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gfxcardstatus for rMBP

Pagga

Pagga

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 21, 2009
280
0
Closer to the Artic circle than I like to be
Good program, but options should not be called Integrated and Discrete. It´s confusing for the average user: What improves my battery time again: "I" or "D"? Why not simply call them More Battery and More Power?

Also, automatic switching seem glitchy. It goes on and off all the time ...
 
Pagga said:
Good program, but options should not be called Integrated and Discrete. It´s confusing for the average user: What improves my battery time again: "I" or "D"? Why not simply call them More Battery and More Power?

Also, automatic switching seem glitchy. It goes on and off all the time ...
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be confusing for the average user precisely because this was not built for the average user in mind.

And its not glitchy, some apps do call for the discrete card and drop it soon after. Main culprits are badly coded apps and games.
 
negativzero said:
It's supposed to be confusing for the average user precisely because this was not built for the average user in mind.

And its not glitchy, some apps do call for the discrete card and drop it soon after. Main culprits are badly coded apps and games.
Click to expand...

He`s right, if you are unsure of the implications of switching GPU`s manually you should simply stick with Apples own algorithm, or leave gfxCardStatus set to dynamic. Inappropriate use of gfxCardStatus can result in app`s not launching or crashing.

The GPU`s will switch over just as much under Apples control, the only difference is the user is oblivious, without digging into the details of the system. The dev created the app to offer control granular control over GPU`s initially to save users needing to restart systems to initiate the change, later to reduce battery drain and improve thermal management by holding off the discrete GPU. You can find out much more by reading through the dev`s site...

"I" will give you longer battery run time in most cases, however not all app`s are 100% compatible with the integrated GPU, requiring the power of the discrete GPU to fully function
 
The second poster said it.
Its not for "average users" or users who doesnt know computer.
Its for people who has decent mind on what it is.

Integrated consumes less and discrete consumes more.

And again, the some programs requires to use discrete GPU.
 
awesome application and its free. not glitchy btw its actually just letting you know what your computer is doing.
 
yusukeaoki said:
And again, the some programs requires to use discrete GPU.
Click to expand...

A little off topic but as no 13" cMBPs have discrete GPUs, would these same apps fail to run on the 13"? What apps would those be? Just curious as in years with my previous 13" cMBP I did not encounter any such apps.
 
katmeef said:
A little off topic but as no 13" cMBPs have discrete GPUs, would these same apps fail to run on the 13"? What apps would those be? Just curious as in years with my previous 13" cMBP I did not encounter any such apps.
Click to expand...

I doubt the application would "fail to run."

Obviously, you simply wouldn't have the ability to switch the gfx to discrete, thereby rendering the program fairly useless.
 
The average user will let OSX handle which GPU to use, and as others have stated that's probably the best option.

If an average user wants to use it and is confused what's an integrated GPU, or discrete, a simple google will unveil the difference.
 
appletechpro said:
I doubt the application would "fail to run."

Obviously, you simply wouldn't have the ability to switch the gfx to discrete, thereby rendering the program fairly useless.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't they run fine just slower than a machine with a dGPU? Honestly I'd like to know what apps would be useless or unusable without a dGPU (aside from games)
 
katmeef said:
A little off topic but as no 13" cMBPs have discrete GPUs, would these same apps fail to run on the 13"? What apps would those be? Just curious as in years with my previous 13" cMBP I did not encounter any such apps.
Click to expand...

You would be able to run it, but not as good.
For example a game, you could run it but really laggy.
 
Pagga said:
Good program, but options should not be called Integrated and Discrete. It´s confusing for the average user: What improves my battery time again: "I" or "D"? Why not simply call them More Battery and More Power?

Also, automatic switching seem glitchy. It goes on and off all the time ...
Click to expand...

As some of the other folks already said, the goal isn't necessarily for gfxCardStatus to be a tool that everyone should use. It's definitely a power user tool.

Cody
 
I have noticed that sometimes if I force the GPU to change and then change my resolution, I get some pretty intense graphics artifacts. Not sure if it's a bug or a hardware issue. GPU acceleration seems to work fine otherwise.

P25M1l.jpg
 
It's going to switch a lot more on the Retinia MBP beucase of the higher resolution it has to push to the screen.

Thus one of the reasons retinia isnt ready for the 13" models
 
Pagga said:
Good program, but options should not be called Integrated and Discrete. It´s confusing for the average user: What improves my battery time again: "I" or "D"? Why not simply call them More Battery and More Power?

Also, automatic switching seem glitchy. It goes on and off all the time ...
Click to expand...

As others have said, if you're an average user who isn't interested in knowing the difference between integrated and discrete graphics, this really isn't an app you should be using. The automatic switching should be good enough for your usage cases.
 
On or Off does not make sense.

It's basically a switch. You switch from the integrated graphics (HD 4000) to the Discrete/Dedicated graphics (GT 650M/6750M).

By the way. The typical user should know the difference. I knew the difference when I was 12 (ten years ago).
 
taedouni said:
On or Off does not make sense.

It's basically a switch. You switch from the integrated graphics (HD 4000) to the Discrete/Dedicated graphics (GT 650M/6750M).

By the way. The typical user should know the difference. I knew the difference when I was 12 (ten years ago).
Click to expand...

That makes you not a typical user. :)

----------
squeeks said:
It's going to switch a lot more on the Retinia MBP beucase of the higher resolution it has to push to the screen.

Thus one of the reasons retinia isnt ready for the 13" models
Click to expand...

That's not true – switching is done exclusively based on the needs of a particular application. The integrated graphics on the retina models are powerful enough to push all of those pixels without requiring any extra power from the discrete GPU.

----------
terraphantm said:
I have noticed that sometimes if I force the GPU to change and then change my resolution, I get some pretty intense graphics artifacts. Not sure if it's a bug or a hardware issue. GPU acceleration seems to work fine otherwise.

Image
Click to expand...

Huh...and this is a new retina machine? Does it happen on one GPU or the other exclusively? Or both?
 
squeeks said:
It's going to switch a lot more on the Retinia MBP beucase of the higher resolution it has to push to the screen.

Thus one of the reasons retinia isnt ready for the 13" models
Click to expand...

even on my Hi-res Mid 2012 macbook pro. Just opening a browser, discrete GPU will kick in. Is Intel HD4000 is not powerful enough. I know on retina it is under power. But I believe HD4000 is powerful enough to power 1650x1080. My Nvidia GT9400 easily power 1400x900.
 
mykelala01 said:
even on my Hi-res Mid 2012 macbook pro. Just opening a browser, discrete GPU will kick in. Is Intel HD4000 is not powerful enough. I know on retina it is under power. But I believe HD4000 is powerful enough to power 1650x1080. My Nvidia GT9400 easily power 1400x900.
Click to expand...

If you're using Chrome or Firefox, yeah, the discrete GPU will kick on, but that's the fault of the Chrome and Firefox developers. Safari doesn't kick the discrete GPU on just by virtue of opening it, which is how it should behave.
 
I would agree the app is glitchy when using energy preference switching. Unplugging while sleeping or plugging in while asleep throws everything for a loop. Otherwise it's perfect to keep an eye on what is going on with ur cards.
 
mykelala01 said:
even on my Hi-res Mid 2012 macbook pro. Just opening a browser, discrete GPU will kick in. Is Intel HD4000 is not powerful enough. I know on retina it is under power. But I believe HD4000 is powerful enough to power 1650x1080. My Nvidia GT9400 easily power 1400x900.
Click to expand...

because of the pixel density the effective resolution is actually 2880x1800
 
The GPU switching is not due to demand, it`s due to application dependency, if an app calls for the discrete GPU, and this is why some seemingly non graphic app`s force the switch.

One of the biggest benefits of Cody`s work is we can see these "dependencies" and challenge Dev`s why their app is calling for the discrete GPU. For the most part Apple`s GPU switching does as promised by "just working" the only downside being as previously stated the "app`s" are calling for the switch, not the OS, so poorly coded app`s or a little extra eye candy will consume more power.

In general it`s I find it`s best not to switch GPU`s mid stream as can be seen in the post above or you potentially risk some graphical anomalies occurring, which may result in you being forced to close work.

Cody`s site is self explanatory; so if i, d, or n, and a are confusing it`s likely you have no need to be using gfxCardStatus and leave it to Apple & the Dev`s to worry about the GPU`s.

I set my systems to "Dynamic" on mains supply and "Integrated" only on battery. For those who are experiencing stuttering with the new Retina`s locking the Discrete GPU while on mains will alleviate, personally my own Retina doesn't exhibit any issue, then again I am not trying to find fault just get on with life :p
 
bitninja said:
If you're using Chrome or Firefox, yeah, the discrete GPU will kick on, but that's the fault of the Chrome and Firefox developers. Safari doesn't kick the discrete GPU on just by virtue of opening it, which is how it should behave.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, thanks for your great product anyways.
 
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