Advantages of the 9600 over the 9400 in Adobe suite?

[djrod]

Hi

Are there any improvements using the 9600 over the 9400 when using photoshop or illustrator?

I allways use the 9400 on my mbp, with the 9600 the fans start to spin really soon, it's so annoying trying to focus on your work with this thing blowing like an airbus

 

[MacModMachine]

no advantage,

sorry...there is....but its negligible.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Lulz yah you'll see a major improvement over CPU based calculations if you are working on some giant poster sized composition with ,literally, hundreds of layers. Simple stuff will see impoved zoom but that's about it. So the gains to be seen from CPU -> GPU acceleration are small, but the gains from tHe 9400 -> 9600 are, as said above, neglible, again considering the complexity of your composition.

 

[djrod]

the extra 256MB of ram of the 9600 are "useless" ?

 

[Eddyisgreat]

Not entirely. See, here is what Adobe says is enhanced using the GPU:
GPU Feature List
OpenGL/GPU features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 include the following:

Smooth display at all zoom levels
Animated Zoom tool
Animated transitionsfor One Stop Zoom
Hand toss image
Birds-eye View
Rotate Canvas
Smooth display of non-square pixel images
Pixel grid
Move color matching to the GPU
Draw Brush tip editing feedback via the GPU
3D GPU features include the following:

3D Acceleration
3D Axis
3D Lights widget
Accelerated 3D interaction via Direct To Screen
Bridge GPU features include the following:

Preview panel
Full-screen preview
Slideshow
Review Mode

Of course what's available is dependant on the power of your card:

Hardware/Application Combinations and Available Functionality
A) Basic GL Drawing
Panning, Zooming, Rotating, Direct to Screen Non-Color Matched.
B) Basic GL Drawing with Color-Matched Direct to Screen 3D
Panning, Zooming, Rotating, Color-Matched Toned Direct to Screen 3D
C) Advanced GL Drawing
Panning, Zooming, Rotating, Accelerated Color Matching, Toning on Card
D) Advanced GL Drawing with Color-Matched Direct to Screen 3D
Panning, Zooming, Rotating, Accelerated Color Matching, Toning on Card

-----------

MacTel with Shader Model 3.0 + OpenGL 2.0 card (may vary from 10.4.11 to 10.5.2 since Apple updated the drivers)

<= 128 Megs
Photoshop Standard supports A; very few GL windows due to very low texture memory.
Photoshop Extended supports B; very few GL windows due to very low texture memory.
<= 256 Megs
Photoshop Standard supports D, defaults to A
Photoshop Extended supports C
> 256 Megs
Photoshop Standard supports D
Photoshop Extended supports D
> 512 Megs: Uses more texture memory to better handle larger images.

So my assertion is that there are gains to be realized, yes indeed, but if you are working on simple stuff one/two layer banners and sigs, there is no killer functionality that cannot be gleaned from the old school photoshop methodology of doing everything via CPU.

 

[maflynn]

It's not useless just not utilized that much. Running multiple monitors or playing FPS games will take advantage of the extra vram, other then that, its not used too much

 

[Abstract]

no advantage,

sorry...there is....but its negligible.

Agreed 100%. A difference in performance exists, but is negligible.


Besides, both video cards are pretty bad. It's like taking two students --- one with a grade of 35/100, and one with a grade of 45/100 --- and asking me which one is doing better at school.

Can't wait for Apple to start using decent video cards. The 9400M and 9600M were both great choices when they were introduced (compared to other laptops from other laptop manufacturers), but the world has moved onto better cards, and for the price you pay for a MBP, they should include better graphics processing and REAL (switchable) hybrid graphics.

 

[sensithreads]

i'm getting a 15" mbp tomorrow and i can't decide between the 2.53 the 2.66 and the 2.8.

i am starting to think i might as well just get the 2.53 and save myself a couple £100's...

but then again people say the 2.8 wud be better for using fcp with. i just don't know.

 

[sevadox]

Not entirely. See, here is what Adobe says is enhanced using the GPU:
GPU Feature List
OpenGL/GPU features in Adobe Photoshop CS4 include the following:

Smooth display at all zoom levels
Animated Zoom tool
Animated transitionsfor One Stop Zoom
Hand toss image
Birds-eye View
Rotate Canvas
Smooth display of non-square pixel images
Pixel grid
Move color matching to the GPU
Draw Brush tip editing feedback via the GPU
3D GPU features include the following:

Does the rotate Canvas feature work if you only have integrated?