Graphics How good are the Integrated graphics cards

Recently we got a new mobo installed in one of our computers at office. It's mainly used to correct word documents and do recordings for e-learning material. However since it was installed the guy working on that computer is complaining that the quality of the display sucks (blurry fonts, poor quality) compared to the previous motherboard which also had an on board vga but with radeon x300 integration (that motherboard got fried somehow that's why we changed it).

We tried changing Monitors but still we get the same results. The on board vga is an Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2. Is there any chance that this is the vga's fault ? I mean, can one of the latest onboard vgas have that kind of 2D issues ?

 

I doubt it. what type of monitors are you using? If CRT's, try fiddling with the settings.

 

what interface is being used? if you're using a TFT monitor, without a very high quality cable a 15-pin D-SUB connection will always look quite blurry in comparison to DVI (which is much preferred). if you can use a DVI connection then use that. otherwise it will be worth buying a cheap addin card for DVI alone.

generally onboard video should be fine for anything but 3d graphics, but they can have poor quality DACs onboard - leading to blurry images as you describe, if not using a digital video interface (which bypasses the DACs).

 

You using an LCD screen at non-native res by any chance?

 

As mentioned, run the screen (if it's a TFT) at native resolution. Otherwise, make sure that your cable is in properly (I had a bad cable once). Also, overly long cables can blur and ghost the image. Try using another cable if possible.

You can also try fiddling with the display timings with a program like powerstrip.

 

http://www.scottmanning.com/archives/000558.php

As said above, set at native resolution, then turn ClearType on (link above + assuming you have WinXP).

 

if it's a tft and the mainboard lacks dvi support i'd recommnend getting a cheap graphicscard (even an old one form ebay will do the job).

as a sidenote: you can get passive cooled new low end graphicscards for around 20£ (geforce 7100-7300 comes to mind(no, you cant play fear or stalker with them, but for office use they good enough)).

 

Doesn't surprise me in the least. Intel Extreme is a POS and looks AWFUL on a TFT. They'll also never have DVI on them since Intel are cheap ass and don't bother including it into the core.

 

Sounds like the integrated chip to me, got some cheap motherboard here and have the same problem, couldnt find anyway round it but to stick a half decent agp card in

 

And they still manage to sell that crap? Whatever happened to market forces demanding quality goods?

 

cheapness and selling weight count for a lot.

 

I've got a Fujitsu PC which I use as my VM server box, it has integrated VGA and runs at 1280*1024 on my TFT via the VGA connector no probs, in fact it goes through a KVM switch and the text is fine.

As said above find out what the native res of the monitor is and try setting it to that to see if it fixes the problem.

 

Good for some people but my eyes actually get More tired with ClearType on. Additionally it actually makes things worse on certain monitors (link)

 

I agree Tyinsar, I find clear type just makes everything look seriously fuzzy, I like the crisp sharp edges of text that doesn't have ClearType on at all.
Also if its a TFT you may wish to run the built in Auto-adjustment assuming it has it. Mine runs it every startup to get the correct position on screen but sometimes it make all the text smudged in certain places, running it again usually rectifies it. However a TFT at non native res sounds most likely (though I have a mate that insists that 1024x768 looks better on his 17" than native 1280 *sigh*)

 

I like cleartype, I find stuff looks fugly without it and I like things to look smooth.