Hello,

I was wondering in your opinion if it's better to use an integrated GPU (in my case a G41 X4500 DX10) instead of an external old low end GPU if one target might be not only the power demand but the mainboard lifetime.
I ask this cause I've seen that this Core2 E8600 with G41/X4500 config and 8GB DDR3, has quite a variable still "heavy" power demand under stress for an integrated GPU, passing from 45 watts on idle to even 80 watts and more on 3D pixel shaders benchmarks where the CPU shoud not be much used. Considering the thin heatsinks both the northbridge (having the X4500) and southbridge (ICH7) seems to heat up quite a lot (more the southbridge even if no PCI-EX card are working) I wonder if the thermal paste on it might be also old. Would it be better to use a PCI-EX card to increase the chipsets lifetime considering it seems running quite hot when using the internal GPU? But in the external option the 50-75 watts bus video card would stress I suppose the mainboard power circuits more.
I know I could use a fan on the case but without changing the thermal paste I suppose it'd not make much difference. Do you usually change mainboards thermal heatsink paste?

Thanks