Apple :: Mac Graphics As Compared To PC Components
Jun 12, 2009
I'm looking at buying a new laptop, and I'm curious about one issue when comparing a MacBook Pro to any brand of high-end PC: the graphics.
In looking at PCs, each has a graphics card option in customization, namely the ATI Radeon 3870/4870 or the nVidia Geforce GTX 260m/280m. As Mac's don't support PC components, they do not have the same customizable option.
What exactly powers the graphic performance in a MacBook Pro and how does it compare to the aforementioned graphics cards found in high-end PCs?
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Nov 30, 2009
Are there any Windows 7-native notebooks with a "clean" design (where "clean" is MBP-ish), a battery capable of seven or so hours like the MBP's is, and a weight close to the MBP's 5.5 lbs? Seems the closest thing as of now is the Envy 15, but from what I understand, the slice battery is required to get the battery life beyond a few hours -- and using it bumps the notebook's travel weight to ~7.8 lbs.
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Mar 21, 2010
I had a chance to stop by at apple store today, and compared the anti glare screens on both 15 inch and 17 inch models. To my surprise, the 15 inch one was much brighter than 17 inch one. I made sure that both had max brightness settings, and it was clear that 15 inch one was superior. maybe this 17 inch display model was defect? anyone has opposite experience? (btw, I hate seeing myself and losing focus because of reflective glassy screens)
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Feb 14, 2008
I have kept quiet about my exchange because I don't want to bring the wrath down upon me of people thinking I am trying to pull one over on dell. However, I now feel the need to vent a little.
I received my 1710 about a year ago. It originally shipped with the basic card but I upgraded through dell, having their techs come out and do the install, to a 7900GTX 512 MB. I was assured many times through the process that the upgraded card would fall under my complete care warranty should something go wrong.
Well something went wrong, 1.5 years later I have suffered from many heat issues and they have replaced the exact same 7900 card TWICE! Then we had an accident with my dog and a glass of Ice Tea. Needless to say the laptop is non-functional now. I was issued a complete care replacement machine and this is where the nightmare started.
They upgraded me to a 1730, saw fit to upgrade my processor to a 2.2, and gave me 4 (!) gigs of ram, but then crippled the system by including 1 8700m 256mb card. I immediately called Dell before the system shipped and implored them to look at my history, and see I upgraded the card. That I would happily exchange half that ram (for an 1800 dollar credit) towards the purchase of an equivalent card. The rep had sympathy but told me that my system doesn't have a service tag so they can't schedule a swap, he set up a call back from a manager for the next day where he assured me that I would be taken care of. That was Tuesday.
Wednesday came and went with no call, I called them after work and got someone who couldn't possibly understand why I didn't receive a call back, and he went to work in his area to try and solve my issue. It turns out that there is a call center in Oklahoma and a call center in Utah. The Utah office has the only staff that has the authorization to replace my card. He scheduled another call back for Thursday, assured me that everything was in the notes, and that I would receive resolution.
That evening the laptop was waiting for me. I knew there was a problem when I opened the box, as the laptop is missing the service tag sticker on the bottom. There is no power cord (only the AC adapter half) in the box, but no worries it's a standard PC plug and I have tons of those. I plug it in, open the lid and hit the switch... and nothing. No power, no lights, no nothing. I fiddle with the plug in the back of the case and I see lights flash. A lot of upward pressure and I have power! So problem number 2, Faulty AC Jack. I'm cruising along at this point checking things out, and I go to the invoice to check the parts list vs. what is physically there. Pop off the memory plate and there is only one 2 GB card in the case. Okay I'll call about that, fire up the machine... Boot error, open the hard drive bay... no HDD................
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Jul 17, 2009
Problem with installing VAIO Edit Components ?
every time when i try to install this update its give an error message that i need the old version of this program to update it ?
i have a clean win vista
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Jan 14, 2015
Is there anywhere I can confirm the maximum recommended temperatures for various components in my laptop?
I'm running CPUID HWMonitor after just having bought a chill pad but I'm not sure if the "max temperature" values are being read from my machine or are just arbitrary.
Also, am I correct that you can't read the fan speed on this model with any kind of diagnostic or monitoring app?
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Jan 27, 2009
I was originally going to purchase a Dell XPS but after browsing the website and watching some videos on the studio 15, then i made the switch.
I still haven't bought it yet, but another reason why i have chosen to get the studio 15 is because the XPS is a little out dated and does have some issues ......
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Oct 3, 2007
there is no difference in terms of performance, only screen size.
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Nov 2, 2008
Discuss the Aspire, Ferrari and TravelMate line of notebooks from Acer here.
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Feb 17, 2010
There so much factor that shows the display quality: Viewing angles, color gamut, response time....
But the most importans are brigthness and contrast value for 99% of users. I collected this data from notebookreview and notebookjournal.
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Dec 6, 2009
I have an M1330 with LED and love the display. I came across such a good deal for a refurb Studio XPS 13 that i could not pass it up - (P8800, 4GB, 500GB 7200rpm, 512MB N10M-GS,
Wireless 1510, Bluetooth 370 for $875 shipped). Only problem is that it has a CCFL screen instead of LED.
Will the difference be really noticeable? Am i going to regret it?
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May 21, 2010
It comes with an Intel Core i5-430M Processor (2.26Ghz, 4 Threads, Turbo Boost up to 2.53 GHz, 3M cache) while Studio 15 has an i3 processor(2.13 Ghz). It has the same Graphics card as Studio 15 and the rest of the features are also almost the same.
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Apr 22, 2010
I had the chance to review two configurations side by side in Saturn Vienna.
I assure you, the one with the 1600x900 is noticeably brighter and more saturated than the 1920x1080 one. Both are TN panels, but the colors in FHD panel have a tendency to distort sooner relative to the viewing angles. I can't say that the FHD isn't crisper than the other one because resolution does have its obvious advantage in terms of crispiness. But an uneducated eye won't be able to distinguish crispness difference between the panels when the fonts are scaled to be equal on both screens. Although both panels are LED back-lit, the FHD one looks like a fluorescent back-lit panel when compared to the 1600x900 one side-by-side.
I was both disappointed and relieved to have seen the difference. I was about to order the FHD panel, however because of some problems with the supplier, it kept on delaying. I guess there is always good in bad. Now I canceled my order entirely. I will opt for 1600x900, no matter how much I crave for the highest resolution.
In summary, the US guys who were muttering about the lack of FHD option in Sonystyle.com, don't have to anymore I would go for the 1600x900 panel every time. But this doesn't mean that the FHD is a bad panel. It just isn't AS good as the 1600x900. I wouldn't regret to have chosen it. But now that I have the choice not to, I won't. So long for the Sony Euroasia envy
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May 21, 2009
I like the slot load drive, I wouldn't want to go back to the traditional ones. However I've always thought it was a bit rough in the sense that you have to kind of force it in and it makes a lot of noise. Also when you eject it, it kind of 'spits' it out.
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Feb 21, 2009
I'm looking for a simple to use program that will allow me to make avatars, signitures, banners, resize png and jpeg images etc... on my mac.
Nothing too feature loaded, as the above isn't really that complicated at all. I'm really only talking about things such as adding a glass effect to an image like a userbar etc...
Basically, i'm looking for a mac equivalent of Paint.NET for windows.
It's important that it's native however. I'm done with the whole messing about thing with Windows. I'm keeping things simple and native with my mac. So for that reason discount the gimp as it requires X11.
I've done some google searching, and all i've come up with is Seahorse, which hasn't been updated for about 2 years and is reported to be quite buggy with Leopard?
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Jul 5, 2009
if Apple will implement a new graphics card anytime soon on their macbooks.Is it worth buying the macbook pro now or should I wait?
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Mar 30, 2009
I am a graphic designer and I a longtime PC user. I am looking to make the switch and since I have a 22" LCD monitor, the macbook is very appealing to me because when at home i can just hook it up to that and also have a very nice portable laptop.
As far as which macbook model to get is where I am having problems I know the entry level aluminum one is the P7350 @2ghz and the high end one is P8600 @ 2.4ghz. Either way I will be most likely upgrading the ram to 4gb but which processor should i go with? I get mixed reviews from apple friends some say I will definitely notice the cpu difference while some say it is only marginal in real world use. MY most intense program will be illustrator/photoshop / multi-tasking.
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Nov 26, 2009
Is there a way to use the stock nVidia laptop driver upgrades on a MacbookPro? The bootcamp drivers are fairly out-of-date.
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Apr 19, 2010
Up until recently, many suspected that Apple was just using Nvidia's Optimus technology for its new 15" and 17" MacBook Pros. However, there are key differences which prove this cannot be the case, and Apple themselves have said their technology is different. Unlike Optimus, which sends data from the discrete graphics to the IGP framebuffer, and hence needs to keep the IGP on in discrete graphics mode, Apple's solution powers down the IGP entirely. This means that Apple must actually be using a hardware multiplexer at the back end, just like in all switchable graphics before Optimus.
As far as I can tell, Apple seem to have pulled a coup d'etat with their multiplexer, though, because their switching is supposedly just as seamless as Optimus. I'm guessing that Apple runs both adapters for a short time before making a transition in order to avoid a noticeable delay or flickering. I'd be interested to see how they got over the issue of blocking programs, though.
In any case, Apple's solution has the clear advantage of lower power consumption when running the discrete graphics. However, this comes at the cost of being entirely reliant on Apple's proprietary technology. In particular, Apple hasn't released switchable graphics drivers for Windows, so you're stuck with discrete graphics only if you have some need for dual-booting with Windows. Additionally, Apple's technology doesn't seem to give you a way to change which applications run on which GPU. This means that even if you have a 3D application that you know will run well enough on Intel's GMA HD, you're still stuck using the discrete GPU.
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Jul 9, 2009
my roommate's macbook's graphics card just broke (according to apple store), so we're trying to get it replaced.
Before doing that, we want to back up her data.
Since upon bootup, the LCD does not display anything for her macbook, we're trying to run in target disk mode.
The apple store printed out instructions for us to do this via firewire cable, but we cannot locate he firewire cable at the moment.
Can this be done by means of ethernet cable?
Alternatively, we're thinking of using the video adapter to view her macbook's screen on an alternate monitor, not sure if this is possible or not due to the bad graphics card.
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Jul 8, 2009
I think it was time for my 8600M GT to die as well... I restarted my 2007 MBP and no display came up on my monitor (connected to MBP). So, I restarted and tried again...no display. I proceeded with unplugging my monitor and restarting to see if anything came up on my MBP display; it remained black. I tried resetting PRAM three times and still, no display came up. I have lost my display before, but not after this many attempts on trying to "revive" it.
I guess I need to take it in to have the graphics card replaced as well as the Superdrive as it is spitting all CDs and DVDs out (mind you, they worked perfectly on another MBP). I have a password at the log-in screen. That shouldn't be a problem for the guys repairing my MBP, will it?
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May 27, 2009
I'm planning on making the switch to a Mac but I don't need a new notebook till Q3 09/Q1 2010. I know the next major hardware refresh is coming soon and I want a Macbook to last through uni but I don't know Apples sales strategies.
My main concern is the integrated graphics that the MB may come with when it is refreshed. What I wanted to ask is if anyone knows the likelihood that Apple will drop NVIDIA and go back to Intel.
Because if that was to be the case, I might as well buy one now (or once SL is released) because i'd rather have a Centrino 2 based MB w/ NVIDIAs iGPU then go back to Intel (harsh, i know... but it's the truth).
Even with all the benefits the Calpella chipset/Westmere CPU would bring i.e. USB 3.0, SATA-III, Bluetooth 3.0, native SSD support, removal of FSB, integrated memory controller, DDR3-1600, improved wireless tech (w/ finalized 802.11n spec), lower power consumption, 32nm Nehalem.
Man I wish Apple would stick with NVIDIA for their next platform. NVIDIA has greater compatibility than anyone else and I know for a fact that the integrated graphics that will come with Arrandale are just a higher clocked 4500MHD so it will still be a lot weaker then even todays Macbook offering (9400m) which is like taking two steps back.
Would be frickin AWESOME if we could get Calpella with a variant of Arrandale without its integrated graphics core. Instead, couple it with a 40/32nm shrink of the current 9400m based on the G300 architecture.............
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Jan 6, 2010
I'm trying to figure out what graphics card could go into the new Macbook Pros if they did a refresh on Jan 26th. The 230m gt? Or possibly unveiling a new card a 330m or 340m? What do you guys think? Do we have any word on the new cards Nvidia is releasing in the short term coming up here? I know the Asus G51J series just had the 360m card put in them, and that makes me think it is possible Nvidia might be dropping a 300 series card into the next MBP line.
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May 16, 2010
I just got this baby in today, as usual it's perfect all around. Installed windows 7 64 bit, the bootcamp drivers installer. Tried Unreal III. Maxed out the graphics and resolution. Performance was acceptable (20-30FPS) however on intense action and levels with water, green liquids, performance was cut in half. Basically I want to install the best possible drivers, but nvidia won't let me because of apple's lock. The correct driver installer does not recognize my 330M. I am totally new to modifying INF's etc. I went through a mac rumors post, but I had to stop when I did not have the 330M'S phrase, I don't know. If someone could explain exactly what to do for this specific laptop it would be great. After installing these new drivers I want to overclock, if I still need a boost. I installed ntune, but was greeted with a BSOD on starting it. I also need to monitor my graphics card tempture, but I could not find where in rivatuner that was displayed, and if I did it was blank? I unistalled it... is thier something more simple like CPUZ for graphics cards?
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Jun 17, 2009
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any chance that apple will put some of the new graphics cards in the macbooks/macbook pros?
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Feb 23, 2009
I was thinking to buy a MBP soon and im wondering if the 9600m GT graphics card is upgradable? I heard it was choppy Playing L4d, Far cry 2.
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Apr 22, 2010
MacBook Pros with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M silicon making questionable graphics switching decisions
Quote:
Originally Posted by Engadget
"With every choice you make, ask yourself: is this a good choice, or is this a bad choice?" That's the sage advice we were constantly given as tykes -- and it's advice that replays in our feeble brains every day as we write news. Turns out it's also a piece of wisdom Apple's latest round of MacBook Pros would be wise to heed, because currently, they're making some awful decisions about when to turn on that power-sapping NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete chipset. Read on to see what we mean........
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Apr 25, 2010
I need a new laptop, and am torn right now between the Macbook 13" or the Asus UL30VT. I know they are completely different animals. I like the 13.3" size of laptop. One thing I really like about the ULV notebooks is the battery life. I have owned a unibody Macbook 2.4ghz (old model), and the performance was great, but the integrated card lacked a little. The new ones are supposed to be quite an improvement though. Anyways, if you were just to compare the G210m in the Asus vs the new integrated 320m, which will preform better? I know these aren't high performance but I would like to do full HD video with no lag, and maybe some slight gaming.
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May 5, 2010
I just got my new MacBook Pro 15" (with auto graphics switching) and was a bit surprised that the discrete graphics card was always on... so I started investigating what apps might be triggering that! As far as I could tell, I wasn't running anything graphics intensive... so it was a surprise to me what I found out
There are a lot more apps causing this than the ones I listed initially... a more complete and up-to-date list can be found at this thread on MacRumors forums.
It's possible to know what graphics card you're currently using by installing GPUInfoMenu or gfxCardStatus, the latter also allows to force switching from discrete to integrated, or vice-versa.
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Jan 2, 2009
So Photoshop CS 4 is giving me corrupt graphics. It's very random, I've only come across it a couple of times.
Here's the picture: Click! (1Mb png)
Does this mean that my 9600 is faulty, since CS 4 is using my GPU?
(the only reason I linked the picture is because it's 1680x1050 and 1MB, and I didn't want to stretch the page)
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