Introduction
Integrated graphics have never been interesting, right?
They are there simply to serve a purpose, which is to provide a display
output for
the lowest possible cost, and perfunctory is never exciting.
For many years even the most basic IGP could allow you to check your
email, display your Excel spreadsheets and use your system for all
general tasks - gaming or advanced media playback would be written off.
In fact, many businesses preferred to have their systems feature
integrated graphics, not only because of their lower cost compared to
the use of
discrete cards, but also because it would prevent employees from
indulging in, shall we say,
'less-productive' endeavours.
Even if you have modest expectations from a new PC, you would expect
it to be able to offer smooth performance in all general non-gaming
tasks. In the past that may have meant Office-type applications and
web-browsing, but with the advent of Vista's Aero Glass interface, and
the ever-greater reliance on the PC for media playback, the humble IGP
cannot
get by simply being able to display your Excel spreadsheets.
Connectivity, media playback and dare we say it, a certain level of 3D
performance, are now expected. And with the RS780G chipset, AMD has
set
out to not only meet expectations but push them ever higher, offering
all the features and performance of a low-end discrete card, integrated
into
the chipset.
Is Sapphire's PI-AM2RS780G able to do the impossible and make
integrated graphics interesting?
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