"It doesn't sound like you would benefit from adding a PCI-E video card. It may provide slight benefits, but most likely you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
If you were to do full screen video playback (DVD Quality), games (especially 3D) or CAD, then you would probably want an upgrade. Dual displays would also benefit, if you card supported that.
One place you might notice a difference is if you are running an LCD that supports DVI input and your on-board video card only has VGA output. I've noticed running a LCD off of VGA you will see slight flicker to the text occasionally.
Basically my advice would be unless you have something wrong with the display the way it is, then don't upgrade. There have been times when the on-board video card has been defective, so adding a new video card fixes the problem, but you didn't mention having any problems."
"if 'some video playback' doesn't mean full hd video (1080p) then your Intel GMA is up to the task.
an 'external' video card would make matters rather worse.
if you want full HD capability and multi-monitor support, you'll get a ATI Radeon HD 4350 with 512 MB memory for around 30 dollar, a nice budget card which is running circles around the Intel GMA X3500."
