In some laptops it is mentioned that there is 1 or 2 GB graphics card or sometimes Integrated ?

Question

In case of laptops,

what is the difference between mentioning

1 or 2 GB graphics card

and

Integrated ?

Answer 1

Well, this is a bit difficult to answer.

Let me start from the beginning.



There are integrated and discrete graphics cards. What that means is that, integrated graphics cards are specific parts of your processor, or CPU, that are dedicated for graphics processing. Discrete graphics cards are separate processors entirely, in a manner of speaking.



An apt analogy is if you have a car engine, integrated graphics would be like one cylinder of your engine being used to say, power the audio. Discrete graphics would be like having a second engine that is solely used for powering the audio.



Anyway, integrated graphics share RAM with other CPU processes. This is because as part of the CPU, they do not have their own allocation of RAM. Generally, they have a set quantity of RAM they are allowed to use--not surprisingly, this takes away from your total RAM. However, as a marketing trick, manufacturers will often display the set quantity of RAM that the integrated graphics can use as its memory. This is misleading. It has no additional memory.



Discrete graphics processors are different in that they have their own RAM. This RAM is specifically for graphics use, and generally has a higher throughput and speed than ordinary RAM. This means that for a discrete graphics card, however much memory it has is separate to the total RAM in your computer.



For more specific details, look up the graphics processor in question to see if it is integrated or discrete, and how much memory it has.



Hope it helps!



Edit:

I want to add that integrated graphics are not necessarily bad. It really depends on what you are looking to do. Gaming on any laptop is something of a joke in terms of cost efficiency, but most "gaming laptops" nowadays do have several GB of graphics memory. Memory, however, is not the most important component of performance. You really want to look at home many processing cores a graphics processor has, and their clock speed. To put it another way, look it up at http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html if you want all the details.

Answer 2

Integrated = GPU is built into the CPU, which also means it's terrible.



1 or 2 GB is how much memory the GPU has to do stuff with. If it's an integrated it'll pull the memory from the system RAM. Real graphics cards like Nvidia GeForce GT xxx or AMD Radeon 7xxx or something similar have their own onboard RAM.



2GB is more than you need.

1GB is enough for 1920x1080, most laptops won't have that though.

Answer 3

Your laptop motherboard comes with an integrated graphic card. These integrated cards generally have less performance. And some laptops have dedicated graphic cards too which are of higher Vram and higher performance. That 1-2gb memory is of the dedicated one..

Answer 4

Most laptops dont have a separate video card attached to the motherboard. The CPU or "video chipset" does the workload of graphics. When laptops have a dedicated graphics card, it frees up precious CPU cycles and is more powerful because of it.



The difference in amount of video ram (the 1GB or 2GB part) is basically how much it can handle when it takes on the workload of graphics.



I'd love to know what f-ing moron gave me thumbs down - nothing in my post is wrong.

Answer 5

let me give you short version



integrated graphics - Bad

dedicated graphics - Good



integrated graphics - intel

dedicated graphics - Nvidia,Amd,Ati,Raedon



you just need 1gb graphics for now,their are no games that demands 2gb graphics,those games would come may be 6 or 7 yrs from now so don't worry about 1gb or 2gb



if the laptop graphics says - Nvidia,Amd,Ati,Raedon

buy it.