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MBP2010 - Anyway to disable the nVidia GPU

W

wilflare

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 3, 2010
78
0
My MBP2010 has served me well... and I sure hope it holds out for another 6 months (till the end of this year) when I finally complete my undergraduate course.

Any suggestions on how I can disable the nVidia GPU? I don't really need the dedicated GPU anymore... and it kicks in whenever I run things like Wunderlist, flux and Chrome.

I know Safari works better (and does not kick in the dedicated GPU) but I use Chrome on my mobile and desktop PC so the syncing feature is much needed.

Any suggestions?
 
not possible on the 2010 =\

you can avoid programs that use the dgpu like safari/firefox
 
wilflare said:
that's a bummer. would really like to use Chrome but it always toggles the dGPU
Click to expand...

there is a workaround, but it is annoying to use. There is a way to use an automator script to force igpu, as it was something they were testing and put the switch into the program.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=111720

"FYI: with r158128, users can overwrite Chrome's behavior by using commandline switch

--gpu-switching=force_integrated or
--gpu-switching=force_discrete

Note that if you have other programs that switch to discrete GPU, then Chrome won't stop that from happening even if force_integrated is passed.

Happy saving battery."
 
Freyqq said:
there is a workaround, but it is annoying to use. There is a way to use an automator script to force igpu, as it was something they were testing and put the switch into the program.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=111720

"FYI: with r158128, users can overwrite Chrome's behavior by using commandline switch

--gpu-switching=force_integrated or
--gpu-switching=force_discrete

Note that if you have other programs that switch to discrete GPU, then Chrome won't stop that from happening even if force_integrated is passed.

Happy saving battery."
Click to expand...

thanks. i kinda resigned to using Safari on my MBP 2010 since it's better for battery for now right?

maybe when I get a MBA Retina (whenever that's out)
 
wilflare said:
My MBP2010 has served me well... and I sure hope it holds out for another 6 months (till the end of this year) when I finally complete my undergraduate course.

Any suggestions on how I can disable the nVidia GPU? I don't really need the dedicated GPU anymore... and it kicks in whenever I run things like Wunderlist, flux and Chrome.

I know Safari works better (and does not kick in the dedicated GPU) but I use Chrome on my mobile and desktop PC so the syncing feature is much needed.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

How about using gfxcardstatus?
 
I have a mid-2010 15" MBP and have been using gfxCardStatus for almost two years without a hitch. It's the best solution to avoid the kernel panics that the GT330M brings, especially since even Chrome fires up the dGPU on this MBP.

Raptor
 
raptor402 said:
I have a mid-2010 15" MBP and have been using gfxCardStatus for almost two years without a hitch. It's the best solution to avoid the kernel panics that the GT330M brings, especially since even Chrome fires up the dGPU on this MBP.

Raptor
Click to expand...

I have tried this but it doesn't seem to work for me. dGPU gets fired up even if I switch it to integrated only on gfxCardStatus
 
wilflare said:
I have tried this but it doesn't seem to work for me. dGPU gets fired up even if I switch it to integrated only on gfxCardStatus
Click to expand...

You need to activate the iGPU twice.

Reboot your machine and make sure no programs are running. Go into the Gfxcardstatus menu bar and select the iGPU. Your system will pause for a brief moment. After it does that, go back to the menu bar, and you'll see that it still says "Dynamic Switching." Select integrated only again, and it should be locked.

I had the same issue with my 2011 MBP, and simply selecting the iGPU a second time seemed to fix it.
 
wilflare said:
I have tried this but it doesn't seem to work for me. dGPU gets fired up even if I switch it to integrated only on gfxCardStatus
Click to expand...

There are a few issues with gfxCardStatus but they're pretty easy to circumvent. I've never experienced the issue saturnotaku has written about above but you should give his/her suggestion a shot first.

If there are any dependant apps (apps that use the dGPU) running, close them. In many cases, closing the last app will automatically switch you to dGPU (the primary and most irritating issue). After that, select iGPU only and you should be good to go.

Raptor
 
wilflare said:
I have tried this but it doesn't seem to work for me. dGPU gets fired up even if I switch it to integrated only on gfxCardStatus
Click to expand...

Also remember that the external display port requires the dGPU.
 
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