Please Help Me Decide: rMBP 15" - Integrated Only or Dedicated GPU

EvossUK · Sep 14, 2014

Hello all,

Coming to pick the brains of those who know their stuff!

I really cant decide between getting a rMBP with or without the dedicated GPU. My concern is the battery life when the GPU kicks in and not plugged in.

I know there is gfxCardStatus but it may not work with future releases?

I wont need to use the GPU a lot, but it practically comes free with the 2.5GHz and 512SSD model and I would prefer to have it in case I do need it, but not at the cost of loosing 1 or 2 hours of batter every charge.

Does anyone know if gfxCardStatus will be supported in Yosemite or there are similar programs that do the same thing?

Please help me make a decision

Thank you

yjchua95 · Sep 14, 2014

EvossUK said:
Hello all,

Coming to pick the brains of those who know their stuff!

I really cant decide between getting a rMBP with or without the dedicated GPU. My concern is the battery life when the GPU kicks in and not plugged in.

I know there is gfxCardStatus but it may not work with future releases?

I wont need to use the GPU a lot, but it practically comes free with the 2.5GHz and 512SSD model and I would prefer to have it in case I do need it, but not at the cost of loosing 1 or 2 hours of batter every charge.

Does anyone know if gfxCardStatus will be supported in Yosemite or there are similar programs that do the same thing?

Please help me make a decision

Thank you

gfxcardstatus works well in Yosemite. I'm running it right now and it works.

It's got a quirk bug though. You'll have to click on 'Integrated only' twice before it actually forces the GPU into Intel only. The first time you click it, nothing happens (but if Console is open, it'll show some errors resulting from a bug in the coding of the app. See screenshot attached). The second time you click on it, it'll go to integrated.

I've a late-2013 15" rMBP (2.6/16/1TB/750M) and get about 8 hours out of it when in Intel only. So go for the variant with the 750M.

Oh and don't use Chrome and you'll be fine.

EvossUK · Sep 15, 2014

yjchua95 said:
gfxcardstatus works well in Yosemite. I'm running it right now and it works.

It's got a quirk bug though. You'll have to click on 'Integrated only' twice before it actually forces the GPU into Intel only. The first time you click it, nothing happens (but if Console is open, it'll show some errors resulting from a bug in the coding of the app. See screenshot attached). The second time you click on it, it'll go to integrated.

I've a late-2013 15" rMBP (2.6/16/1TB/750M) and get about 8 hours out of it when in Intel only. So go for the variant with the 750M.

Oh and don't use Chrome and you'll be fine.

Thanks for your response. Does gfxCardStatus work as soon as you have booted into the OS or do you have to click integrated twice every time?

Thanks

Samuelsan2001 · Sep 15, 2014

Do you need dGPU

If you don't need this then don't get it if you do then do it seems a no brainer to me.

EvossUK · Sep 15, 2014

Samuelsan2001 said:
If you don't need this then don't get it if you do then do it seems a no brainer to me.

Hey Samuelsan, I wont always need it, but it would be nice to have it when the iGPU does struggle. The dGPU comes free with the machine (£30 extra on HE discount) but I dont want it if A) I cant control it, B) It drains the battery

aoaaron · Sep 15, 2014

I got a dedicated gpu in my last MBP and ended up spending £300-400 more. I wish I didn't and instead went for the lower-end model and learnt to manage my space better.

The low end 15 inch to high end 15 inch is like £400. Add an extra £200 and you can potentially purchase a gaming desktop rig which will utterly destroy the high end macbook pro in anything graphics intensive. Unless you need a PORTABLE dedicated gpu, i would save your money.

My current setup is a base model 15'' MBP, a windows 7 gaming rig, iPad and I'll be buying the iPhone 6+ to replace my iPhone 4S and I am VERY happy. I have no worries about battery life, if the dedicated gfx is kicked on or not and I've had zero problems so far.

The fact your opening post doesn't even list a clear use for the dedicated graphics makes me want to suggest to you to really just save your money. I used to want to spec out my laptops but the truth is with mobile technology, it becomes outstripped and ******* on very fast.

EvossUK · Sep 15, 2014

aoaaron said:
I got a dedicated gpu in my last MBP and ended up spending £300-400 more. I wish I didn't and instead went for the lower-end model and learnt to manage my space better.

The low end 15 inch to high end 15 inch is like £400. Add an extra £200 and you can potentially purchase a gaming desktop rig which will utterly destroy the high end macbook pro in anything graphics intensive. Unless you need a PORTABLE dedicated gpu, i would save your money.

My current setup is a base model 15'' MBP, a windows 7 gaming rig, iPad and I'll be buying the iPhone 6+ to replace my iPhone 4S and I am VERY happy. I have no worries about battery life, if the dedicated gfx is kicked on or not and I've had zero problems so far.

The fact your opening post doesn't even list a clear use for the dedicated graphics makes me want to suggest to you to really just save your money. I used to want to spec out my laptops but the truth is with mobile technology, it becomes outstripped and ******* on very fast.

Thanks for your post, my problem is to have the dGPU, only costs £30 extra. If it was a case of £300 I'd just got with the iGPU.

Freyqq · Sep 15, 2014

EvossUK said:
Thanks for your response. Does gfxCardStatus work as soon as you have booted into the OS or do you have to click integrated twice every time?

Thanks

It's not even really needed. Other than netflix and gaming, nothing seems to trigger the dGPU on the newer models.

yjchua95 · Sep 15, 2014

EvossUK said:
Thanks for your response. Does gfxCardStatus work as soon as you have booted into the OS or do you have to click integrated twice every time?

Thanks

You've to click integrated twice as soon as you boot into the OS.

Pentad · Sep 15, 2014

Personally, I would get the dGPU. Having watched the iGPU stutter and stall on some of the more intense apps, I would rather have the ability to enable the dGPU than go without.

As we move forward, applications are only going to become more demanding and the iGPU seems maxed out today. How will it perform next year or the year after?

If you are just web surfing and sending email, I can see being happy with the iGPU. However, you need to plan for the entire length you imagine you are going to keep your investment.

Just my observations and opinions,
-P

EvossUK · Sep 15, 2014

Pentad said:
Personally, I would get the dGPU. Having watched the iGPU stutter and stall on some of the more intense apps, I would rather have the ability to enable the dGPU than go without.

As we move forward, applications are only going to become more demanding and the iGPU seems maxed out today. How will it perform next year or the year after?

If you are just web surfing and sending email, I can see being happy with the iGPU. However, you need to plan for the entire length you imagine you are going to keep your investment.

Just my observations and opinions,
-P

Very good point.

Is there a way to disable the dGPU apart from gfxCardStatus, perhaps one where you need to reboot in order to restart it as gfxCardStatus seems quite flakey looking at their github issues page.

Thanks

Sirmausalot · Sep 16, 2014

Get the better hardware! You can tweak the power settings in system settings as well.

snaky69 · Sep 16, 2014

EvossUK said:
Very good point.

Is there a way to disable the dGPU apart from gfxCardStatus, perhaps one where you need to reboot in order to restart it as gfxCardStatus seems quite flakey looking at their github issues page.

Thanks

With automatic switching, the difference between the two models is negligible unless you always do things that do trigger the nVidia card.

macjunk(ie) · Sep 16, 2014

EvossUK said:
Thanks for your post, my problem is to have the dGPU, only costs £30 extra. If it was a case of £300 I'd just got with the iGPU.

Hope I am not flogging a dead horse here but the dGPU is probably the first part that will fail in your Macbook Pro 2-3 years from now....while it may cost 30 now...it will at least cost you few hundreds later on .... I say stick with integrated..

yjchua95 · Sep 16, 2014

macjunk(ie) said:
Hope I am not flogging a dead horse here but the dGPU is probably the first part that will fail in your Macbook Pro 2-3 years from now....while it may cost 30 now...it will at least cost you few hundreds later on .... I say stick with integrated..

That happened with the 8600M GT, GT 330M and 6490M/6750M/6770M.

NVIDIA acknowledged that there was a fault with the 8600M GT and GT 330M, and reimbursed Apple to launch an extended repair program.

Meanwhile, AMD refused to do the same for the 6490M/6750M/6770M failures, because they said that Apple poorly applied thermal paste on the GPU, causing it to fail.

For the 650M and onwards, iFixit teardowns have revealed that the thermal paste was properly applied, so another dGPU debacle is unlikely.

alphaod · Sep 16, 2014

Unless you have some reason to need the discrete graphics (maybe CUDA or you game a lot), then I'd just get the one with just the integrated graphics.

The Iris Pro is excellent and fast most things. It runs cooler and uses less power. I value battery life. I try to set mine to integrated only whenever possible.

Sirmausalot · Sep 17, 2014

A lot of fairly uniformed posts on this thread. For a negligible amount more, the poster gets a part valued at a hundred times that. For resale value alone, it would be stupid not to get the better part.

As for power savings, if the dGPU is kicking in (and draining power) then the user is by definition using an application that benefits from it. Therefore from a performance stand point, it is worth getting. But as others noted, it can be turned off with third party software. But again, if software is using it, then there is a reason. It may save time (encoding) or cause less frustration (frame rates or stutter-free video playback).

There is no evidence that the 750m is faulty.

Lukewarmwinner · Sep 17, 2014

I went with the dgpu, and glad I did. I do however use it a lot for premiere and photoshop, but it runs definitely more smooth than my friends igpu. It runs hotter but if you need the power then go for it

MTL18 · Sep 17, 2014

I went iGPU for two reasons.

1) Wasn't convinced I needed dGPU (mainly lightroom and photo editing - no games or video editing)

2) dGPU failure rate: Probably very low, and no evidence of 750m, but the dGPU is the likely part to fail if you have a failure. History of fixes is murky, and I don't have the resources to replace a 3k computer if it dies suddenly.

lJoSquaredl · Sep 17, 2014

After using a rMBP for almost 2 years, i've come to this conclusion...it's a laptop. U wanna keep it cool if you can, and you wanna save battery life if ur off the wire. I use to have the dgpu on at all times, but now I use the integrated graphics for everything except editing and when I randomly hook up dual monitors...and this is with the intel 4000 graphics. I even use it when playing League of Legends, World of Warcraft, and it does a decent job at 1050p or 900p. Now with Iris Pro, they're even better and also work much better with FCPX and other programs that take full advantage of it. I'll be snagging an iMac soon, but as far as laptops go, from now on i'm just getting a baseline rMBP. Now with 16gb of baseline ram too, I can get a beast refurbished for pretty damn cheap

Please Help Me Decide: rMBP 15" - Integrated Only or Dedicated GPU

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