Hello Kevin
  While some onboard video now has passable 3D support there are few if any
that have sufficent ram (and don't forget many onboard video chipsets share
system ram, way slower than video ram such as GDDR3) to run
honest-to-goodness CAD work at any but unusable resolutions, especially if
you're on modern larger monitors.  It is my understanding that the
cross-platform (OS2, Linux, Windows, Mac, etc) 3D (and CAD oriented) 
testing and benchmarking software, SpecViewPerf (available for free
download) uses an nVidia Quadro unit roughly equivalent to around an
FX5700.  That is a fairly modest videocard by todays gaming standards but
since you seem uninterested in gaming and only mention CAD, consider
yourself fortunate.  It is possible to purchase a video card that will make
your work substantially easier, faster and more readable in the vicinity of
$100 US or less, thanks to gaming needs driving the midrange prices down. 
It is fairly easy to calculate your videoram needs based on resol
ution but it is worthy of mention that doling out processing and ram work
to a dedicated graphics system instead of compromising your onboard system
by sucking up cycles and ram addresses (and time) would likely breathe new
life into your PC.
  Video cards are developing so fast that they are putting a pinch on power
supplies now.  There are graphics cards now that have more processing power
and ram and consume more wattage than entire PCs of just a year or two ago.
 Cards with 1GB of ram that require hundreds of watts are no longer
uncommon.  Besides the fact there is a need for this increase in power
(just consider the percentage of our own brains tied up in visual
processing) the benefit to those who can make do with less is vastly
increased power for substantially deceased cost.  As for onboard, though
that has improved dramatically also, besides all the ram and processing
issues, there is the inescapeable fact that onboard devices are subject to
considerable more electronic noise than those on circuits at right angles
to and elevated from the mainboard.

  Bottom line if you're a hobbyist you might get buy with onboard video if
carefully chosen.  I can't imagine any professional or even serious
hobbyist accepting the performance hit of onboard video when the
bang-for-buck standalone videocards has gotten so great.  Just my
twapence...
Jimmy


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Kevin Johnson 
> Hi,
> 
> What is the cutoff point in video card selection, wherein there would be no 
> performance difference between on (recent) motherboard built in VGA and the 
> video card in question.
> 
> Graphics and Cad are the prerequite factors.
> 
> How could the difference between video cards be determined without purchasing 
> and actually testing them.
> 
> Sorry for the dual posting but couldn't determine the correct area.
> 
> TIA
> 
> KevinJ.
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 
Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups.  See the new email design.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/lOt0.A/hOaOAA/yQLSAA/9rHolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~-> 

 
Yahoo! Groups Links

 To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/os2hardware/

 Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

 To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/os2hardware/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

 To change settings via email:
    mailto:os2hardware-digest{at}yahoogroups.com 
    mailto:os2hardware-fullfeatured{at}yahoogroups.com

 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    os2hardware-unsubscribe{at}yahoogroups.com

 Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

---