Maximum PC

In the March 2010 issue there is and article on page 8 titled "Discrete Fail: Why do so few PC's feature graphics cards?"
It all comes down to two questions:
1. What am I going to be doing with this system?
2. How much do I want to spend on this system?

If a person is going to be running high end games, or working with graphics intensive projects, then there is a reason to spend the extra cash for a system with a discrete graphics card. However, the average consumer does not fall into either of those two groups and integrated graphics is sufficient for any application they wish to run.
So in the end, discrete graphics cards are for hardcore gamers and high-end users, not the average consumer.

you should probably add your thoughts to comments section on the article

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/d ... hics_cards

..and folders

Most people have Vista/7 with Aero and a dedicated video card would help there. People who watch/make/encode movies would benefit. Integrated graphics usually take a chunk of system RAM, so in theory you would have more RAM. Furthermore, people who need additional workspace would generally need a videocard for multiple monitor support.

It does come down to what you do. If all you do is post in forums and nothing else (flash content is GPU accelerated these days) then yes you have little reason to purchase a video card.