Apple :: New MBP's - Make Poor Graphics Switching Decisions
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........
View 10 Replies
ADVERTISEMENT
Jul 16, 2009
I have owned my Vaio Z21WN/B since april.
Over the last few months the graphics seem to have deteriorated dramatically, particularly when using the 'speed' mode. The laptop will not play any high definition videos (even with a resolution of just 720p as well!) remotely smoothly, videos which play without a hitch on my 7 year old Pentium 4 with 1gb of ram and 256mb graphics! In fact, graphics and the whole PC itself seem to run much more smoothly when using the 'stamina' setting. This really makes no sense in my mind. It's quite irritating and disappointing since I wanted to be able to attach this laptop to the 42inch plasmascreen with the HDMI cable and watch films!
I upgraded to a new driver to see if it would help (using one of the driver packs made by nautis/dox in the 'discoveries on Vaio Z hybrid graphics' thread) but it has not helped at all, just made the 'stamina' setting even slower!
Will I get around a complete re-instal to factory settings?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Aug 26, 2009
I've just taken my new precision m4400 out of the box and I've already found 2 majour things wrong with it. I'm hoping someone can help me with this.
FIRST:
I'm getting very poor graphics performance. Both observed bad windows refresh times and low OpenGL benchmarks using cinebench 10. I've already run windows update and installed the latest nvidia driver.
Initially I was getting an opengl score of ~1500 on cinebench, now i'm getting ~3500 but it is still too low. It should be over 6000 ....
View 10 Replies
View Related
Apr 16, 2009
I have an dell m1710 xps and the graphics card has died (again). I know there is an onboard graphics card, and I am hoping/wondering if I can use that to transfer my files off the hard drive.
I thought maybe I should hook a monitor up to the machine, but then I don't know how to access the bios to set which card to use - as the screen is blank. I know there is a way but I cant figure it out.
View 12 Replies
View Related
Apr 4, 2010
Just got my new Z-series laptop last week and I discovered one bit of annoyance. I can crash the laptop consistently by simply using the "Dynamic Hybrid Graphics System" switch.
Here's what happens:
- Push the switch over to "Stamina" mode
- Reboot the system
- Push the switch over to "Speed" mode
- Screen flashes, goes black, then the system crashes instantly and powers off. Sometimes it reboots, but most of the time it simply shuts down .....
View 5 Replies
View Related
Feb 21, 2010
I spent a couple hours reading through dozens of pages in the 3 separate HP Envy 15" Owner's Lounge threads and couldn't find a definite answer to the following questions--there was usually conflicting info.
In total there's over 1k pages, so despite considerable time spent perusing and searching perhaps I missed a definite answer somewhere in there. So hopefully, it's okay if I ask this outside of those threads for a conclusive answer:
1) Every review I've read mentioned the heat issue with the i7 system. Has anyone read an official review or gathered a consensus from users if the i5 version of the 15" model has lesser heat issues?
2) Does the i5 have graphics switching? And does the i7?
3) The i7 has very short battery life, which dissuades me from getting it. Is the i5 any better? What sort of usage are most i5 owners getting out of it?
View 5 Replies
View Related
Apr 15, 2010
I'm a little sick of sub-par Flash performance on mac. I'm aware of the Adobe-Apple catfight.
Using a mid-2009 15" with a C2D at 2.53 GHz alongside Nvidia's 9400 M, Firefox 3.6.3 on OS X 10.6.3. Flash version is 10.0.45.2 -- the most recent release version. Have tried the 10.1 beta (and newer RC) with little change.
Streaming YouTube vids staggers every minute or two for a few seconds. This is not an issue I've had much, if any, of on a Windows box.
I've tried the about:config suggestion where you extend the time in which Firefox saves its state in case of a crash; still seeing the stuttering. Is this just a Firefox issue? Firefox + Mac issue?
I'd migrate to Chrome / Safari, but both browsers seem to render fonts smaller than Firefox does; Safari has a minimum font limit, but it seems like that's not always respected (or 9-point fonts are much smaller than I'd imagine).
View 10 Replies
View Related
Jan 2, 2009
I have a Linksys wrt 150N wireless router that is about a year old. My Rev B MBA is not performing with the speed I had anticipated moving to Wireless N. I was working with Linksys tech support yesterday and pretty much exhausted all options to get speed and range acceptable. I have Comcast cable and my iMac is seeing download speeds shown below hardwired directly into the router.
Using my MBA right next to the router I am barely getting 10% of that throughput. Before I replace the router I was considering a Time Capsule instead of a straight router. Is there anything I can do on the MBA side to remedy this? Is anyone using Time Capsule and getting good results?
One final note I did re flash the firmware on the router and when I reset the router on the first try I get very good speed (14,000KBPS) and thereafter it drops back down to 1200KBPS or so. I am thinking the router is the problem not the Air.
View 8 Replies
View Related
Feb 20, 2010
Using Transmission to download a torrent, I've noticed that download speeds are consistently hovering around 15% of what my connection is capable of downloading -- which is to say, it's still a triple-digit kb/s, but quite a bit slower than it should be.
In Transmission, my port setting tells me that the chosen port is wide open, which leads me to think that neither Snow Leopard's firewall nor my Time Capsule / router is getting in the way, even without me checking specific settings. The download speed in Transmission is set to unlimited, and even if I set upload speed to 60% of what your usual residential cable internet line can handle, there doesn't seem to be an improvement.
The online Glasnost test tells me that there is no ISP throttling being done.
The torrents can have anywhere from seven seeds to dozens, to hundreds, and into the thousands, and can be left to run for minutes to a couple of hours. It doesn't matter. I've also seen torrents connected to north of 300 seeders without an improvement in speed.
View 10 Replies
View Related
May 12, 2009
vista crashes , not to mention the bsods, and audio crackling issues and performance drop using it under vistual os. Virtual os was not as snappy as running xp. SO now i say bye bye vista and Hello xp. What are your experiences on xp? Does the machine get as hot as on vista? 65-74c while surfing on the net and listening to music? Does it have the famous audio crackling issues? Is it as buggy and slow as vista? Also what are your gaming temps? Is the fan management working correctly?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Jul 10, 2009
I've been contemplating a Mac, too. I recently bought an HP HDX18t, and I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it or get a Macbook Pro 17). The thing that's holding me back is that for essentially the same price as a Macbook Pro with 4 gb of RAm, I have 8gb RAM, a 160gb Intel SSD plus a 500gb hard drive, 18.4" high def monitor that is in the 16x9 format (I can have two IE windows open with no overlap), a Blu Ray burner, QX9300 Quad processors. I also love the full numeric keypad on the keyboard.
My first 3 computers were Macs (SE, IIsi, and Quadra 840AV), and I switched to PC when Windows 95 came out because I was tired of incompatibilities between my Mac and work and college computers. I was also tired of cool apps for the PC not being available for the Mac. Honestly, Windows has never given me any significant problems. Sure, I've had crashes and performance slowdowns, but I had those on my Macs, too. I've never had a virus on Windows. I've really never regretted switching to Windows...........
View 10 Replies
View Related
Mar 10, 2009
So my trusty old Thinkpad crapped out on me last night. I seem to have no power (adapter works, though) so I think the problem is unrelated to the hard drive and that should be okay. I've decided to replace it with a Macbook. In order to get the files off of my completely dead TP--which I'd prefer NOT to put any more money into at this point--can I turn the HD from the TP into an external hard drive and use bootcamp to boot windows from the (now) external HD, then pull files off it it that way?
Also, I read in the Migration sticky that you have to use Windows XP with SP2 and NOT SP1 with an SP2 upgrade. I think I had XP with SP1 and an SP2 upgrade. Even checking out the Windows site, those full versions all only come with SP1. What's the trick?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Jan 5, 2009
I own an iPod Classic right now, 160 GB formatted currently for Windows. In iTunes(on Windows) I currently have it set at "Manually Manage Songs and Videos." I'm wondering if when I plug it into my MacBook, if it'll sync my songs in iTunes right away and I'll lose all my songs or if it'll ask me if it wants to sync. I'm just scared because I don't wanna lose the songs I have because I don't have backups.
View 7 Replies
View Related
Nov 21, 2009
im thinking of buying a 2.53Ghz 13 Inch Macbook Pro. Im going to be switching from a E7300 2.66ghz Core 2 Duo PC with 2gb of Ram and Windows Xp. I need something a bit faster then my current configuration and was wondering if the 2.53Ghz Macbook Pro with 4gb of Ram would do me justice. I will be using it mostly for music production, using Propellerhead Reason software, and of course internet use, and HD video. Would I get better performance Switching to the 2.53ghz Macbook Pro?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Feb 5, 2009
How do I run a program from an ISO, as opposed to having to put the disk into my Macbook Pro?
View 8 Replies
View Related
May 20, 2009
macbook is great but i got a few questions. how do i log out/ make a new username?
all my pages are like half sized, how do i make it so the page takes up the whole screen?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Nov 13, 2009
I own a Macbook, and on that if F2 and F3 directly it changes the brightness on the laptop and also volume too
View 4 Replies
View Related
Nov 4, 2009
I use RightZoom and have it set to load on startup. I've noticed that Office 2008 in particular -- whether it be Entourage or Word (or any other piece of the suite) -- tends to not care what the last used window size and position was. Every time I open the program, the window appears large, but in the middle of the display -- not "maximized" in the sense that its top border is even with the bar, and its bottom border is more or less even with the bottom of the screen. Entourage refuses to properly full-zoom at all, even if I'm clicking away at the zoom button. how to change that behavior?
View 6 Replies
View Related
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?
View 7 Replies
View Related
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?
View 10 Replies
View Related
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?
View 9 Replies
View Related
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.
View 10 Replies
View Related
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.
View 4 Replies
View Related
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.
View 3 Replies
View Related
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.
View 9 Replies
View Related
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?
View 10 Replies
View Related
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.............
View 10 Replies
View Related
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.
View 10 Replies
View Related
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?
View 10 Replies
View Related
Aug 28, 2009
I am aware this is Notebook review but I figure Dell is Dell and it could apply to all Dell branded products.
I ordered a Dell PC 2 weeks ago. It has been 'In Production' for 2 weeks now. I phoned CS today and I was transferred a total 8 times due to no one being able to match my Name with my order number.
I finally get through and they tell me that a part was on back order (i never received any emails about this and no notification on my confirmed order page before I checked out) .....
View 6 Replies
View Related
