Can a PC still play videos and such if there's absolutely no GPU?

[Chingylol]

This is a random question I came up with while in the bathroom . So the new intel i5-9400F CPU's don't have integrated graphics built in like most intel CPU's do. If you were using that CPU with a video card, and the video card was ruined or stopped working, would your computer still be able to display anything or be able to browse the web?

[chazus]

This is a random question I came up with while in the bathroom . So the new intel i5-9400F CPU's don't have integrated graphics built in like most intel CPU's do. If you were using that CPU with a video card, and the video card was ruined or stopped working, would your computer still be able to display anything or be able to browse the web?

Technically, yes. It would basically be a 'headless' system. Many businesses have a server that has no keyboard, monitor, anything. Just power and ethernet, and if someone wanted to use it, they'd just remote in.

GPU's integrated into CPU's are somewhat a new thing, only coming up about ten years ago with the Intel Core series (The first gen of i3, i5, i7) and Athlon II's. Before then, the video was either part of the southbridge (or northbridge, I forget), or simply required a discrete GPU. I believe most current and past Xeon CPU's also lacked them. Having an integrated GPU in the CPU is actually probably more rare than not, if you consider the entire world base of Intel and AMD cpu's relatively speaking.

That said, many systems may refuse to boot with no video, as well, and will beep angrily to let you know.

[Notdev]

The short answer is no. A 9400F build without a GPU has no way to output video.

[Daedius]

Browser games?

[Firatha]

Browser games?

No output means no monitor which means no nothing.

[Temp name]

As long as you're fine with not having a display for your gaming, it might work.
If you actually want to see what you're playing or doing, you'll need some graphics chip, either integrated or not

[nToxik]

No. Unless the CPU has a built-in GPU (APU), then there is no way to get any display working on it if the GPU fails.

[Temp name]

No. Unless the CPU has a built-in GPU (APU), then there is no way to get any display working on it if the GPU fails.

It's only called APU by AMD. On Intel it's just an iGPU, or literally any of their mainstream CPU's that don't have the "F" suffix

[Evildeffy]

Actually ... just to be technical ... the original PCs and even up to the era of 2x86/3x86 quite a bit of video outputs were software generated and just sent to a D-SUB connector.

Difference being that complexity has increased DRASTICALLY since then of course and life without a GPU (iGPU/APU or dGPU is irrelevant) would be folly as it's cheaper, faster and more reliable then running your CPU to a max capability 24/7.

So yes it's certainly possible but it's a rarity to see these days as there'd be no benefit in doing so.

Also as a side-note of technical information nugget:
Integrated GPUs are originally AMD design (even though Intel had the commercially available products out first) and are licensed by AMD to others. (such as Intel)
Qualcomm's ADRENO GPUs in their SOCs are also originally AMD design which their shit-show of a CEO sold off to Qualcomm because of poor decisions and believing that they held no future (re-arrange ADRENO in a certain manner and see what word you get), just to give you an idea of what kind of monster they could've been.

[Twoddle]

Actually ... just to be technical ... the original PCs and even up to the era of 2x86/3x86 quite a bit of video outputs were software generated and just sent to a D-SUB connector.

This must have been how my first PC did it cause I remember getting into the BIOS and still managing boot up and do stuff even when the nVidia GForce4 card was removed. The motherboard had basic graphics capability built in although it was very slow at rendering.

[Evildeffy]

This must have been how my first PC did it cause I remember getting into the BIOS and still managing boot up and do stuff even when the nVidia GForce4 card was removed. The motherboard had basic graphics capability built in although it was very slow at rendering.

Unlikely, that era of PCs had integrated GPUs on the motherboard.

We're talking way earlier.