Intel HD 3000

[Kittypretty]

Hi all,

I have a problem
I recently 'converted' a friend here to Regnum, and I helped her download and install the game, which works okay, thats not my issue though.
Her laptop is intel based, with integrated graphics by the name of Intel Hd 3000 (yeah I know they arent the best, again not the point, as the game does run at a steady 60 fps under shader 2 most times)
That is where my clueless-ness begins :P The launcher reports the integrated video as 'unsupported' which I can understand, intels' drivers on that laptop are honestly quite poor option wise. (no AA/AF/Vsync/Triple Buffering etc options, their answer was to use in game options or config files in game.)

My issue though is because of the weird way this integrated works, it incorrectly reports the amount of video ram (the integrated has none, its built into the cpu itself in this design i guess, and shares the l3 cache and main memory, so a few games I tried simply would not run, due to a prelaunch check polling for available dedicated memory, which it reports as 64 mb..meaning alot of games that incorporate that feature wont launch unless worked around somehow.) and possibly RO's lack of testing and support for it, have resulted in the game being forced into shader 2 and below support, when I know it supports directx 10.1/shader 4.1 fully. (being able to have a decent fps is another matter, but again not important, I just want to be able to at least have the option of a higher shader, 3 particularly for trails and beams, which I find helpful)

So my question is, just give up (as she is fine with how it looks and runs currently, she says she doesn't mind as long as it runs smoothly enough, but still I thought I'd ask if anyone else has any input about this. I did some checking and it seems alot of smaller notebooks are being sold with this onboard video, so it'd be a shame if this is all we will ever get out of it.
Not my problem sure, but just thought I'd ask as my friend plays Raven (still trying to advocate a switch to horus though..)
and I figured NG'd forums would be a more suitable place to post.

One more thing to add, my friend is looking to buy a desktop soon, from one of those build your own pc sites like dell/cyberpower etc, and would like to know a decent video card for casual but decent gaming at times. I mentioned the Geforce gtx 550 as it isn't too expensive, and I have one in my PC at work, it isn't stellar but for casual and games that arent too intensive when I'm bored.. It does alright. I'm wondering if thats a proper choice though, or if anyone has a more appropriate choice...Not looking for a top of the line card or anything too expensive, as she mainly plays some older games/occasional online/offline steam games like dead space 1-2, borderlands etc,..thanks.

[Psynocide]

Summed up in short, Intel's integrated graphics suck - I know from experience.
What it offers is pretty much what your friend is getting currently.

Not much help to offer there, however I can point you in the right direction for graphics cards, of course I would need a budget estimate (for the desktop as a whole or GPU alone) to suggest the best card for your friends money.

[Kittypretty]

Yeah tell me about it..i spent around 30 mins on her notebook and I was frustrated at their awful support (did some reading while breaking stuff) Is why I spose I'm nudging her a bit about getting a desktop and just use the notebook for email or whatever.
i am mostly an Ati user so i've never had alot of experience with Nvidia, but she is a fan so she wants to stick with them.
I asked her via email about a general budget but It'll likely be tomorrow before I hear back..so I will update when I hear anything.