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GFXCARDSTATUS Use ?

augustya

augustya

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Original poster
Feb 17, 2012
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What's up with the MacBook APP GFXCARDSTATUS I installed it on one of the 2016 15" rMBP in one of the Apple Reseller stores and even if I selected only integrated graphic card through the APP the moment I opened up Safari it automatically switched to discrete Graphic card. I was under the impression with GFXCARDSTATUS you can force your machine to use only iGPU but it didn't happened with me ? Can anyone tell me the reason why ?
 
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augustya said:
What's up with the MacBook APP GFXCARDSTATUS I installed it on one of the 2016 15" rMBP in one of the Apple Reaeller stores and even if I selected only integrated graphic card through the APP the moment I opened up Safari it automatically switched to discrete Graphic card. I was under the impression with GFXCARDSTATUS you can force your machine to use only iGPU but it didn't happened with me ? Can anyone tell me the reason why ?
Click to expand...

Maybe because the current release isn't optimized for the 2016 model yet.
 
It also doesn't work on my late 2013 15" MacBook Pro. I think this has to do with the developer stopping development and all the macOS updates since the dev stopped working on it.
 
The app is buggy in Sierra, I still use it on my 2012 non-Retina. I think the developer stopped supporting the app so getting any issues fixed will be an exercise in frustration.

Considering the site lists support as 10.7 (Lion) and newer, and only mentions up to the 2012 models as supported I'd say it's been abandoned for a while now..

https://gfx.io/
 
As an aside, i stopped using gfxcardstatus around the days of Mavericks or Yosemite because the OS does a much more reasonable job of not turning the discrete GPU on at inappropriate times these days.

Back with Lion, twitter would trigger the discrete GPU. Now it's a lot better.

It is also buggy on new OS X releases as mentioned above, in my experience.
 
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I need to use it. I have a couple Steam games that crash because of bugs in the OpenGL drivers for the discrete video card (either an nVidia or Apple issue), but when the games launch they force the discrete card. I need to use gfxcardstatus to force the integrated card so the games won't crash. The HD4000 in my MBP is the minimum required for the games to run.
 
augustya said:
Will this work with the Sierra installed new 2016 15" rMBP ?
Click to expand...

Not sure, haven't tried it yet. Mine is on order. Works on an Early-2011 15" MBP on Sierra though and fixed my previous switching issues after upgrading to Sierra. So, give it a try and see? You can always uninstall it and wait. You can report an issue if you experience one, on GitHub, and the fork owner can possibly fix it.
 
Can anyone who has the new 2016 15" rMBP confirm this if this version of GFXCARDSTATUS works and can switch Graphic Cards manually ?

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

The earlier version of GFXCARDSTATUS which is there on the developer's site does not work. Can someone please test this and report back ? I do not have the 15" rMBP yet so can't test it myself.

Thanks in Advance !
 
augustya said:
Can anyone who has the new 2016 15" rMBP confirm this if this version of GFXCARDSTATUS works and can switch Graphic Cards manually ?

https://github.com/steveschow/gfxCardStatus/releases

The earlier version of GFXCARDSTATUS which is there on the developer's site does not work. Can someone please test this and report back ? I do not have the 15" rMBP yet so can't test it myself.

Thanks in Advance !
Click to expand...
I am using version 2.4.3i on a 2016 with 460 and it works perfectly for me.
 
ViDtje said:
I am using version 2.4.3i on a 2016 with 460 and it works perfectly for me.
Click to expand...

The earlier version which is available on the developers site for download doesn't work on the 2016 machine right ? This version 2.4.3i does work on the current 2016 15" rMBP ? Does it help make you select when you want to use iGPU and when you want to use dGPU ? Does it stick to that ? Does it work in that regards ?
 
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augustya said:
The earlier version which is available on the developers site for download doesn't work on the 2016 machine right ? This version 2.4.3i does work on the current 2016 15" rMBP ? Does it help make you select when you want to use iGPU and when you want to use dGPU ? Does it stick to that ? Does it work in that regards ?
Click to expand...
I have not tried earlier versions, but this version seems to work pretty well. If I select integrated it stays on integrated until I attach a monitor or until I turn it off and some app needs the discrete GPU. I haven't tried selecting dGPU for more than a few minutes, but the times I selected dGPU it worked fine.
 
2.4.3i seems to be working. Parallels won't switch to dedicated if I force iGPU only.
 
So with 2.4.3i if I select iGPU or select dGPU it stays that way ? I can select which Graphic Card is to be used with this version !
 
Ok Today I tested the version 2.4.3i of the GFXCARDSTATUS and it does seem to work with the 2016 15" rMBP I have a question can it and will it not cause any harm to the machine by forcing to use a particular graphic card when the machine is automatically ( I mean most of the times it uses dGPU only which is a bad thing) meant to switch between Graphic Cards from iGPU to dGPU and vice-a-versa ?
 
augustya said:
Ok Today I tested the version 2.4.3i of the GFXCARDSTATUS and it does seem to work with the 2016 15" rMBP I have a question can it and will it not cause any harm to the machine by forcing to use a particular graphic card when the machine is automatically ( I mean most of the times it uses dGPU only which is a bad thing) meant to switch between Graphic Cards from iGPU to dGPU and vice-a-versa ?
Click to expand...
No harm is caused. You'll simply have slower graphics performance if you use an application that would enable the dGPU. As a matter of fact, I enforce the iGPU when using specific design tools because it's fast enough and gives me less heat/more battery life. (Heat is what kills batteries' lifespan.)
 
augenleet said:
No harm is caused. You'll simply have slower graphics performance if you use an application that would enable the dGPU.
Click to expand...

Why would the Graphic Performance be slower if an APP uses dGPU and it is meant to use a dGPU it will work even faster isn't it ? Or you mean to say if an APP is supposed to trig dGPU and if I have forced it on iGPU then the performance be slower ! That's what you are saying ?
 
MagicBoy said:
2.4.3i works fine on the late-2013 rMBP.
Click to expand...

But like some one said if it is an APP which is supposed to use dGPU and if you have forced iGPU through GFXCARDSTATUS the overall performance would be laggy.
 
augustya said:
But like some one said if it is an APP which is supposed to use dGPU and if you have forced iGPU through GFXCARDSTATUS the overall performance would be laggy.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily laggy, it highly depends on the app. For example when I use the vector design tool "Sketch", it defaults to the dGPU. When I enforce the iGPU in this case, I don't notice any difference in performance.
 
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