How much difference b/w the 9400M and 9600M GT? SL

[vader1990]

Hi,

So for basic everyday stuff like email, web browsing, watching videos in HD on hulu and youtube, to programming in MATLAB, Eclipse, and other engineering software, to iTunes, and other basic college student stuff like excel, word, etc, will the 9600M GT offer a good bit of performance improvement over the standard 9400m?

Thanks!

 

[chill.]

no

i think the 9600 is only worth it for gaming, 9400m really just does not cut it for current generation stuff

 

[8767092]

Virtually none of the applications you've mentioned will benefit from a more powerful GPU using their current versions. OpenCL may change that over the next 2 - 5 years, but for now CPU matters more.

 

[elppa]

Flash will get GPU acceleration soon, although I think only the Windows version, not the Mac version, is getting it in the next release.

Open CL can make use of both cards, so if you wanted to be really future proof you'd get a machine with twin graphics cards.

As an aside, I would wait for a little while as it seems likely the MacBook Pros will get an update in the new year.

 

[miles01110]

Virtually none of the applications you've mentioned will benefit from a more powerful GPU using their current versions.

More like "identically none."

 

[phixiuz]

nope

 

[elppa]

More like "identically none."

If the OP is watching film/TV shows in iTunes then I believe they will benefit from the GPU, depending on the format.

 

[8767092]

If the OP is watching film/TV shows in iTunes then I believe they will benefit from the GPU, depending on the format.

Only if it is played via iTunes or Quicktime X and then only using the 9400M chipset. Flash is still an abomination on any Mac regardless of GPU.