low 2011 15" - GPU-Power for High-Res?!

[Antadil]

Hey there.

I'm in a bit of trouble right now. ANY help would really be appreciated!

I want to buy the lower 15" MBP 2011 with the matte-screen/high-resolution option. My question is basically the following:

Does it have enough gpu-power to get a smooth usage out of it?!

What I'm doing:
- writing, reading pdfs, surfing ... everyday/studying stuff
- multitasking with the abovementioned things
- cpu-intense statistical modelling...

What I'm NOT doing:
- gaming
- photo/video editing

So, normally I don't see the point of paying for a gpu I'll hardly ever use. On the other hand I'm a bit anxious that it might work out choppy when I'm multitasking with spaces/exposé or anything because of the 1680x1050 resolution

I'd like everything to be absolutely smooth.. (and just as well with the Lion Interface..)


Thanks a lot for any help!

P.S.: I know that my knowledge about computers is as lousy as my english

 

[simsaladimbamba]

The low end GPU will do just fine with Mac OS X and its interface. Even my 2008 MB with an Intel GMA X3100 can run Lion smoothly.

Btw, the resolution of the HR MBP is 1680 x 1050.

 

[Jaimi]

Yes, it has more than enough power for that.

 

[Antadil]

Thanks for the answers!

Normally I would say that I'm the last person to need a decent gpu, but then again, everybody seems to be talking about how the lower 15" 2011 isn't 'future proof' and for someone as ingenuous as me, that's really a bit unsettling as I plan to use it for a really long time without regretting it


Maybe the reason for me being kind of doubtful is that I checked a 17" MBP out and just scrolled through a larger PDF-file with a lot of pictures: it was quite choppy! And similar unpleasent effects with spaces/exposé =/

Maybe there's someone in this forum with a last generation 17" MBP who could tell me whether he also experienced those problems or maybe even when the dedicated gpu got activated?!


That's why I thought it might well have something to do with the resolution (and the Intel graphics chip).
Is there a linear relationship between the amount of pixel in a graphical application and the gpu-power that's needed?

 

[smetvid]

Look at it this way. I use a 21.5" imac with a 1920x1080 screen and i am using a external 1680x1050 screen all running off a sad nvidia 9400 IGP.

All the 2011 gpus including the intel 3000 are better then my nvidia 9400 so you are good.

 

[Antadil]

That seems to be fine, thanks again.

Just one naïve last question: As the Radeon HD 6490M seems to have only 256MB (512MB according to Wikipedia?!) - could this be a problem in any kind of non-gaming/graphic-applications like interface animations?! What could I need more gpu-memory for?