Difference between dedicated and integrated graphics

Dedicated graphics

As the name suggests, dedicated graphics cards are very related to the external graphics card, as it is attached to the computer CPU, but it consists of its own RAM, GPU, and a GPU fan, which look like a mini-board itself with all the interconnected components. This dedicated graphics card is placed on a motherboard for further functionality.

The dedicated graphics card do not depend on the system memory for any kind of support. For example, a system has 4GB RAM, which would fully belong to the system usage rather than provide any support to the graphics card.

It is mostly used in places where high graphics are required, such as gaming. Some of the examples of dedicated graphics card include NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 VERTO, AMD Radeon RX 580 GTS Black Edition, GeForce RTX 2080 Ti XC Ultra Gaming, and GeForce RTX 2060 XC Ultra Gaming.

Integrated graphics

These graphics cards may include its own GPU or CPU, but it does not have its own memory or RAM. Integrated graphics card use the system RAM for its functionality, such as sharing the RAM between system and graphics card. For example, if a system has 4GB RAM and it has an integrated graphics card of 2GB, then the system will use 2GB from the RAM while the graphics card will use the remaining 2GB.

As it limits the system’s RAM, which may affect the PC performance, but integrated graphics cards can facilitate with enough graphics which can satisfy the average user. The examples for integrated graphics are the graphics that come already embedded in laptop or desktop computers, such as Intel, and NVIDIA graphic cards.