Is there any good reason for me to have video card on my PC if I don't play games?

Hi,



I'm buying a new desktop PC. I don't play video games, but I do play face to face board games using java applications such as Vassal. We also watch TV shows and movies online with streaming video. My question is, should I include a video card in the new system? My thinking is that over the next several years, my PC will be obsolete without one, but maybe that's not true? Will the onboard video that comes with modern motherboards suffice? I'll be using a 32 bit OS initially, so I'm getting 4GB of RAM, but will get a motherboard that allows me to expand if I go to a 64 bit system (is Windows 7 going to be any good)? So, what do you think - should I forgo the video card?



Thanks for any help,



Chris|||A video card makes a computer feel more responsive in lots of situations, not just games --even in 2D mode on the desktop, opening and closing windows, opening and scrolling menus, scrolling big text files, scrolling Acrobat (.pdf) files, etc. There have been several occasions where I noticed a computer feels sluggish, right on the desktop, and that was how I first identified it had integrated video.



That's why I tell people ordering laptops to try to get some kind of dedicated graphics chip, either Radeon or GeForce, i.e., just for the sake of responsiveness and general usability. Is it necessary? No.



I also think a TV output is useful. If you use a PC anywhere near a TV, it may eventually occur to you to connect the two together. A video card with an HDMI output can be very handy.



Recent video cards process HD video well, though entry-level cards tend not to have enough power to process 1080p video 100% smoothly (without dropping frames). To process 1080p video smoothly requires a good midrange card, like a 9500GT GDDR3 or Radeon 4670. Those would also play games tolerably well in a pinch, making them a good general-purpose video card.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as…|||If you're not going to do anything that really requires a graphics card, no you don't need one. But, if you get a large HD screen (say 22" or bigger), I would get one, such as the 8400GT or equivalent, because they have a digital video socket than the old analog sockets, and thus supply you with a better picture.|||If you wanna watch in HD then yeah you would want to get a video card that has an hdmi output otherwise the onboard video card would be just fine. And yes Windows 7 is gonna be awesomely amazing!!!! Its basically windows vista but without all the bugs and its much more optimized so its gonna run way faster.|||nah.........you don't need a video card unless you play heavy games which require high graphics

4gb ram is enough to run applications, videos etc.|||Well, if you're planning to watch HD movies, then a Video card would be a good idea, but otherwise, no.|||You actually need a video card to see your display, so it would be smart to have one