Onboard video

[Aolish]

One of my friends is looking to buy a new system on a very tight budget. His current setup he has right now is the M4A78-E with a Phenom II 720 2.8 GHZ processor. If he uses onboard video will he be able to achieve a resolution of 1680x1050 on his LCD? In addition what kind of other handicaps will he exp if he uses onboard video? For example will he be able to look at youtube HD videos smoothly? He also uses photoshop-like applications since he is an artist, is a good video card necessary based off what he does? any help is appreciated.

 

[Rick]

Yes, it will meet your needs. The Radeon HD 3300 chip is a surprisingly capable IGP.

• 1680x1050 is more than possible (any card with 8MB of video RAM can do this)
• Videos will be smooth (UVD+ support)
• There are really no limitations besides poor frame rates for higher end games. Games like Crysis should still be playable, as long as you turn down the graphics settings (way down).