Thunderbolt Display questions...

Discussion in 'Mac Accessories' started by siritalks, Jan 18, 2012.

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  1. siritalks, Jan 18, 2012

    siritalks macrumors member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2011
    #1
    Hi there,

    I'm thinking about buying a 27" Thunderbolt Display to accompany my 15" Macbook Pro. Basically, the current MBP screen is a little small for some of the tasks I'm currently undertaking. The specs of my Macbook Pro are:

    - 2.3GHz i7 Quad Core
    - 8GB RAM
    - AMD Radeon HD 6750M with 1GB VRAM
    - Running the latest version of Lion.

    I was wondering if anyone can advise of the kind of performance I can expect from the 27" Thunderbolt display if it is hooked up for the following tasks that I use my computer for:

    - General day to day internet use and Microsoft Office For Mac use.
    - Editing HD movies in iMovie (and potentially at a later date, Final Cut X).
    - Recording music in Logic Studio 9.
    - Web coding in Dreamweaver CS5.
    - Photo Editing in Photoshop CS5.
    - Graphics creation in Fireworks and InDesign CS5.
    - Running a game like X Plane 10.
    - Running Bootcamp with Windows 7 and games like Flight Simulator X.
    - Running a game like Football Manager 2012.
    - Watching movies.

    Ideally I'd want to be running the above tasks in full screen mode.

    How would the MBP cope with upscaling the above tasks to the full resolution of the Thunderbolt screen, with good graphical performance on the video editing and games specifically? Ideally I'm hoping for literally no loss in quality.

    Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

    ST.
     
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  2. siritalks, Jan 18, 2012

    siritalks thread starter macrumors member

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    Oct 19, 2011
    #2
    Any help with this would be great. Hoping to decide what I'm buying today.
     
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  3. siritalks, Jan 18, 2012

    siritalks thread starter macrumors member

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    #3
    If no-one has an answer to the above, could anyone tell me exactly what resolution my graphics card on my Macbook Pro will support outputting at? Will my MBP support the native resolution of the Thunderbolt Display?
     
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  4. ancelrick, Jan 18, 2012

    ancelrick macrumors member

    ancelrick

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    #4
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  5. colshine, Jan 18, 2012

    colshine macrumors regular

    colshine

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2011
    Location:
    UK
    #5
    I have a similar MBP connected to a TBD and it works fine - no performance issues. The MBP will support the native resolution of the TBD. Out of your list I use my MBP an TBD for the following tasks:

    Each task performs as normal without slow downs.
     
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  6. siritalks, Jan 18, 2012

    siritalks thread starter macrumors member

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    Oct 19, 2011
    #6
    Thanks for the replies guys. Looks like it should be fine. The only doubt I have is whether it would work OK with recording in Logic, and whether it would work OK without much slowdown for more intensive games like X Plane?

    Good to hear that it definitely supports the TBD's native resolution. Do you run the tasks you mentioned in full screen Colshine?
     
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  7. colshine, Jan 18, 2012

    colshine macrumors regular

    colshine

    Joined:
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    Location:
    UK
    #7
    I use a mixture depending on what I need. Normally I would not use full screen as I want multiple apps side by side i.e. browser and editor when coding etc.
     
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  8. siritalks, Jan 18, 2012

    siritalks thread starter macrumors member

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    #8
    Thanks. Good to know. If anyone else could give any advice on how good it works whilst running a fairly intensive game like a flight simulator (in full screen mode), please do reply.
     
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  9. Lennyvalentin, Jan 19, 2012

    Lennyvalentin macrumors 6502a

    Lennyvalentin

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2011
    #9
    The TBD is a very high resolution monitor, so of course, games is an area where you might have performance issues if you attempt to run at full resolution. Especially if coupled with a portable computer. Flight sims typically aren't the most demanding in that regard so you may be OK, it's hard to say for me as I am chronically allergic to that entire genre and haven't really touched any flight sims since the 1980s! :D

    In any case, you should be alright with just reducing the in-game resolution. The graphics may appear more pixellated, as the TBD does not appear to have a built-in scaler (or it's disabled); activating in-game anti-aliasing may help with that somewhat at a performance cost; you will have to see for yourself what works best.
     
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