How will graphics card affect performance on a non-gaming computer?
 

I am always wondering, apart from playing games, how will graphic cards affect performance.

Say we have the same computers, but one w/ a fast graphic card, while the other one just uses an integrated card. Will the one w/ the graphic card be faster in every way? I'm looking for a machine to do a lot of programming (minimal graphics), so I'm wondering if I should get a good graphic card.

TIA

There are graphics cards that help with video editing/encoding/3d rendering/adobe suites/video playback (crazy expensive stuff)
and there are graphics cards that help with 3d gaming/video playback (majority of the market).

Generally, a graphics card won't help you in programming, as on-board stuff is fine in that department. With that said, what kind of programming are you doing that requires more processing power? What kind of software are you trying to run?

Thanks, I'm running sql server and the likes. Mostly server stuff

An integrated video card shares the memory with your computer.

almost all server boards have on board display card

and 99% of the servers would not even be connected to a monitor and are accessed via remote desktop

If that's the case, onboard is all you need.

thanks, got it now

a graphics card with its own memory bank will not drag your computer down as much. Say you're running Vista. Everyone knows that Vista sucks and bogs down your computer because of all the graphics and stuff. If you have a video card that meets the memory requirements for it, then the video card would be able to handle vista without using your computer's memory. a quick example of how this works: a program needs 512mb of memory. if your video card has 256mb, then it will use 256mb of your computer's RAM. this causes a slow down. If you have a 512mb card, then it wont borrow from your computer's main supply

who runs a server with vista?

You have no idea what you're talking about ...