Poll: How often do you switch graphics cards on your MBP?

[adamvk]

I had a friend that had no idea his unibody Macbook Pro had 2 video cards. His face was quite entertaining when I told him his MBP could be alot faster.

 

[tdgrn]

Twice every day. 9400 at school taking notes, 9600 at home, doing whatever I do

 

[Patriks7]

Stupid question -

How do I switch from one card to the other ?

No question is ever stupid
Go to System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> There you can choose between Better Battery Life (9400M) and Higher Performance (9600M)

I'm 100% sure there was already a thread with a poll on this less than a month ago.

I'm more than 100% sure that there have been multiple threads and polls on this since the MBPs were released

 

[vexatia]

No question is ever stupid
Go to System Preferences -> Energy Saver -> There you can choose between Better Battery Life (9400M) and Higher Performance (9600M)



I'm more than 100% sure that there have been multiple threads and polls on this since the MBPs were released

Multiple times per day. I really wish that we could do this on the fly. Having to restart everything after logging out/in is a massive hassle that serves no better purpose than to "protect users from themselves/applications that don't like having a more powerful gpu switched out from beneath them," according to a certain self-admitted troll. Apple-paternalism at its most annoying. Not to mention that that rationale would only require relogging to switch from 9600 to 9400 and not the other way round.

 

[NC MacGuy]

Not being a gamer, I only switched when troubleshooting graphics issues or to make sure it worked. The 9400 is surprisingly capable for near everything I do.

 

[iLog.Genius]

There is a clear difference when using either the 9400M or 9600M GT. When plugged to a power source, always on the 9600M GT but when I'm on battery, the 9400M so basically multiple times during the day again depending on whether or not I'm connected to an outlet or not.

 

[Akzel]

I've been using the 9600 under Snow Leopard and apparently the whole system is much smoother. Back in Leopard using 9400/9600 wouldn't show much difference on a daily basis.

Well, it might be just me fooling myself, lol. I'd love to read a more technical look on that.

 

[apolloa]

Used to only use the 9400, but I just brought Crossover so I can ditch windows for the mo (Hoping Crysis will be supported next year) I only run it in 9600 mode POWWEERRRR haha

 

[brendon2020]

always on the lower, unless i'm gaming which is almost never on my macbook pro

 

[daneoni]

Prior to my ext display i exclusively used the 9400m, post ext display i exclusively use the 9600GT