Graphics cards as standard?

Question

Hi all, I see some laptops or desktops come with (e.g.) ATI Radeon graphics. Is this the same as the aftermarket graphics cards? Some system uses the Intel graphics. Which's which?

Answer 1

No, ATI Radeon Mobility is somewhat LESS than the desktop equivalent, and use a different set of drivers. They are *roughly* equivalent to their desktop cousins of the same number, but NOT the same.

Desktop that came with Radeon are low-end stuff, like X300 or X1200 or so. These can use the same drivers as the discrete cards (i.e. aftermarket).

Intel video /graphics should be avoided as much as possible. They lack features that has been in video cards for 4-5 years now (namely, hardware T&L)