Will Ivy Bridge's Integ. Graphics Ring Death Knell For Discrete GPUs?

Brink · May 1, 2012

If you ask an everyday gamer, he'll probably tell you the PC graphics market is basically a two-horse race between AMD's Radeon and Nvidia's GeForce. Ask a financial analyst and you'll get a different answer: the beancounters think that the graphics market is less of a race and more of a massacre, with Intel playing the role of Leatherface and Ivy Bridge's integrated graphics acting as the chainsaw that delivers the death blow.

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Maximum PC | Will Ivy Bridge's Integrated Graphics Ring The Death Knell For Discrete GPUs?

Maguscreed · May 1, 2012

Simple answer - no.

Maybe for a majority of typical users that were getting discrete just to play hd video or something.
It is not by any means a replacement for a top shelf graphics card though, and it never will be.

GeneO · May 1, 2012

Doesn't make any sense at all. There is a pretty good market for high end graphics boards for gamers -non-gamers don't buy these boards and the companies are profitable. There may be only two chipsets, but there are many board manufacturers. On-chip graphics will never be able to compete with the performance of high-end graphics since the discrete graphics will always have the advantage of more dedicated hardware. In addition, gaming is such that the evolving gaming needs will always outstrip the graphics performance available except for maybe the best discrete graphics card available at the games launch

legacy7955 · May 1, 2012

I'm pretty sick and tired of so called expert consulting agencies TRYING TO LEAD THE CONSUMER BY THEIR ASSININE PRONOUCEMENTS.

I wonder how much Intel paid these people to state this "fallacy".

carwiz · May 1, 2012

Integrated graphics was never meant to replace "high-end" graphic cards. That's not the issue. The report says that Ivy Bridge has "functionally destroyed any reason to buy a basic video card" for most consumers. And that's about 95% of the market.

As grandiose as the gamers may seem, they make up a very small portion of the overall PC market. Most folks don't need a $1K graphics card. It's like buying a Ferrari to go down the driveway to check your mailbox.

Maguscreed · May 1, 2012

People that don't play games have never focused on graphics. That's not going to change. They will get a bit more bang for their buck from the intel integrated, I doubt the vast majority of the people we're talking about here even know what a video card actually is though.

carwiz · May 1, 2012

I most certainly do! My video card has Blockbuster printed on it.

smarteyeball · May 1, 2012

carwiz said:
Integrated graphics was never meant to replace "high-end" graphic cards. That's not the issue. The report says that Ivy Bridge has "functionally destroyed any reason to buy a basic video card" for most consumers.

True. Any card that under performs the integrated chip is now redundant.

Most folks don't need a $1K graphics card. It's like buying a Ferrari to go down the driveway to check your mailbox.

Also true - but you do get your mail quicker while having a lot more fun

Maguscreed · May 1, 2012

carwiz said:
I most certainly do! My video card has Blockbuster printed on it.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words...

TVeblen · May 6, 2012

Unfortunately it all comes down to markets, corporate profits, and stockholder sentiments.

The danger from the insurgence of these integrated video solutions, coupled with the general public's historical preference for lower prices over better quality, is that the market for (what will then become) "high end" dedicated video cards will shrink. And while there will always be a market for these cards, will that market be large enough to satisfy the stockholders and corporate management?

Just take a look at the digital camera market. People are buying fewer digital cameras because they can use their smartphone's camera instead. Never mind the image quality is awful - it is cheap and convenient. And already in the face of a shrinking market a few digital camera manufacturers are talking about dropping out.

So the danger to the enthusiast is not that digital cameras or high end video cards will disappear, but that they will become luxury items with prices to match due to the lack of competition.

2 cents.

M1GU31 · May 6, 2012

Doubt it, integrated graphics are always behind and people who game, do 3D modling and such would benefit from a higher end discrete card. Also with the advancement in 3d technology going so fast they wont be able to keep up,would have to buy a new mobo more often and a higher end video card wold last you longer from getting out dated then a integrated card would which in the first place is already kind of outdated. Another point I would like to add is that the majority of users who don't use discrete cards usually are the more casual users and would probably not want to spend to much and would buy a cheaper board or buy a pc that is already built with lower end integrated video graphics anyways. So my conclusion is I don't see it happening.

carwiz · May 6, 2012

All very well presented, However, "the more casual users" as you term them make up around 95% of the PC market. On top of that, sales figures have been sagging for PCs and increasing for more portable units like laptops, notebooks and iWhatevers. Oh sure, there will always be a niche market for mega-graphics but it's pennies to a dollar in the real World.

M1GU31 · May 6, 2012

Yes but casual users the majority don't upgrade parts and just end up buying another whole computer.So the best idea would be to put these new boards into some prebuilt machines and set them out in the market which would accumulate them the most profit from the boards besides just the enthusiast upgrading there mobos for their rigs which is a lot smaller percentage of the market compared to the buyers who just buy a prebuilt.Also agree that the mobile market such as smart phones,laptops and notebooks and ipads and kindles and such have been making more money than selling desktops.

Maguscreed · May 6, 2012

The overall cheapness people are talking about is more a sign of the general economy.
Back when I still had corporate clients before the economy went to crap, many of them often just wanted the best because they could afford it.

I think because this dip has lasted so long people forget that a lot of us used to like buying the nicer stuff as well. ...it does tend to last longer as well.
2005 or before was an entirely different thing than you see now.

Of course if the political scene remains the way it seems to be going.

...we'll be lucky if any of us can afford a loaf of bread much less fancy computer parts before long.

Trucidation · May 6, 2012

If the casuals really own that huge of a market slice, then how are so many manufacturers able to offer so many different discrete cards? Now I don't know the numbers, so it may be the case that they're being kept afloat by their lower-end-but-still-better-than-integrated stuff. But it still doesn't quite sound right. Would really appreciate it if someone could pitch some figures here.

Maguscreed · May 6, 2012

The magic 8 ball app on my android phone assures me that the outcome is unlikely.

...several times in a row in fact which is rare.

ignatzatsonic · May 6, 2012

Would it be a crying shame if gamers went entirely to dedicated gaming devices rather than PCs?

Death, where is thy sting?

Maguscreed · May 6, 2012

Considering the next gen console will likely be more like a computer than it is not like a computer.
It's entirely possible. I still like the all in one package.

There will always be a market for the hotrod.
Even if it has some slow years.

carwiz · May 7, 2012

Want to see where machines are headed? All you have to do is look at the Windows 8 GUI.

Maguscreed · May 7, 2012

...because reading is hard and clicking on pretty pictures is fun.

Will Ivy Bridge's Integ. Graphics Ring Death Knell For Discrete GPUs?

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