]

What are your other intended uses for the pc? If its nothing more than some light gaming and the usual web surfing etc then i would say drop the i7 and get an i5 with a low-mid range GPU. If you need a really strong CPU for another use then fair enough.

I am still using the integrated GPU on an i5 2500, and i have had this pc for almost a year, i planned to upgrade to a dedicated GPU and will probably upgrade in the future, the only 'modern' game i have to test out graphics was the sims and as far as i can see it playes it perfectly fine. So if you don't plan to play BF3 or the like then integrated graphics should be fine. That said i would still go for a slightly slower processor and dedicated GPU if you don't need a monster CPU for a specific task.