Macbook Pro 2011 GFX card question

[eggnchips]

Hi there,
Noob here.
My Macbook Pro 2011 running El Capitan gave up so I baked the board and it worked again.
I installed gfxCardStatus and selected 'better battery life' in 'energy saver' and now when I boot it up, gfxCardStatus always shows that the integrated Intel Graphics 3000 is being used. I can then select use 'integrated only' in gfxCardStatus.

I'm no programmer and find the the programming on this forum to get the Mac to always boot to ingegrated a bit intimidating.
Is it ok to run it as I am now with energy saver and gfxCardStatus or is the programming recommended?

 

[ericj2109]

Same boat as you; had some graphics issues, used a heat gun to resurrect the GPU and now I'm babying it with gfxCardStatus only going Radeon when I absolutely must (external display or Adobe). It's been running for almost a year like this so I'll take it. The consensus is that the GPU is a time bomb waiting to go out so if you really need the machine to be reliable, do the programming. I just swallow the risk because it's not my primary machine.

On the other hand, our machines have survived this long and have had a long run for any laptop, even with the faulty chips. I'd say start saving for a new computer when the inevitable happens.

 

[Audit13]

gfxCardStatus may be limited to use on the 2010 15" MBP.

Run a program that uses the Radeon GPU and see if it causes a problem.

 

[eggnchips]

gfxCardStatus may be limited to use on the 2010 15" MBP.

Run a program that uses the Radeon GPU and see if it causes a problem.

How so and how will I know?
When I choose 'integrated' it doesn't change over to the AMD.

 

[Audit13]

How so and how will I know?
When I choose 'integrated' it doesn't change over to the AMD.

Where did you get the app?

Try running the cinebench OpenGL test.

 

[ericj2109]

The app does act a little funny on my machine but it does seem to prevent the AMD chip from kicking in. It doesn't update the selection in the menu bar dropdown but, as long as I don't have an app preventing switching, the notification says I've switched and it sticks.

 

[mightymacman]

Same boat as you; had some graphics issues, used a heat gun to resurrect the GPU and now I'm babying it with gfxCardStatus only going Radeon when I absolutely must (external display or Adobe). It's been running for almost a year like this so I'll take it. The consensus is that the GPU is a time bomb waiting to go out so if you really need the machine to be reliable, do the programming. I just swallow the risk because it's not my primary machine.

On the other hand, our machines have survived this long and have had a long run for any laptop, even with the faulty chips. I'd say start saving for a new computer when the inevitable happens.

Look here for info on the gfxCardStatus.app version 2.1. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2011-•-15-17-inch-mbp-gfx-work-a-round.2129680/ I use this in my 17" 2011 Early MBP with out any issues at all.