{"id":17106,"date":"2022-05-04T14:48:26","date_gmt":"2022-05-04T12:48:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/g100.us\/?p=17106"},"modified":"2023-05-24T19:49:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:49:00","slug":"need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Need A GPU (Graphics Card) If It\u2019s Not For Gaming?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_39 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\">TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844f6e6b823\" class=\"cssicon\"><span style=\"display: flex;align-items: center;width: 35px;height: 30px;justify-content: center;direction:ltr;\"><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #7f11e0;color:#7f11e0\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\" \/><\/svg><\/span><\/label><label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844f6e6b823\" class=\"cssiconcheckbox\">1<\/label><input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-66844f6e6b823\" checked><nav><ul class=\"ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 \"><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#The_Basics_Youll_Be_Using_a_GPU_Whether_You_Buy_One_or_Not\" title=\"The Basics: You\u2019ll Be Using a GPU Whether You Buy One or Not\">The Basics: You\u2019ll Be Using a GPU Whether You Buy One or Not<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#How_Integrated_Graphics_Compare_to_Discrete_Graphics_Today\" title=\"How Integrated Graphics Compare to Discrete Graphics Today\">How Integrated Graphics Compare to Discrete Graphics Today<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Workloads_Where_Integrated_Graphics_are_Fine\" title=\"Workloads Where Integrated Graphics are Fine\">Workloads Where Integrated Graphics are Fine<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Workloads_That_Need_a_Graphics_Card_discrete_GPU\" title=\"Workloads That Need a Graphics Card (discrete GPU)\">Workloads That Need a Graphics Card (discrete GPU)<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Video_Editing\" title=\"Video Editing\">Video Editing<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#3D_Modeling_Rendering_Animation_VFX\" title=\"3D Modeling, Rendering, Animation, VFX\">3D Modeling, Rendering, Animation, VFX<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Graphic_Design_Illustration_Photo_Editing_Drawing\" title=\"Graphic Design, Illustration, Photo Editing, Drawing\">Graphic Design, Illustration, Photo Editing, Drawing<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Compositing_Motion_Design_Post-Production\" title=\"Compositing, Motion Design, Post-Production\">Compositing, Motion Design, Post-Production<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Game_Development\" title=\"Game Development\">Game Development<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Multi-Monitor_Setups\" title=\"Multi-Monitor Setups\">Multi-Monitor Setups<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Conclusion\" title=\"Conclusion\">Conclusion<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#FAQ\" title=\"FAQ\">FAQ<\/a><ul class=\"ez-toc-list-level-3\"><li class=\"ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#What_are_the_best_CPUs_with_integrated_graphics\" title=\"What are the best CPUs with integrated graphics?\">What are the best CPUs with integrated graphics?<\/a><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#What_are_the_best_GPUs_for_professional_editing_and_rendering\" title=\"What are the best GPUs for professional editing and rendering?\">What are the best GPUs for professional editing and rendering?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class=\"ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2\"><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/need-a-gpu-if-its-not-for-gaming\/#Over_to_You\" title=\"Over to You\">Over to You<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>If you aren\u2019t a gamer, all this fixation on graphics cards and gaming performance might lead you to believe that you don\u2019t need a discrete graphics card for your workloads.<\/p>\n<p>And that actually might be true, depending on what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But the short answer to this article's question is: Yes, you can make use of (and might <em>need<\/em>) a powerful GPU for your workloads, even if you're not gaming at all.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But let's not get ahead of ourselves:<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Basics_Youll_Be_Using_a_GPU_Whether_You_Buy_One_or_Not\"><\/span>The Basics: You\u2019ll Be Using a GPU Whether You Buy One or Not<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So let\u2019s start with the first bit: <strong>even if you aren\u2019t spending extra on a <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/igpu-vs-dgpu\/\"><em>discrete<\/em><\/a> graphics card, you are still buying a GPU with your PC<\/strong>. It needs graphics processing capabilities to function at all.<\/p>\n<p>What you\u2019re using if you aren\u2019t using a <em>discrete<\/em> graphics card is instead something called <strong><em>Integrated<\/em> Graphics<\/strong>, <strong>which refers to a GPU chip that\u2019s embedded into another chip, usually a CPU<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17112\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit.jpg\" alt=\"Type of GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit)\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-17112 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Type of GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit)\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Type-of-GPUs-Graphics-Processing-Unit.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Integrated Graphics have evolved quite a lot over time, and the technology is still being regularly pushed and used in retail products like the current-generation consoles.<\/p>\n<p>Consoles currently use an AMD SoC design that combines Ryzen and RDNA cores onto a single chip, and past-gen consoles used a similar AMD SoC design with older-generation hardware.<\/p>\n<p>Outside of gaming and consoles, integrated graphics are incredibly common in lower-end desktops and laptops. And since the perception is generally that non-gamers don\u2019t need to worry about graphics cards, this status quo for budget hardware has gone pretty unchallenged for a while now.<\/p>\n<p>To recap:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Any PC needs graphics processing capabilities to function<\/li>\n<li>Even if you don't have a dGPU (discrete GPU = Graphics Card) you will have an iGPU (integrated GPU)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So...are these iGPUs actually competitive? What workloads are they good enough for, and where do they simply prove inadequate?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s see:<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Integrated_Graphics_Compare_to_Discrete_Graphics_Today\"><\/span>How Integrated Graphics Compare to Discrete Graphics Today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, let\u2019s talk about how modern integrated graphics solutions actually perform.<\/p>\n<p>This will be a good way to establish expectations moving further into the article.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, AMD and Intel are the ones providing integrated graphics solutions in their CPUs.<\/p>\n<p>AMD has also been manufacturing GPUs for many years longer than Intel, so they\u2019ve had some advantage in keeping their iGPU architectures fast and up-to-date.<\/p>\n<p>Intel is also working on desktop graphics, though, and their iGPU architecture has similarly been seen improving.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Nowadays, iGPUs are surprisingly competitive with entry-level graphics cards like the ever-present GT 1030<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The GT 1030, which has insisted on being both the cheapest new and available graphics card for your money since 2017, costs about $100-$150 in current market conditions.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17107\" style=\"width: 1227px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17107\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17107\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7.png\" alt=\"Raw performance of modern iGPUs compared to the GT 1030.\" width=\"1227\" height=\"686\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7.png 1227w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-420x236.png 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1227px) 100vw, 1227px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17107\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-17107 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201227%20686%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Raw performance of modern iGPUs compared to the GT 1030.\" width=\"1227\" height=\"686\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%201227%20686%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 1227w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1227px) 100vw, 1227px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7.png 1227w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7-420x236.png 420w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/word-image-7.png\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-17107\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8XCUAnWNXvU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GamersNexus<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>While the GT 1030 is okay as an entry-level GPU, it\u2019s also hung around that same entry-level price barrier for way too long without proper competition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spending more on a better GPU than the GT 1030 does consistently get you <em>much <\/em>better, but not everyone can afford or <em>wants<\/em> to spend more if they don\u2019t have to<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So, let\u2019s break down the non-gaming workloads that you might be doing, and where today\u2019s integrated graphics will totally suffice<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Even for gaming, modern iGPUs are proving surprisingly capable at low resolutions like 720p, <strong>so things do look promising for most workloads.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Workloads_Where_Integrated_Graphics_are_Fine\"><\/span>Workloads Where Integrated Graphics are Fine<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><strong>Pretty much any of your common desktop tasks, even heavy browsing, and office software, is very unlikely to tax a modern iGPU chip<\/strong>. So you don\u2019t need to worry about buying a graphics card at all if you\u2019re using exclusively text-and-video-based applications.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As far as media playback goes, even 4K media playback has been pretty easy for iGPUs to do since around 2017<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>So if you have high-resolution media that you want to stream or watch on a Blu-Ray or something, you don\u2019t need to worry that your integrated graphics don\u2019t have the muscle to push the video.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So basic computing, 4K media consumption, and even lightweight things like photo editing all fare pretty well on an iGPU<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_17113\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17113\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17113\" src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link.jpg\" alt=\"Intel Deep Link\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/noscript><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-17113\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17113 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" alt=\"Intel Deep Link\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%202048%201080%22%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-300x158.jpg 300w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-1024x540.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-768x405.jpg 768w, https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link-1536x810.jpg 1536w\" data-src=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/media\/2022\/05\/Intel-Deep-Link.jpg\"><p id=\"caption-attachment-17113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.intel.com\/content\/www\/us\/en\/architecture-and-technology\/adaptix\/deep-link.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intel<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>If you happen to have a discrete graphics card but still want to use your iGPU, you can also use it to accelerate certain workloads alongside your discrete card, like live-streaming.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately...this is where things take a turn.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Workloads_That_Need_a_Graphics_Card_discrete_GPU\"><\/span>Workloads That Need a Graphics Card (discrete GPU)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Video_Editing\"><\/span><strong>Video Editing<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Technically, integrated graphics <em>can <\/em>work in a video editing scenario- especially if you use them to accelerate the video preview on your editing timeline.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For GPU-accelerated render and video encoding, though, you want a much faster graphics card than any current iGPU<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3D_Modeling_Rendering_Animation_VFX\"><\/span>3D Modeling, Rendering, Animation, VFX<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Moving past video editing and into professional <strong>3D rendering<\/strong> scenarios...there\u2019s no nice way to say it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Modern iGPUs, which are at best comparable to a GT 1030, are simply <em>not <\/em>equipped for professional 3D rendering, Modeling, or CAD applications like Blender, Cinema 4D, or Solidworks<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In these kinds of applications, you <strong><em>need<\/em><\/strong> powerful mid-to-high-end graphics cards in order to drive high-quality results in a reasonable amount of time.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Graphic_Design_Illustration_Photo_Editing_Drawing\"><\/span><strong>Graphic Design, Illustration, Photo Editing, Drawing<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Graphic Design, Illustration, or Photo Editing<\/strong> might run fine on an iGPU, but for more complex projects in these areas, you'll have a much more efficient experience working on an actual higher-end Graphics Card.<\/p>\n<p>So if you're working on more complex projects within Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom or any of the Adobe Creative Cloud, a (mid-range) GPU will make sure your viewport stays smooth.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Compositing_Motion_Design_Post-Production\"><\/span><strong>Compositing, Motion Design, Post-Production<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Compositing and Motion Design, too, are workloads that absolutely need a discrete Graphics Card.<\/strong> After Effects, Nuke and Fusion are popular software in the compositing and post-production industry that have high GPU performance demands.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Game_Development\"><\/span>Game Development<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Even if you're not a gamer you might be developing games or working on Apps and Software that are very graphically demanding. In this case, too, you'll need a powerful GPU. Unreal and Unity3D are popular game and app development packages that will run much more efficiently on a discrete GPU.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Multi-Monitor_Setups\"><\/span>Multi-Monitor Setups<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Also, any time you're looking to hook up multiple high-resolution displays, you might not have enough display connectors on your motherboard and will have to opt for a dGPU in order to drive all of your Monitors.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Conclusion\"><\/span>Conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><em><b>So, do you need a GPU if it's not for Gaming?<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>In many cases, <em>yes<\/em>! It depends on what workloads you're running on your computer.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Especially if you\u2019re doing it for money,<strong> getting a solid mid-range graphics card will help cut down greatly on time spent waiting for renders or dealing with slowdown\/crashes from overloaded hardware<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re just browsing, playing back media, or doing regular office productivity things with your PC, integrated graphics will serve you perfectly fine.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_best_CPUs_with_integrated_graphics\"><\/span>What are the best CPUs with integrated graphics?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If CPUs with iGPUs sound like they might suit your needs, or at least be a decent hold-over until you can afford a discrete graphics card in current market conditions, you\u2019re in luck!<\/p>\n<p><strong>I\u2019ve already <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/best-cpus-with-integrated-graphics\/#The_Best_CPUs_With_Integrated_Graphics_Available_Today\"><strong>written a pretty detailed guide on the best CPUs with Integrated Graphics available today<\/strong><\/a>. You can click that last sentence to read it and jump straight to my recommendations if you like.<\/p>\n<p>Otherwise, modern CPUs with iGPUs are definitely worth your consideration.<\/p>\n<p>In general, I would lean toward recommending Ryzen CPUs on this front, as AMD seems to keep a somewhat consistent lead in iGPU performance.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, you\u2019ll most likely be getting more cores and threads for your money- and you won\u2019t have to pay extra for an overclockable CPU!<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_best_GPUs_for_professional_editing_and_rendering\"><\/span>What are the best GPUs for professional editing and rendering?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>So I didn\u2019t write this one, but Alex has actually been maintaining a fairly solid collection of 3D Rendering GPU benchmarks and recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>His roundup of the <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/best-hardware-for-gpu-rendering-in-octane-redshift-vray\/\"><strong>Best Hardware For GPU Rendering<\/strong><\/a> should serve you fairly well if you\u2019re looking for the tier of graphics cards needed to accelerate high-end professional workloads.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Over_to_You\"><\/span>Over to You<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>And that\u2019s it, for now! I hope that this article answered whether or not you in particular need a graphics card for your non-gaming workloads.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Leave a comment in the <a href=\"#comments\">comments<\/a> section below or in the <a href=\"https:\/\/g100.us\/forum\/\">forums<\/a> if you need further help with PC hardware from me or someone else on the G100 team.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Until then...stay productive!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you aren\u2019t a gamer, all this fixation on graphics cards and gaming performance might lead you to believe that you don\u2019t need a discrete graphics card for your workloads. And that actually might be true, depending on what you\u2019re doing. But the short answer to this article's question is: Yes, you can make use...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2339,"featured_media":17108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[74],"tags":[118],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17106"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17106"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22634,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17106\/revisions\/22634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/g100.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}