graphics cards, quad cores, cache

[Beest]

I'm looking at a new desktop, sizing up decent enough, low cost, but will last a few years, I'm seeing what I judge to be decent enough HP's and Dells in the $500-$600 range.

Q. Are Intel integrated graphics cards any cop, compared to something that says NVidia or Geforce card, if they have the same dedicated video memory. I worry that being 'integrated', means shared and somehow lacking, or are they just as good as the seperate cards, they've just saved by building them allon the same board.

Q. For a couple of hundred more you can go quad core, is the average user really going to notice any benefit from this.

Q. I am paying attention to bus speed and cache, I'm thinking picking soemthing with more cache will help things run smoother, especially down the line with whatever more bloaty applications may come.

Currently the kids are not power users, miniclip games and webkinz, I like FPS and flight sims, but don't have the time to dedicate to this and demand the highest performance, but would like to dabble.

Any constructive comments?
Cock?