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List of programs that use discrete graphics in i5/i7 MacBook Pros

ChristWolves said:
I like the Showcase interface. :p
Btw, which "other interfaces" are you talking about?
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I love the Showcase interface too, but once I found out that it was sucking on my battery life, I switched back to the Bezel plug-in. I tried a few others, like Flashlight and something else I can't remember right now, but I think Bezel is the coolest looking (other than Showcase).
 
agwilson said:
What version are you running? What are you using to determine if it is using the NVidia chipset?

I'm running version 1.03 in the demo mode. Even the demo screen forces the NVidia chipset. I check via the System Profiler to see which chipset the screen is attached to. I can have nothing running and it will be on the Intel chipset then start Cinch up and it immediately switches to the NVidia chipset.
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Hmm. I'm running a registered version of Cinch 1.0.3 - using gfxCardStatus.app or GPUInfoMenu.app - they both show the same, Intel chipset being used!
 
More that activates the 330M

Garageband does. As does Quicktime Player (but only if you are recording a video on the iSight).
 
diamond.g said:
Garageband does. As does Quicktime Player (but only if you are recording a video on the iSight).
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I've actually switched from VLC to Quicktime Player when playing vid's as VLC fires off the 330m and QTP uses Intel.
 
sp3ctre said:
Might be slightly off-topic but I am having problems... take one snapshot then skitch hides off the screen and you cant get it back!
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Use Skitch when running on the GT 330M, it'll work fine. It seems Skitch does not like switching from Intel HD to GT 330M for some reason. Skitch crashes on my i5 so I submitted the log with some comments.

shamster01 said:
Hi all, I use Parallels desktop a lot due to some business apps that I need on a regular basis. I find that everytime i start Parallels, even if i haven't started a virtual machine, the discrete graphics kick in.
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That is meant to happen as virtualisation software is now able to virtualise the videocard in such a way it is able to do some 3D stuff like OpenGL and DirectX. As soon as you start a vm it will trigger some of the API's that will trigger the switch to Nvidia and it will stay with it until you quit the application. At least, this is how it works with VMware Fusion and how it appears to work in Parallels. It doesn't matter if you have a vm with a cli only or one that has a GUI environment. I think this is done to prevent some issues with running vm's that might use the 3D options.

Does anyone know of any other virtualization software such as Fusion kicks in the nvidia graphics? I'm considering switching software for the extra battery life.
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Virtualisation will use the i5 to its fullest causing a lot of battery drain (and a lot of power). There is no virtualisation software for OS X on these machines that isn't capable of using the 3D capabilities of the videocard.

I only recieved my pro 15" yesterday and i'm getting a maximum battery life of 4 hours. Is this normal?
Thanks
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It depends on what you're doing. You might need to give it some time to settle down, it seems battery life improves after a while.

I don't find the list disturbing, I find some applications on the list quite disturbing because some don't seem to have any need for the advanced graphics API's that trigger the GT 330M. It seems that quite a lot of applications are using some sort of nifty graphics effect(s) that require the use of some API and/or the GT 330M.
 
Can i ask - how is performance on the IntelHD? If you switch your MBP to work only on the IntelHD, surely there's a slowdown in performance/problems?

Surely the 330 must be coming on for a reason?

If not, i'd be happy to run mine on IntelHD for everything other than Aperture and Photoshop.

Cheers!
 
Sharky II said:
Can i ask - how is performance on the IntelHD? If you switch your MBP to work only on the IntelHD, surely there's a slowdown in performance/problems?

Surely the 330 must be coming on for a reason?

If not, i'd be happy to run mine on IntelHD for everything other than Aperture and Photoshop.

Cheers!
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There was a benchmark shown on some other post in this forum category that showed the 300m rendering 10 times the frames per second in the given scene versus the Intel HD.
 
Pavia said:
How do I make sure it uses the intel gpu when I'm on battery? :confused:
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Another forum member, bitninja, developed an application called gfxCardStatus that can currently do that using code written by forum member ah-. The application I have developed will be gaining that functionality in the near future. If you need that functionality now, I suggest you try out gfxCardStatus. If you're content to wait, it'll be coming soon to mine.

I'm not going to try and convince anyone either way, I'm just pleased to have written something people found useful in my endeavors to expand outside of the web development community. :)
 
Tegeril said:
GPUInfoMenu can now switch GPUs based on power state changes. Enjoy!
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I didn't see your reply untill today, and I have just downloaded your app before knowing you made it :) Testing it now :D

It's kind of sad, that skype uses the 330M when its only an IM client.
 
Pavia said:
I didn't see your reply untill today, and I have just downloaded your app before knowing you made it :) Testing it now :D

It's kind of sad, that skype uses the 330M when its only an IM client.
Click to expand...

Let me know if there are issues/requests, thanks a bunch :)
 
This is an annoying one. Snapz Pro. It triggers the Nvidia card on start up and keeps it running all the time as it sits idle in the background!
 
MarsEdit, a nice blog posting app.

Edit: Never mind, it doesn't always require the Nvidia card, apparently. Only when you use the "Media Manager". If you close the Media Manager, it stays in Nvidia mode though. :(
 
Some new ones:

AppZapper (version 2)
Bowtie (when using Bowlet)
eMaps
MPlayerOSX Extended
MS Word 2008 (triggers Microsoft AU Daemon)

All I could find for now..
 
rawd said:
I've actually switched from VLC to Quicktime Player when playing vid's as VLC fires off the 330m and QTP uses Intel.
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When using the iSight Quicktime and Photobooth both turn the 330M on. As does MacTheRipper, Delicious Library (I assume 2 does as well), FFView (manga viewer), MacFamilyTree.
 
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