ATI 5470 or Integrated GPU?

I am looking at the Studio 15 and trying to decide if I need a graphics card or not. I dont ever play any heavy games on my laptop. It will only be used for internet browsing, video chat, and maybe movies here and there. I have been reading that the integrated card will run cooler and the battery will last longer? If that is the case I dont want the ATI if it will never be used.

What do you guys think.

 

Its like buying a snowblower when you live in Charlotte or Raleigh -- use it only once or twice a year, when in reality you could have shoveled that inch or two on the ground. If all youre doing is watching movies/browsing the web (what is your definintion of "heavy gaming"? If its any game post 2006, get the card). Otherwise, i'd say stick with the integrated and spend the $$ that you would have on the ATI on something else, like a longer warranty... or a large cheese pizza.

 

Yes go for the cheese pizza if you dont need the card

 

Well Im quite sure games will almost never be played on the comp. I was just wondering if thats all the card is really needed for, or if theres some other use that Im not aware of?

 

I guess it also depends on your screen resolution and Windows 7 Aero interface performance? I am wondering about this question myself

 

Few if any mobile graphics options are optimized for Aero or other 2D graphics. Under WEI (not the best test, but probably relevant here), I've got a Graphics (Aero) score of 4.9 and a Gaming graphics (3D) score of 6.2 (it varies). Aero will run on just about any modern integrated graphics chipset (even my 2 year old netbook). However, the number of options enabled and the resolution can make Aero stutter.

There are other uses for a discrete GPU, but gaming is probably the most common purpose.

 

Can you explain some of the other uses please? I just want to make sure none of them will apply to me. thanks.

 

Basically, just gaming. There are more, but basically it comes down to content creation and heavy calculation. Something like 90% of new computer use integrated graphics. Of the remainder, I'd bet over 95% is probably for gaming. The leftover bit is probably for the isolated non-gaming uses.

 

It doesn't really depend on resolution or Aero or anything like that. Do you game? If not, then *any* modern GPU will handle what you need.