Hey community, I just got a new 17in macbook pro and like it a lot, osx lion is also really fresh and great. This is my first apple computer and its been great so far, but have a few questions.
My question is about running flash video and how flash vids interact with solid state drives, and also the intel hd 3000 and flash video. Most of the free time I use while online is at espn3 and streaming tennis and futbol/soccer. The problem is that when I have the gfxcardstatus v2.1 app set to 'integrated' only mode I cannot get the flash video to load initially. All I get is a 'see-through' area where the vid should be playing. I can move the window/player around but theres a rectangle where the stream plays that is filled by whatever window is behind the player (as it opens streams in separate windows) or the desktop. The only work around I have so far that works fine is, before clicking the link to open a stream/game/match I must set gfxcardstatus dynamic or discrete then open the link, then while its playing go back and switch it to integrated. My question is: is it really going to integrated graphics (intel hd 3000) or is it just showing that its integrated in gfxcardstatus but really using the discrete gfx card? The problem also happens with flash ads or banners, they become see-through windows on the browser (Chrome). I dont hear the discrete card so I think it works as stated and is running in integrated mode, but Im not sure if the discrete is on and just running at a very low powered state that doesnt need the fan to be audible.
My second question, do flash video streams like espn3 and youtube and such degrade ssds quicker than normal. I only ask this because when I use the activity monitor to look at disk usage I noticed that during one session I had downloaded a 400mb file via transmission, but the activity monitor showed over 16 gb of data written. Im thinking that the hours of espn3 would be more writes than the bittorent app, would I be accurate in the assumption since it looks like 5 hours of espn3 wrote 15.6gb worth of data writes even though its not being saved to the ssd?
Does heavy torrenting (200gb/31 days or about 6.5 gb/day) really hurt the life span of the ssd? The info I have read so far here and around the web seem to point to the "the normal user will not use it enough to reduce life drastically" and "we use special benchmarking software to simulate humanly impossible torture tests" and "they last 10years @ 20gb/day". Though I am fairly certain that it will last longer if you do no torrenting.
My system specs are: 2.5 i7, 128 ssd, 4gb ram
TIA I know I asked many many questions!
ps what apps are your favorite apps and some good free ones, for whatever purpose.
My question is about running flash video and how flash vids interact with solid state drives, and also the intel hd 3000 and flash video. Most of the free time I use while online is at espn3 and streaming tennis and futbol/soccer. The problem is that when I have the gfxcardstatus v2.1 app set to 'integrated' only mode I cannot get the flash video to load initially. All I get is a 'see-through' area where the vid should be playing. I can move the window/player around but theres a rectangle where the stream plays that is filled by whatever window is behind the player (as it opens streams in separate windows) or the desktop. The only work around I have so far that works fine is, before clicking the link to open a stream/game/match I must set gfxcardstatus dynamic or discrete then open the link, then while its playing go back and switch it to integrated. My question is: is it really going to integrated graphics (intel hd 3000) or is it just showing that its integrated in gfxcardstatus but really using the discrete gfx card? The problem also happens with flash ads or banners, they become see-through windows on the browser (Chrome). I dont hear the discrete card so I think it works as stated and is running in integrated mode, but Im not sure if the discrete is on and just running at a very low powered state that doesnt need the fan to be audible.
My second question, do flash video streams like espn3 and youtube and such degrade ssds quicker than normal. I only ask this because when I use the activity monitor to look at disk usage I noticed that during one session I had downloaded a 400mb file via transmission, but the activity monitor showed over 16 gb of data written. Im thinking that the hours of espn3 would be more writes than the bittorent app, would I be accurate in the assumption since it looks like 5 hours of espn3 wrote 15.6gb worth of data writes even though its not being saved to the ssd?
Does heavy torrenting (200gb/31 days or about 6.5 gb/day) really hurt the life span of the ssd? The info I have read so far here and around the web seem to point to the "the normal user will not use it enough to reduce life drastically" and "we use special benchmarking software to simulate humanly impossible torture tests" and "they last 10years @ 20gb/day". Though I am fairly certain that it will last longer if you do no torrenting.
My system specs are: 2.5 i7, 128 ssd, 4gb ram
TIA I know I asked many many questions!
ps what apps are your favorite apps and some good free ones, for whatever purpose.