How can you tell if the GPU is "engaged"? If you have this hooked up to a TV via HDMI, but the TV is off, is that treated has being connected to a monitor or not?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
NewerTech's 'HDMI Headless Video Accelerator' Keeps GPU Active for Better Performance With No Display
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Does this cause kernel panics when you restart the computer? I've had a couple other ones and they caused kernel panics every time I restarted
Have they got this hack for DVI? My oooold (Core 2 Duo) needs this trick because it's a headless Linux box and Linux won't boot without a display plugged in. Right now I have a DVI to VGA cable plugged in with a few resistors tricking it into thinking a display's plugged in. I guess I could use this one with a DVI to HDMI converter plugged in? I don't like having resistors hanging out of some shonky makeshift plug.
An easy way to tell (besides the slowness) is if the GPU is not being utilized, you'll get an opaque menu bar, as if System Preferences > Accessibility > Reduce transparency is checked in Yosemite or later, or System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Translucent menu bar is unchecked if you're running an earlier version.
NewerTech today announced the launch of its HDMI Headless Video Accelerator, an adapter that's designed to plug into the Mac mini's HDMI display port to fool it into thinking there's a display attached. With the adapter plugged in, the Mac mini's GPU is activated and video drivers are loaded, resulting in smoother performance.Apple's small and portable Mac mini is often used sans display as a storage device or a media server, but without a display, the Mac mini does not take advantage of its GPU. Without an active GPU, certain tasks performed on the Mac mini can be choppy and laggy, such as visiting websites, as described in a Macminicolo blog post on the subject.
This kind of adaptation has been used by Macminicolo on video intensive servers for several years, but as the site says, even simple web browsing benefits from having active video drivers. Macminicolo even recommends a similar dummy dongle product directly on its site.
The NewerTech HDMI Headless Video Accelerator is designed to work with the following Mac mini models: Mac mini Mid 2010 (Macmini4,1), Mac mini Mid 2011 (Macmini5,1 / Macmini5,2 / Macmini5,3), Mac mini Late 2012 (Macmini6,1 / Macmini6,2), Mac mini Late 2014 (Macmini7,1). It works with OS X 10.6.8 and later.
Mac mini owners interested in purchasing the NewerTech HDMI Headless Video Accelerator can do so from third-party retailers like OWC. The adapter is priced at $19.50.
Article Link: NewerTech's 'HDMI Headless Video Accelerator' Keeps GPU Active for Better Performance With No Display[/gf
gfxCardStatus?
NewerTech today announced the launch of its HDMI Headless Video Accelerator, an adapter that's designed to plug into the Mac mini's HDMI display port to fool it into thinking there's a display attached. With the adapter plugged in, the Mac mini's GPU is activated and video drivers are loaded, resulting in smoother performance.Apple's small and portable Mac mini is often used sans display as a storage device or a media server, but without a display, the Mac mini does not take advantage of its GPU. Without an active GPU, certain tasks performed on the Mac mini can be choppy and laggy, such as visiting websites, as described in a Macminicolo blog post on the subject.
This kind of adaptation has been used by Macminicolo on video intensive servers for several years, but as the site says, even simple web browsing benefits from having active video drivers. Macminicolo even recommends a similar dummy dongle product directly on its site.
The NewerTech HDMI Headless Video Accelerator is designed to work with the following Mac mini models: Mac mini Mid 2010 (Macmini4,1), Mac mini Mid 2011 (Macmini5,1 / Macmini5,2 / Macmini5,3), Mac mini Late 2012 (Macmini6,1 / Macmini6,2), Mac mini Late 2014 (Macmini7,1). It works with OS X 10.6.8 and later.
Mac mini owners interested in purchasing the NewerTech HDMI Headless Video Accelerator can do so from third-party retailers like OWC. The adapter is priced at $19.50.
Article Link: NewerTech's 'HDMI Headless Video Accelerator' Keeps GPU Active for Better Performance With No Display
