http://www.tomshardware.com/us/200 [...] index.html

Does it make any sense to game with an integrated graphics chipset? How does it do with DVD and HD DVD playback? We look at a few chipsets and see what they have to offer.

Integrated graphics would be good for the monitor alone. A low end graphics would be useful for HTPC and mid to high for gaming. By the way the link does not work.

Some games work fine with integrated graphics - Simcity 4000 for example. Others will not even let you install them. If you're into FPS then you need a graphics card.

Playing DVDs is OK with integrated graphics. My Dad does that all the time.

I don't know about HD DVD. I suspect those would work too if you've got a fast CPU, for example E6600 or better. There's a lot of decoding to be done, and some single core CPUs can't handle it in real time without hardware support from the video card.

I'm not through the whole article (pg 2). What I think is that integrated graphics should be able to run every game (DX 9.0c, currently most games are made for it) on 1024x768, no need of the eye-candy such FSAA etc. (otherwise nobody would buy the discrete ones).

The reason behind this is the abhorrent power consumption of discrete graphics cards. The reason I'm sticking with my GeForce 256! Where I live electricity is VERY expensive and since my PC runs Folding@home 24x7, I don't want to spend 40W/hr when a 7600GT is IDLING. (Or the 19W for 7300GT). Well nobody minds if it's consuming a lot when playing a game or rendering 3D, but 40 watts at idle! I play only like 4-5 hours a week.

In my next build, I'll go integrated, just for the sake of power consumption.

By the way people, is there some way we can force ATI/nVIDIA to lower their idle power usage? Can we have a petition or something? Do you people know of any card that uses mobile GPU on it (so we can compare any possible power saving that could be made that way).

Hmmm.... Look, I admire your generosity in running Folding@home, but I have to ask: wouldn't your money be better spent if you made a cash donation to some charity or research organization instead?

Look at it this way: $20 a month to a charity is usually $17 actually reaching the people who need it, and soon.
$20 a month paid to a utility bill (which sells VERY expensive stuff, as you said) means polluting the planet, giving a big profit to the company, and your results may take years to actually help somebody. Also, if your CPU is from the same year as the 7600 GT, it probably produces fewer results per watt compared to, say, an E6750 or Q6600.

If you were to get a lower power card, something based on 65nm process that is mid-range, and underclock it to the minimum levels, you should save a meaningful chunk of the power. You could also make your next build use that and a mobile CPU -- Athlon X2 EE or a Pentium Core Duo.

I have a Cyberpower 1350VA UPS and it measures my consumption. Basically, I have an old Celeron 733 that acts as a router, so 40W. Then my 19" CRT (I love how it works at every resolution as if it were native) draws 80W. Also attached is my main rig - 2.93GHz E4300 w/ an 8800GTS, 4 HDs which must draw the remainder. Total usage is 300W, so the main rig draws 180W idle. Under load, the total usage I've seen hit about 360W or so, so at load, the main rig draws about 240-250W at the plug. Figure 80% efficiency, the rig actually uses 200W of power and generates 50W of heat in the PSU.

To leave this whole setup on for a month, would cost around $22/month. I don't leave it on constantly, though, and the monitor goes into idle mode whenever I'm not around.

That's based on the local 10c/KWhr ($US) rate. I don't think $22/mo is ridiculous for something like that. In practice, I'd be amazed if it actually costs more than $10/month. I know in the US, CT has the highest power costs, and its 14c/KWhr. So if you think it costs too much to run a discrete graphics card, even the 20W 7300GT, you have to have a power cost over 25c/KWhr. Are you in Antarctica or something?

at the OP:
I run my media center with integrated graphics (6150) and it plays games at low settings and fine FPS, and it runs all my normal computing without issues.

I do agree with aevm, though. Power plants are a notoriously horrible pollution generation industry. The reliance on coal is really just backwards. If you look at alternatives, you could try to equip your house with solar panels, try to get wind energy plants built, or try to get nuclear plants built. Of the three, the one with the best chance of actually turning a profit is wind. The one with the most energy produced is nuclear, and is the one that produces any emissions, though relatively safe. Nuclear rods may not be the safest thing, but atleast the byproduct is water and not CO2 and NOx.

When you live in Asia, you have a problem indulging in things like E6750. Mine's a Sempron 2800+. It's getting quite old, I'll replace my machine in Dec (after my exams). (I had the option of Athlon on S754, but I didn't buy it b/c of its high consumption). What I need is lightning fast response, (not raw speed), and fast I/O (now some retailer I know has started importing Raptors, I'll go for it).

The total power bill increment since when I started folding (obviously w/ Team 40051) is $2 per month. That will maybe mean nothing to you, but we don't earn in dollars. I remember reading in some newspaper that we pay more for power than New Yorkers.

Anyhow charity won't fulfil my purpose. I'm the type of person which acts according to some theories, one of which is that I don't buy anything if I can't use it to death (minimization of waste). Like my year-old cellphone has all its counters in thousands. To increase the value of my car, I always carpool (if it can seat 4, it should). Likewise, my CPU will go obsolete, so I always run it at 100% load, just to get the best ROI. (Maybe I do all this b/c I've a Mensa brain?)

I've no problem paying anything as long as my machine is actually doing something. But paying for 40W an hour when the GPU is doing nothing except displaying the desktop (and the monitor is off b/c I do it whenever I'm not in front of it) is obscene. For the sake of comparison, most modern processors by Intel and AMD consume like 4-10W at idle.

You can downclock your video card for which I do on my 8800gts. I set mine near 100/150mhz unless I play a game that needs more.

And are you telling me that you wouldn't buy a Hummer H3 that sits 7 people for highway commutes seating just yourself? Seems common over here.

Hey, wait just a minute! I'm A+ certified!

Yeah, $2/month is a lot in some countries, unfortunately. And you still being a student doesn't help either, of course. When you finish university in your country, do you have a huge debt to pay off, like people in North America?

You probably know this already, but what the heck: an LCD consumes less than a CRT. I don't know exact numbers right now, but I think my CRT 19" used to consume over 100W and my current 20" LCD needs only 35W.

If you TRULY care about saving electricity, invest in a laptop (assuming the funds are available) It also doubles as a battery backup if you're not getting consistent power from your utility company.

Enough with this pointless electricity discussion. Now the question I have is: Isn't something missing in that article? Why yes there is, where the hell is the NVIDIA nForce 630a or 630i chipset with GeForce 7025 or 7050 integrated graphics?

This article is useless in comparing integrated videocards unless they have all the major chipset manufacturers compared.