I'm thinking of building a small desktop PC using a microp atx case and mobo. I plan on using PCI-E graphics so onboard graphics are not really required however it appears that every matx mobo I can find has onboard graphics of some kind. If I buy a mobo with onbaord graphics and then use the PCI-E instead do I still lose resouces to the onboard? Am I being picky and making my life more difficult than it needs to be by trying to avoid onboard graphics?

Also whilst on the subject of onbaord graphics. I know they are generally considered to be up to no more than office and basic gaming but by what standard is basic gaming set? What about onboard Nvidia 6100 playing Quake 3 or Soldier of Fortune 2 at 1024x768 med-high detail at a fairly smooth frame rate? I would be using 1 or 2 gb of DDR2 if it makes any difference. I don't have much experience with onboard. I'm not a heavy gamer but like to have a run around every now and again. The market moves so quickly that it may well be that onboard is sufficient.

Hi Chris-H, welcome to itsallPC, and sorry that someone didn't reply sooner

The reason nearly all (or at least all that I know of) micro ATX boards have integrated graphics is two fold

• Micro ATX boards are usually used in home/home office systems, where graphics is not a factor
• Micro ATX boards are generally lower quality, cut-down versions of their full ATX counter parts, and are rarely selected for gaming systems

Luckily for you, you're talking about games that are >3 years old, so pretty much any integrated solution of today can run them. A GeForce 6100 should be able to run both Quake 3 and Soldier of Fortune II with all the settings maxed.