I am not really a gamer on my laptops, is there any other reason I would want 512 vs. 256? Can OS X tap that memory for other functions? I just do programming, web dev, virtual machines, email, office, etc.
View 8 RepliesSo I just sold my MB and am going to be upgrading to a MBP. I have been reading up on the current ones and have seen that almost everyone reccomends going with the 15" 2.44ghz vs the 2.66, as the ~$400 difference is not justified. What still sways me towards the higher end 15" is that the 330m has 512mb vs the 256mb in the base model. I will be using it for games such as The Sims 3, Civilizations, and SC II. I will also be using PS as well. Will I notice a huge performance difference between the 512 and the 256?
View 5 Replies View RelatedI currently got a late 2008 MBP with the 9600M with 512 Mo VRAM.
I got sick of that glossy screen and that's why I've stepped towards the i5 Anti glare.
Anyway I'd simply like to know if I'm about to loose some perf with the new GPU having only 256 Mo VRAM compared to my old 9600 with 512.
Concretely, I'll be playing Starcraft 2 on my MBP's screen, so no external screen and huge resolution.
Do you think it'll be better with the i5 spec ? Same ? Worse ?
So I've got a 2.0 GHz, white MacBook with 1gb ram, and a G4 Powerbook 1.67 with 1gb of ram. The major software difference between the two is the OS, the MacBook is running Leopard. So, I noticed the MacBook started to lag a little from when it was new, so when I upgraded to Leopard I did a clean install. Still noticed the lag so I checked my ram, and here's what I got:
The Powerbook was running the same exact apps (iTunes, iChat, iPhoto, Safari) as the MacBook, and even after loading dashboard on the Powerbook it still used only 500mb of ram and 4.45gb of Virtual Ram. The MacBook was using 615mb of ram and 32 GB OF VIRTUAL MEMORY?I thought it might just be counting space set aside, but I checked the apps and adding all them up is about 32gb. They both have the same iPhoto library yet the powerbook's only took up 240mb of virtual ram and the macbook's over 1000mb.
I realize there are some slight differences (different iChat, spaces was running) but why in gods name would it make the MacBook use almost 7 times the amount of virtual ram!
Can it be done? Haven't seen anything leading me to believe so but I thought I might try.
View 6 Replies View RelatedMy 2.4ghz i5 MBP runs a lot better when using discrete graphics. Minimizing and maximizing windows, scrolling, opening folders etc... all run smoother with the 330M. Is there a way to always run the 330M when plugged in, and switch to automatic graphics switching when unplugged? This would be the perfect solution for me.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI'm thinking of getting a new MBP, but want to be able to play MMORPGs like Warhammer Online or similar games coming out. Can anyone speak to first hand experience with the various 15" MBPs with i5 or i7? With 256MB GT 330M vs 512 MB? I would love to be able to get the 13", but I'm sure that video card won't make it happen.
View 24 Replies View RelatedRight now, I have a 2009 MBP with 2.66 core 2 duo and the 256MB 9600gt. I am looking to buy a 17 inch i5 with the 512MB 330m. With regards to gaming under bootcamp, how much better is the 330m to the 9600gt? Will I notice a big difference in my games or will it be barely noticeable? I tried to play black ops under bootcamp and it was barely playable.
View 6 Replies View RelatedStandard bootcamp drivers are quite old so I went to upgrade the drivers from nVidia.com; I noticed that nVidia doesn't support the 330M under its driver page, am I to assume the 330M is an Apple specific part? Will nVidia support the 330M in an upcoming release?
View 1 Replies View RelatedBefore there was a discussion on a couple of apps people had written that show in the status bar whether you're using the Intel HD or Nvidia 330M on an i5/i7 macbook. I now have an i7 MBP but can't find the thread anywhere (tried MRoogle too!).
View 7 Replies View RelatedI know a couple guys in the MBP refresh gaming thread were able to overclock using Nvidia Tools. I'm not having any luck; the sliders are grayed out and I can't make any changes with system tools 6.06. I've also got errors when trying to install Nvidia drivers other than the ones included with Bootcamp. What driver/system tools version are you using to OC? And what settings have you tried? (I'm on Windows 7 64bit).
View 24 Replies View RelatedI would first like to start off with the disclaimer that I am not good at writing guides and I am also not a pro with overclocking but here is my attempt at both. Also I am not liable for damages to your computer and ask fobis has mentioned each gpu even if they are the same may overclock better or worse then the next. So take my overclocking numbers for what they are worth. Experiment and try it out on your own.
Note: This guide assumes your running Windows 7 64bit, and also it assumes that you are new to overclocking.
-------------------------------GUIDE------------------------------
1.First make sure you have a copy of windows installed through bootcamp.
2.Then go ahead and install the drivers that came with bootcamp ( we won't be using the gpu drivers but the rest are going to be useful anyway so might as well go ahead and install them )
3.After you have all that you will want to go here to get a modified driver. This will give you better performance then the bad drivers that apple supplies it will also let you overclock the gpu
4.After you have downloaded both the driver and the INF file open up the driver and it will extract the files to the directory that you choose. It will also try to launch the install but it will fail saying something like " no compatible hardware found " ignore this for now.
5.Now take the INF file and copy it to the folder that the driver was extracted too. It will ask you if you want to overwrite the file just say yes.
6.Now open up the device manager by right clicking on my computer, selecting properties, this should open a new window and on the left there should be something that says device manager.
7.Under the tab that says "display adapters" select the only device that shows up on that tab. Right click it and choose uninstall.
8.After you have done that it will likely mess up your resolution and set it too 800x600 don't worry this is normal. Now just restart your computer.
9.Once you have restarted when it starts back up it will say new hardware found. Now you have to choose to install it manually choose the option that says something along the lines of " search for drivers in specified area "
10.Now it will take you to a new page and on that page there should be an option that says "have disk" choose this and select the directory that you extracted the driver too earlier in this guide. It should find one of the files that it can use and install it just fine.
11.You will need to restart again once this is done but when you start back up your resolution should be fixed if not just right click and hit screen resolution and just change it back to the native resolution.
12. Download Nvidia system tools found here
13. Go ahead and install this it should be self explanatory.
14. Once it is installed open the program and go to the performance tab on the left. ( It might ask you to agree to some terms of use )
15. Just put in these numbers and hit apply
646 for the first one
864 for the second one
and 1314 for the third one
Now your done if your paranoid like me of overheating your computer you can also optionally download and install LubbosFanControl to max out your fans to keep it as cool as possible.
Enjoy your faster GPU!.
----------------------BENCHMARKS-----------------------------
Before OC:
Furmark
Points:912
FPS: min=13 max=22 avg=15
Crysis: 24.89
Unigine Sanctuary Demo (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10:24.9fps (score:1057)
OpenGL: 23.2 (score:982)
Unigine Tropics Demo: (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10:18fps (scores 452)
OpenGL:16.3 (scores 410)
Unigine Heaven Demo:
DX10:14.8fps (scores 372)
OpenGL:12.6fps (scores 317)
3DMark06:5975
3DMark Vantage: P2294
After OC:
Furmark
Points: 1081
FPS: min=16 max=26 avg=18
Crysis: 33fps
Unigine Sanctuary Demo (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10: 31.2fps (scores: 1322)
OpenGL: 28fps (scores: 1211)
Unigine Tropics Demo: (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10: 21.7fps (scores: 546)
OpenGL:19.8 (scores:498)
Unigine Heaven Demo:
DX10:15.7(scores:395)
OpenGL: 16.2(scores:408) WTF? OpenGL wins? lol
3DMark06:6994
3DMark Vantage: 2922
Notes: Crysis was run at 1280x800 everything on medium excapt physics on very high
Another note: The highest GPU temp underload from Crysis got up to about 78C after about 15mins of running the game. Furmark got the temp up to 80C though after about 15mins also.
I have also played TF2 at max settings @ 1920x1200 for over 2 hours to test stability and it ran fine without any hiccups
Also I feel that this card can be pushed further then this ( I have not tried ) but from what I see it cools a lot better then I expected from a laptop I come from a world of desktop overclocking.
The 9400M was in older Macbook Pros and I've seen many videos where people run crysis on high/very high and have pretty good FPS. The laptops arent as fast as the newer ones, but yet my MBP (specs down below) which is faster, can only run crysis on medium at around 30 FPS, unless i wanted 5 FPS with high. The only reasoning for this, to me at least, is that the 330M chip is not as good. Is this the case? If so, why the hell did the graphics chip get downgraded? Here is a link to one of the vids I was talking about: [URL:....] This guy is using the demo for his vid. when i use the demo, it doesnt even give me the option of using very high settings, and when i'm on high, my screen flashes in and out, i get random lines across the screen, and then my computer freezes.
View 5 Replies View RelatedIs there a significant difference between the new nVidia 330m Graphics against the older 9600 cards found in the slightly older MacBook Pros (i am talking about both having 512RAM) not really bothered about the auto-switching deal as i will be Windows frequently for Gaming and using Snow Leopard for University work, oh and as a side note, will the i5/i7 make much difference when gaming (more specifically Modern Warfare 2 and Gears of War),
View 5 Replies View RelatedI'd like to know how many over clock their 330M and how much. Somebody without Windows, who hardly ever plays any kind of game probably doesn't over clock but there are probably many that do play but still don't over clock. The only game I am playing now is Modern Warfare 2 and over clocked the 256mb 330M offers about 25% more performance. That is the difference between 25 and 30 fps. I found that temps don't really rise. At default the GPU reaches about 70C and the CPU around 50 (idle is 32-40). Over clocked 645/808/1451 it avg 73C and CPU is a little lower on 48-49C because the fans work a little harder while the CPU has the same amount of work. That sounds pretty cool to me and I didn't even test any higher, because usually a notebook GPU is a cool chip that over clocks well as long as it is cool enough, and desktop GPUs on the same silicon sometimes run standard on almost 90C. The max temps are higher with 82C which it reaches after game start for a short period until the cooling really kicks in. There is no fan control prog running. That is a 30% increase in clock speed with almost no increase in temps.
I don't know how to read out fan speeds in windows but I don't notice the fans from in the loud gameplay anyway. What are your clocks?? I don't like benchmark tools as they don't determine what matter really to me. I know with furmark I get higher temps but I am not running furmark for fun ever. I play CoD. I used in the game (Call of Duty MW2) in Act 2 of the campaign the misson "of there own accord" because it is probably one of the hardest with the lowest min framerates. I get stock 24-25 fps running outside and min 22. Inside it is 33-60fps. Over clocked it is 28 min 30-31 outside and 38-120 indoors. I use native res (high res) but no AA and no soften smoke edges because it kills performance in some scenes and I don't see the difference. Everything else is on the maximum I can switch it to and the textures are high. AA is only missing in some levels with high contrast where edges start flickering a lot but in general I prefer the higher res over AA. It is just more detail and easier to see the enemy.
So I have a 1.8ghz dual G5 with 3gb of ram for work. I mainly work in Adobe CS and do a far amount of Photoshop work. At any given time I may have all of Adobe CS plus Office and a few other apps running -- and a gazillion fonts. Went to the store and saw the new 24" iMac. How would a new iMac compare to my late '04 1.8DP G5? On that same note, how would a new MacBook Pro compare to the above?
View 5 Replies View RelatedJust got the new office 2011 which I use every day for university, primarily the powerpoint program for presentations and note-taking. Today I noticed that my battery drained more quickly than usually and found out that I use the nvidia 330M when powerpoint is open. Just did some research and neither word or excel makes the MBP use the 330M. Only powerpoint. Is there any way to force the intel gfx on all the time? Or at least when running on battery?
View 4 Replies View RelatedI googled and couldn't find the Tjunction for the GPU.
Mine went as high as 90c / 194f. When I play games it usually stays around 86c / 186.8f with the fans in overdrive.
My new MBP 2010 won't use Intel HD graphics, it seems stuck on the 330M graphics card with no programs running at all. I also checked the power saver option for auto-switching graphics.. What to do?
It worked before I calibrated the battery, but today when using the MBP for the first time since calibrating it won't switch.
I had the the 27" iMac with the ATI and I just recently ordered the 15" i7 MBP with the 330M (512MB). Knowing mostly nothing about graphics cards or computer gaming, but wanting to get a few games for my MBP, I'd like to know how the 330M compares to the Radeon HD 4670. I intend to get Orange Box for Mac when Steam's out and the Mac version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. My only experience gaming on the iMac was a Bioshock demo that ran modestly on mostly medium settings. So in comparing the two graphics cards, I'd like to get a sense of what to expect.
View 13 Replies View RelatedI just got my first MacBook and just draining the battery for the first time (seems to be something like 5-6 hours while surfing and playing music via the speakers, so far I'm quite happy). But I've noticed that the 330m is running all the time due to Skype. I checked with gfxCardStatus and when I close Skype the battery time increases nearly an hour.
View 7 Replies View RelatedIve recon that when having your MBP's GT330M turned on, you can't play YouTube-videos in full-screen, my screen just turns white, and nothing happens.. Then you have to ESC yourself outta there..
The funny thing is that if you use the Intel HD Graphics processor, it works fine, but it gets very laggy if you have 720p res..
Is there anyone else having this problem?
I'm looking for a new monitor to go with my MBP, and I'm stuck trying to choose between the ones listed above.
The 2407WFP is a couple of years old now I guess, but it's the rev A04 version, which supposedly fixed the (few) problems with what was otherwise meant to be a great screen. It's an sPVA screen.
I've heard good reviews of the G2410, with its LED backlighting. It's still a TN panel and I hear so much bad stuff about them.
The 2209WA is an eIPS panel which I like the sound of, but it's smaller and lower resolution.
The F2380 is a cPVA panel, the image quality looks better but I've heard bad things about blacks on this panel.
im using the keyboard viewer to type this
i randomly brushed the left side of my keyboard. now the y h n and spacebar seem to have different functions
this is what happens when i press y 3 times quick IOUYeqrtwIOUYeqwIO
h - ©˙∆˚¬adfghs
n - seems to bring the settings page in chrome
spacebar - seems to activate alt / options
i went to the toilet juz now and left my macbook in the livin room and when i came back. all my function keys(expose,vol,brightness) settings were changed. i dunno why. I had to go to system preference to disable the "press Fn key to activate function" option then only it went back to normal where i din need to press the Fn key to activate expose etc... pls i wanna know y did the settings change by itself.
View 3 Replies View Relatedi locked my functions buttoms then i can't use them
View 1 Replies View RelatedI've been having intermittent web browsing problems with our mid-2009 MacBook Pro running Lion 10.7.2... our network has an AirPort Extreme with an AirPort Express being the booster router, and the problem seems to have been pretty much only limited to web browsing, that is, other activities like emails, VOIP phones (we use a program called Bria), Skype and iTunes sample streaming seem to have been pretty reliable... I've tried deleting my safari cache.db file as another thread in this forum suggested, and it's a bit too early to tell yet whether that has made a lasting difference, but if it doesn't, does anyone have any ideas about what else might be causing the problem? If it helps, an iPhone 4 on the same home network seems to have significantly better performance when using its web browser.
Info:
MacBook
Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)
All time PC user and finally picked up my first Mac, a brand new 2010 2.4 MBP! Just wondering, being used to normal tap to click functions from PC machines im wondering. Do most of you MBP users use tap to click or actually use the click on the trackpad? I've noticed using the click is more accurate as far as responses, but isn't as efficient/fast as using tap to click. Can I get suggestions from you MBP users on what you guys use? I'm far in between the two so I want to know which one I probably should use so I basically "learn" to use it over time. Also, noticed when I activate tap to click and use dragging, when I start to drag a window, and find the place I want to leave it. I'll raise my finger like 1mm in the air and it still registers my finger there and will still move it. It wont unlock my finger from the drag lock unless I lift it more than 3mm off the trackpad.
View 24 Replies View RelatedI have 2011 i5 13"MacAir. Touchpad has lost functions: no select, no drag/drag copy. it can position the cursor with a hard click (not as responsive as before), select a word with double click, do a 3 finger window drag.It recognizes tapping functions only and the 3 finger drag. It does not seem to recognize when a finger stays on the pad- no finger zoom in or out, etc.
i need an external mouse to use the Air- i don't have enough touchpad functions to work otherwise.Is this software or do i need a new touchpad? is it an expensive repair?
Info:
MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.5), mid 2011,13", 1.7 GHz Intel Core i5
I spilled alcohol on macbook keyboard, so I bought and just received a wireless keyboard which I paired with my computer, but the shortcuts at the top of my keyboard aren't doing what they should be doing. I went into system preferences and was able to change it so I can change the brightness, but from F7 to F12, where you are suppose to be able to change the song, play/pause, mute and turn the volume up and down, it does other things. I've tried adding an application to my keyboard shortcuts, added iTunes and then wrote "Volume Up" and set it to F12, and "Volume Down" and set it to F11, but it didn't work. Is there certain words I have to put for it to work?
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