Thanks very much for these replies. I'll definitely try to get something with on-board graphics then, and if not, I'll avoid AMD...

i got an NVidia card 2 yrs ago after firckin w Radeon issues for months. Been happy with it.

Do you mean ATI rather than AMD?
 
Anyway, despite being an ATI advocate for many years, I've moved to Nvidia (since a few years back now).  Ditto the Intel/AMD CPU wars; I've gone from AMD/ATI systems to Intel/Nvidia ones.  I think Intel and Nvidia have both won their respective battles.
 
If you just need gfx for running DAW software, then the on-motherboard graphics will do just fine, it's not a very graphically intensive application at all.

Yeah, I do mean ATI - but AMD took them over
http://www.amd.com/en-us/products/graphics
 
I wasn't sure if the onboard graphics were still around (on new mobos), or if that was a "one off" thing around Sandy Bridge & Ivy Bridge CPUs. As long as there are still onboard graphics - that seeems the easiest route to take.
 
I'm also getting the picture tha nvidia makes the most sense if I have to get a graphics card. I know I've seen posts re: graphics card probs with SONAR (cracks and pops etc) - but I hadn't paid attention to what was causing them...

ston
Do you mean ATI rather than AMD?
 
Anyway, despite being an ATI advocate for many years, I've moved to Nvidia (since a few years back now).  Ditto the Intel/AMD CPU wars; I've gone from AMD/ATI systems to Intel/Nvidia ones.  I think Intel and Nvidia have both won their respective battles.
 
If you just need gfx for running DAW software, then the on-motherboard graphics will do just fine, it's not a very graphically intensive application at all.

Yes, technically ATI. But as John said, AMD bought them out some years ago so I think of them as AMD (perhaps incorrectly).

Ah right, I did not realise they'd been bought out!  Must've been a few years ago now that I switched to Nvidia... ;-)