Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Does Radeon graphics make web browsing go faster?

H

hruvulum

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 7, 2011
16
0
Corte Madera, CA
The only thing I want to do with a new Mac mini that might conceivably go faster with Radeon graphics and on which I am willing to spend money is "frantic web research": namely, opening lots of tabs, switching quickly between tabs and scrolling in Google Chrome. Those things would not go significantly quicker with Radeon graphics, would they?

I am pretty sure that when my computer has been unable to keep up with my "frantic web research", most of the time, the delay is because the page's Javascript has not finished running. Surely, Radeon graphics is not going to help with that; is it?

I almost did not post this because the answer seems so clear, but then again, well, I am no expert.

Another source of delay in the past has been waiting for large images to show up on the rendered page. If the image is not already in graphical memory, would Radeon graphics do that significantly faster than Intel graphics? (If so, is that because the bandwidth between CPU and Radeon graphics is higher than that between CPU and Intel graphics?)

Finally, same question for PDFs instead of images.

Thanks in advance.
 
hruvulum said:
The only thing I want to do with a new Mac mini that might conceivably go faster with Radeon graphics and on which I am willing to spend money is "frantic web research": namely, opening lots of tabs, switching quickly between tabs and scrolling in Google Chrome. Those things would not go significantly quicker with Radeon graphics, would they?

I am pretty sure that when my computer has been unable to keep up with my "frantic web research", most of the time, the delay is because the page's Javascript has not finished running. Surely, Radeon graphics is not going to help with that; is it?

I almost did not post this because the answer seems so clear, but then again, well, I am no expert.

Another source of delay in the past has been waiting for large images to show up on the rendered page. If the image is not already in graphical memory, would Radeon graphics do that significantly faster than Intel graphics? (If so, is that because the bandwidth between CPU and Radeon graphics is higher than that between CPU and Intel graphics?)

Finally, same question for PDFs instead of images.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

RAM is going to help most in this case
 
It could also be limitations in the multi-tasking abilities of the web browser. I know some functions can choke up Firefox. When neither my CPU or RAM are being taxed heavily. Such as at the completion of a download Firefox sometimes hangs for a second or two depending on the type and size of the file.

With any new computer really only a faster internet connection will speed up browsing. Like switching from DSL to Cable or paying for a higher speed tier with your current ISP.
 
I have a 2011 MBP with a dedicated Radeon GPU. However, I notice that for most browser tasks, the Radeon GPU doesn't even kick in. Everything is mostly handled by the integrated GPU (Intel HD 3000).

So basically, you might find that the Radeon GPU is not going to affect your "frantic web research"...
 
No. A graphics card is more for rapid screen refreshing like movies, games and some image editing problems - it is only under certain conditions like those that the chip will even kick in. So you don't need a good, or even dedicated GPU, for web browsing.

As a side note i often have several taps open in Safari and if I find a site is taking unusually long to display a web page I do a quick test with other taps to see if the problem is the same on all sites. This test shows me if the problem lies in the connection or the website - 98% of the time it is the site itself.

Your Mac Mini should be more than adequate to this task
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back